Schooling them up

It was a great start to the week on Monday when The Ducking Stool was out again after recently breaking her maiden tag to gallop home a gallant 2nd, it was testing ground and the winner hacked up so it was another impressive performance and the win seemed to do her confidence the world of good. She is entered again at Newcastle on Thursday. The only other runner of the week was Attain at Goodwood on Friday, he finished down the field but they crawled round and then sprinted for home which did not suit him, he also came in with a cut on his hind leg and he lost a front shoe which wouldn't of helped his cause.

For only a few times this week the sun shone and luckily it was when the camera was out! Here we have two sweet fillies Entrance (behind) and Kampai working on the Peat Moss, they're both ready to run now, especially as Kampai is over a slight viral infection. There are a couple of races for Entrance at the beginning of next month provided the ground dries out a bit.

Sail Home (black cap)  has been in brilliant form since her illustrious winter campaign and bids for another good run at Yarmouth on Thursday, Angel of Mercy was back galloping after coming out of her debut race well and Emma's Gift (grey) was doing her first bit of work after a short lay off and seems to still contain all her enthusiasm for the game.

A filly I have been riding a bit this week is Lea Valley (nearest) she is un-raced and is still very green but once she gets her head down and into her work she has been impressing me with her resolution, she worked along side Canning Vale who is entered up at Yarmouth on Thursday also.

We had a new face join the string on Saturday when my sister Poppy donned the riding boots once again and came out of retirement to ride Sail Home up to the gallops!

One of the new colts recently brought in, Sheila's Heart, has settled in nicely and is doing his work really well, he is still quite colty with the new surroundings but is a  lovely looking horse and should be one to follow this season if all goes well. 

Old stable star Khajaaly is back on the heath now after his leg operation and his recovery seems to be going quicker than we first scheduled, he has just been doing steady canters but still pulls like a train so nothing seems to be bothering him anymore. He was followed up by the un-named Phoenix Reach colt who is quite shy and nervous but is handling the busy heath and work well, shares are still available on the website. 

We had fun today with Silver Alliance and Verona Bay when we took them to the schooling grounds and gave them a pop over a few hurdles. Neither had seen a hurdle before or taken their feet off the ground, so it was amazing when they both took to it like old chasers! Silver was a natural and even started to get a good technique going and got a bit of speed through the air. Verona was a bit more careful and had a good look, he jumped them huge and made sure he looked after himself, but they both thoroughly enjoyed it and gave them something else to think about as well as a change of scenery. We're not thinking about running either of them over jumps anytime soon but it's just nice to do something different with them and use a few muscles they didn't know they had.

Side on view of Silver



Verona not touching a twig!




Upsides over the first




Rear view

With all the action this week the most heart stopping moment came when Black Caviar's jockey stopped riding! It was unbelievable after all the hype and anticipation something has to go wrong. People are constantly comparing her with Frankel even though they run over different distances, but after that performance I think our boy would beat her over what ever distance they wanted in a match race. It was strange this year not going down to Royal Ascot as over the past 3 years or so we've had runners but unfortunately we didn't have anything suitable this year.

Also entered up this week is Omega Omega at Yarmouth on Thursday (busy day!) who goes for her second ever run, she would probably be one to follow when handicapping as she looks to need the experience.

Sad week for popular horses

It was an eventful week with runners and work in the yard. Firstly, Sail Home and Believe In Me both ran on Thursday, the former at Newbury where she ran a cracking race last time, however the rain came too soon and she ran disappointingly, although it would be unfair to expect her to carry top weight in that ground. Then the two-year-old filly ran at Yarmouth, she had been dropped down in class into a selling race, which suited her as she was able to get to the front, she doesn't like passing horses so we thought if she leads then maybe the others will help her along abit. They did, until the last furlong when she just got run out of a place and finished 4th. It was a delightful display from her and nice to see her show enthusiasm for the game.

The only runner left for the week was Tiger's Home at Lingfield, another two-year-old filly, she was having her third ever run. We thought a drop back to the minimum trip would help her finish better in the ground but she too was run out of things in the last furlong or so to finish 3rd.

