Juveniles get into gear

After the tropical conditions which saw out last week, the arctic chill made an unwelcome return recently and dispelled any thoughts we had that summer may be on its way.
The grass gallops were still in use though and we got up early on Saturday morning to get the fresh ground before the bigger strings in town use it.
We haven't had a two-year old runner yet this year as they have been put back a bit by the weather but the pair who are closest to running had a gallop together. Old handicapper Entrance led Bushy Glade and Primrose Posy along and, although green, they showed they have enough speed to be ready for a run within the next month. They will have a few more bits of work to ensure they are fully tuned up and then some training in the starting stalls but it will be great to get some juveniles on the track.

Entrance, Primrose Post & Bushy Glade

The older brigade were also out for a spin and No Such Number showed that he's more than ready for his run at Doncaster next weekend. He's had the winter off and really matured physically. He should be more than fit enough to do himself justice and hopefully can get the firm ground he loves.
Going along with him was Sancho Panza. He missed all last season because of injury and isn't as fit as Number at the minute but he is showing some of his old sparkle so can hopefully continue his promising career.
The third of the trio was a useful handicapper called Maison Brillet trained by Clive Drew. We sometimes let others work with our horses as not all trainers are lucky enough to have as good gallops as we do.

No Such Number, Sancho Panza & Maison Brillet

Two horses I'm really excited about for this season are Attain and Omega Omega who worked together on Wednesday. The pair are both well handicapped after lacklustre seasons in 2012 but have thrived during their winter holidays.
Attain goes to Wolverhampton tomorrow and everything looks in place for a big run. He has good form over the course and distance, seems fit enough and we have a good jockey in Shelley Birkett as it is a race for apprentices who haven't ridden more than 10 winners. The only concern is his attitude as he lost enthusiasm towards the end of last season but he seems keen enough at home and we have been trying to keep him sweet.
Omega Omega runs the following day at Yarmouth. She is on a good handicap mark but my only worry is that she may need the run. She will improve for the race and is definitely one to follow.

Omega Omega (Annalie) & Attain (Ross)

Also at Yarmouth on Tuesday are Spirit of Sharjah and Silver Alliance. Both find it hard to win as the handicapper is harsh on them but they are in good form and have ideal conditions. I couldn't be too confident to say they will win but the races are weak enough for them to be in with a squeak.

Like Attain, old warrior Khajaaly has his own ideas about the game but turning him out in the field at the weekends and learning how to handle him have seen some positive results as he is now flying at home. He'll be at Yarmouth in a few weeks time and should be able to win off his rock-bottom turf handicap mark.

Khajaaly (Billy)

At the other end of the scale, two fillies who know very little about the game are Amelia George and Bethan. Both are unraced but are getting closer to a run and did the most work they have done yet by cantering upsides on the grass. With lots of owners present, there was plenty to look at and the two both had a good stare at the crowd as they went by. The experience will do them good though and they will have learnt a lot for this.

Amelia George (Reno) & Bethan (Billy)



Faces old and new

We can now properly say the turf season is underway after our local course Newmarket kicked off its campaign with the Craven meeting and the breeze up sales. With an average price of £100,000 at the sales, the prices of those at the auction were a little out of my price range!

However, we have a yard full of horses and some look likely to be nice prospects in the coming weeks.
I was riding work on Saturday so picture credits must go to owner Richard Fuller.
After the staff reported him in good order, I decided to see if the rumours were true by having a sit on Attain. He became very disappointing last season but may have just been in need of a break and, having had the winter off, he is now in great form. The only worry is that he may just be kidding us along and not perform on the track still but the early signs are positive.
He ran along with Sancho Panza who has had a bit longer on the sidelines after a tendon injury. The vet scanned him again this week and gave him the all-clear so we can kick on with him now and run him in the next month or so.

Attain (Julia) and Sancho Panza (Annelie)

Stable star Spirit of Sharjah is in really good form at the minute and we just let him have a swinger on his own as he probably does more exercise doing this rather than working with other horses who he is much better than. We have come to the conclusion that he doesn't like passing horses during a race nowadays so the plan will be to get near the front next time he runs.