With all the routine stuff going on this week, it was a sad and unusual day on Saturday when one of the popular horses in the yard Argante Claudius broke down on the gallops and unfortunately had to be put down. We very rarely have fatalities in the yard so it is a hard blow when we do, he was an unraced gelding who was quite close to having his first run, he'd had a previous operation on one of his joints and that was what inevitably let him down. Another injury this week came for Generous Genella who after having a year off through a tendon injury last year has now suffered a fracture in her hind quarters. The good news is we have caught it quite early so recovery time will not be as long, but its frustrating, especially for her owners who have waited so long to get her right.

However, the show must go on and the sun came out to greet us on the Cambridge road polytrack on Saturday. Attain (foreground) runs on Friday at Goodwood, he has been unlucky not to win yet but everyday he is growing and filling out, she should handle to track after loving Epsom a few runs ago and should be in with a shout if all goes well. Exopuntia (background) runs the same day at Newmarket, she's had a little break and goes well fresh.

Canning Vale and Kampai (foreground) are both fit and ready to run. The later has just got over a little viral infection but seems back to health now and should be making her debut for us in the next few weeks.

Omega Omega has come back well after making her debut at Lingfield last week, she seems wiser for the run and will be competitive once going handicapping.

The sick, lame and lazy were out in the sunshine this week. From left to right- Khajally is recovering well after his leg operation, he is just doing light exercise at the minute to strengthen the leg, the un-named Phoenix Reach colt who has just come back from being broken in, Automotive getting fit after his tendon injury and Faraway Land out in her bright blinkers has come back after a short break.

A few pictures I took today...

Emma's Gift relaxing in the field.



Sail Home, Entrance and Emma's Gift having a chat.




Tiger's Home enjoying a well deserved turn out after her quick runs.




Broodmare Bushy Dell is getting bigger everyday.




The Phoenix Reach colt playing up to the camera.




The Ducking Stool taking a well deserved nap after her win last week.




Poor Cathy had to have an operation to stop her getting pregnant again! She has wear this collar which unfortunately doesn't fit through her cat flap!



Along with Attain and Exopuntia we have The Ducking Stool who runs tomorrow at Warwick, she will love this softer ground and looks a sure fire winner if she's in any form like she was last week.

Ducky brings home the bubbly

It promised to be a busy week full of runners so it was just the tonic to get a winner out of one of them. The Ducking Stool had been a long time maturing and put together some fine performances this year, it was an ideal race for her as she acts well at Yarmouth, a galloping track, and the first three pulled clear of the field. She won with two lengths to spare, breaking her maiden in splendid fashion. It was extra special as long- time family friend Kevin 'Tolly' McGuinness owned the filly so it was good to get a winner for him especially as he looks after the horse at night.



Adam Beschizza brings the winner home.




Happy scenes in the winners enclosure.



Also running that day was Angel Of Mercy making her debut, she has taken a while getting to the track and being an un-raced 4 year old races are not the easiest to come by. But she handled everything well and ran on past a few at the end. The main thing is she had a good experience and came back healthy.

The next runners weren't until Thursday at Lingfield, when two-year-old Tiger's Home was havnig her second run, she led the field and just when we thought she'd be swallowed up she carried on battling and managed to finish 5th only beaten two lengths. She had come on alot after her first start but we were expecting her to run up to her big odds, the ground was on the soft side so may have caught a few of the others out but she ran a cracker and was still in with a shout with 1f to go. Omega Omega was making her debut on the all- weather there that day, we trained her half sister Pyjoma and just like her she seems to want a trip. The filly was quite green and was running on at the death, it would be a big eye opener for her so hopefully she can put the experience to use next time.

The next day was pretty hectic with two runners here at Newmarket and one at Goodwood everyone was having to work extra hard to keep the yard running. Silver Alliance went away to Goodwood and came back a gallant 3rd, ridden by my son Ross, he travelled well before making his challenge where he struggled to reel in the leader who went on and won. Acer Diamonds ran at HQ and we were sweet on his chances after running out of his skin last time, however he was a bit disappointing, the jockey said the ground was quite tacky and so was not hard on him. Verona Bay was having his 3rd run and now qualifies for handicapping, these Newmarket maidens he has been running in have been a bit out of his depth with all the expensive, Derby entered horses competing against him. He is still a bit weak and will make his mark when he's found his grade.

We had two new additions to the yard this week in the form of two unraced, two-year-old colts. The first is Didn't I Do Well, by Byron, he is a short, stocky type who after neighing for a couple of days has settled in well.

The second is Sheila's Heart, he is bigger and looks full of class. We have only ridden them a couple of times and they seem to be adjusting well to the heath. However, they were previously trained in Newmarket by Toby Coles over the other side of town so they have seen all the sights and sounds before. It must if been a harsh blow for Toby to lose two horses as it would be for anyone, but it happens to all trainers and I feel privileged that I have been chosen to train them by the owner.



It's back to Yarmouth next week when Generous Genella is in the ideal race, a maiden handicap, she works so well at home it's just a mystery why she keeps running bad. The next day Believe In Me is entered, she'll be having her second start and hopefully can build on what she's learnt. She is just taking a while for the penny to drop but has been working more encouragingly at home. Also that day is Sail Home at Newbury, she was in the form of her life this winter and ran a fantastic race at the track last time she will be the best chance of the week of a winner.

The Derby's here already

Well, that's the Derby done and dusted for another twelve months. I can't believe we're halfway through the year already and things in the yard have really hit top gear.

After a few new horses arrive in the coming days, we'll be back to full capacity of 25 inmates and it comes just as the kids finish school this week so my workforce doubles!

There's definite signs that the horses are coming back into form and we hit the crossbar with a few runners in the last seven days.

We took a risk by taking Attain to Brighton on Tuesday as the ground was firmer than he's ever encountered before but he handled it fine to finish in third place, behind an odds-on favourite of Godolphin's. You think you can go to a small track like Brighton to win races but even the big boys turn up. I didn't think they even knew the place existed!

Canning Vale also ran that day but she couldn't make an impact. She does a lot of her homework from the front so maybe that is the best way to rider her on the track.

We were back to the seaside venue the following day with Entrance. Everything looked to be in her favour - the ground, distance and handicap mark and she looked likely to win with two furlongs to race. However, we never expected the eventual winner to put in a performace like it did so we were left in the runner's up spot.

Hopefully this week can see us off that dreaded cold trainers list as we've got some good chances.
Acer Diamonds (nearside) will make his handicap debut on either Friday or Saturday. He has recovered from his gelding operation extremely well and is a lot easier horse to deal with now. We think he's quite well handicapped and if there's enough juice in the ground, he should go close.
Sharing the gallop with him was Silver Alliance who also runs on Friday at Goodwood. He's coming down to a good handicap mark now and the likely pace of the race should see him finishing strongly.

Owner/breeder John Ford finally revealed the name of his filly (far side) this week as she makes her debut at Lingfield on Thursday. Called Omega Omega, she has been going ok at home but isn't fully wound up yet so she will come on for the run.
Verona Bay led her along in this gallop and he too runs in the coming days at Newmarket on Friday. It will be his final run in a maiden before earning a handicap mark so it's from then on that he should be a lot more successful.

One of my blogs wouldn't be complete without telling you the enigmatic Generous Genella (near side) galloped well. It's incredibly frustrating as she hasn't shown her true colours on the track but hopefully, soon enough, everything will fall into place and she'll start earning her keep.
On the far side is Exopuntia who is slowly coming back into shape after her holiday. She takes a lot of getting fit so she'll be a regular on here before she's finally ready to run.

It looks like The Ducking Stool may finally get the soft ground that we've been waiting for for so long at Yarmouth on Tuesday. She's been consistent on the polytrack but I think you'll see a different horse in testing conditions so let's hope the rain doesn't stop!

Emma's Gift seemed likelly to be my only runner at Royal Ascot but it looks like we'll have to give it a swerve this year as she won't be ready due to some little setbacks. She seems on the mend now though and will probably be ready for action in a month's time.

The change from 'ferrel' to 'feline' in our adopted stray cats has been pretty rapid and, as you can see, Cathy has already cottoned on the the fact that you need to look after owners! She's also making friends with the dogs. Her sister Hayley seems to have made friends too as she looks pretty pregnant and could be giving birth very soon. We'll keep you posted!