Spirit of Sharjah (Ross)

Two horses who are a pleasure to train are Silver Alliance and Automotive. Both love their work and yard life and they matched strides in a seven furlong gallop. Silver goes to Yarmouth a week on Monday and, although he needs things to fall right to win, he should be competitive. Mo will head to Lingfield a bit later. We are trying him over 1m2f as he just hasn't had the speed to get competitive over shorter. Hopefully the experiment works because he has a lot of ability.

Silver Alliance (Billy) and Automotive (Reno)

The aforementioned lot are all racing regulars but we still have a fair few horses yet to grace the track and they went up Hamilton Hill on Saturday.

The three-year old chestnut filly below doesn't actually have a name yet but she has been showing some promising signs at home and will be running not before long. She gave us quite a few problems on arrival as she got very stressed out by all the action on the heath but putting a hood on her has really cooled her down and her rider Billy knows how to deal with her.

Three-year old filly by Firebreak (Billy)

Another unraced type is four-year old Bethan. She came to us late last year having been given plenty of time by her owner to grow. She too has been a bit stressed by life as a racehorse but has calmed right down in the last few weeks. She moves like a dressage horse and does everything we do with her with ease. She hasn't done anything serious yet but could be one to watch.

Bethan (Ross)

Believe In Me has had some racing experience and put in some promising runs as a juvenile. We gave her the winter off and although she hasn't grown much in height (she was quite tall anyway) she has filled her frame and looks a stronger filly now. The quirks she exhibited last season seem to have been left in the field too so, all being well, she will be hitting the track in the near future.

Believe In Me (Annelie)

Assistant Trainer Rolo is a master of delegation

Although the flat season is in full swing, there doesn't seem to be many suitable races for our horses so we've just the one runner in the coming seven days. Chilli Green's task this year is to get black type on her breeding which means she needs to be placed in a listed or group race. Her debut for us at Kempton last time wasn't as bad as it looked as she needed the run and got a bit of a bump at a crucial time. The race she is in on Saturday - The Leicestershire Stakes - we won a few years ago with Spirit of Sharjah. She isn't as good as him but hopefully good enough to land a place.

Spring has finally sprung!

After a winter that seemed to last forever, we finally saw some warm weather this week and a bit of rain with it too.

The grass gallops in Newmarket have been open since the beginning of the turf season last month but due to the firm ground we have been unable to use them. However, a bit of rainfall on Friday meant we could gallop some on the green stuff on Saturday morning.

First up were two horses who I hope will be revelations this season in Omega Omega and Attain. The former was very weak last season and never showed much in a few runs but she has strengthened up a lot over the winter and should be able to win off her low handicap mark. Attain, on the other hand, just lost his enthusiasm last year but the winter holiday has freshened him up and he could be back to his best that we once saw.

Omega Omega (Shelley) and Attain (Alfie)

Another two exciting prospects are No Such Number and Sancho Panza who were next up the gallop.
Number has only had two runs for us, winning first time but then not liking the all-weather after that. He's had the winter off but still probably has the best coat in the yard and his work seems a lot better than last year too. He'll be running in three weeks' time if all goes to plan.
Sancho Panza missed the whole of last year through injury but has come back bigger and stronger this time. He was on an upward curve before hitting the sidelines so hopefully he can continue his progress.

No Such Number (Ross) and Sancho Panza (Annelie)

Khajaaly has been with us a few years now so, to keep his mind ticking, I like to try different things with him. He didn't like the idea of jumping so on some days I use him as a bit of a hack to watch the string but before that I give him a blast up the gallop and he still know how to run!


Khajaaly

 Earlier in the week, with the ground still firm, we had to use the all-weather and our two juvenile fillies (Bushy Glade and Primrose Posy) had their first serious piece of work. I was impressed with how professional the pair were; they didn't get too worried about going somewhere new and both did their exercise nicely. With all being well, they should be hitting the track in a month's time.

Bushy Glade (Annelie) and Primrose Posy (Shelley)

As the weather was so good and the grass had started to grow a bit again, we could turn some of the horses out on Sunday morning. The boys looked happy to get some fresh air again as they galloped around the field before nibbling some grass.

Spirit of Sharjah, Khajaaly & Silver Alliance (hidden) having fun

The Hoofbeats Tours of Newmarket that my husband John runs go hand in hand with the training yard and complement each other well. The place was pretty packed on Thursday as we had 150 European students come to visit. The horses seem to enjoy all the attention and the experience means that little fazes them when they go to the races and see big crowds of people.

We will only have one runner this week when The Ducking Stool heads to Southwell. The track is a bit of an unknown but she always jumps quickly from the stalls so should be able to get a handy position which is so vital at the course. Her action suggests she should enjoy the fibresand surface too.

Hunting Easter Winners

Well, we went to Yarmouth on Easter Monday with 6 runners in the hope that at least one could come home in front and, despite having to wait until the last one, we luckily did hit the target.

The Yarmouth Six ready for action

The day kicked off with two great runs from Handheld and Silver Alliance who went head to head in a mile handicap. There isn't much between them at home and there was only a neck between them on the track as Handheld just nicked 3rd from Silver on the line. Both horses seem really happy at the moment and hopefully a win won't be too far off.

Next up we had another match race with Khajaaly and Automotive. The race was a disaster from the start for the latter as his jockey didn't seem to be getting on very well with 'Mo' who can be a bit difficult. He then missed the break by 10 lengths at the start so I gave up all hope but he ran on really well at the finish to end up 7th. This was his first go on turf for us and I think he's one to watch.
Khajaaly bounced right back to form to finish 3rd. He's well handicapped on the grass so can hopefully win soon.

Vastly was probably our best chance of the day in the maiden but jockey Ryan Moore said he hated the track and didn't show his best to finish 4th. The horse will now get a handicap mark and I think he's more than capable of winning on the all-weather.

Last but not least was the ever-reliable The Ducking Stool. She seems to love the seaside air at Yarmouth and bounced right back to her best to get on top in a tight finish. I was screaming her home and ended up with a sore throat but it was well worth it particularly as her owner, Tolly McGuinness, is very ill in hospital at the moment. The victory cheered him right up.


I've been at full stretch recently, driving the horsebox and riding out, but luckily my slave labour (in the form of my son Ross) has returned from his winter in Dubai and is back working in the yard.
He's been living the high-life in the desert so I've brought him right back to earth with mucking out duties and a trip to Lingfield on Saturday.

From 30s to frost: Ross

As we're now well staffed I can enjoy watching the work from the ground and also get some good snaps of all the gallops. However, there is some rivalry in this respect as Newmarket has its own snapper in Michael Smithson - the town's biggest fan and a massive supporter of flat racing. He had time to get a shot of me and I can happily say he's far better than me - as his shots below prove!

Framing Feilden

As we had a lot of runners in the week, Saturday was a great chance to give some of the comeback kids a spin on the Cambridge Road.
First up were Sancho Panza and No Such Number. Sancho has come back from a tendon injury in flying form. He has strengthened right up and is in great spirits. This was his first bit of work so may be hitting the track in about a month.
Number is on a similar schedule after his winter break and he too is in fine fettle. He is a real character and only does enough at home but I really hope he could be an exciting stayer on firm ground.

No Such Number (Ross) & Sancho Panza (Annelie)
 

Omega Omega didn't show much form last season but she was a big and weak filly. The winter off has seen her thrive and she is so much stronger now. The way she is going at home suggests she should be well capable of winning off her low handicap mark when hitting the track in three weeks time.

Omega Omega (Shelley)

Attain lost his way badly at the end of last season so we gave him the winter off to freshen up. He's a different horse now and is flying up the gallops. He's very well handicapped too so hopefully could have a good season in store.

Attain (Alfie)

Amelia George didn't come to us until late last year and she is still quite a weak three-year old. She'll be running soon though and the experience will do her good.

 

 

We've got four runners on four different days this week but, remarkably, they're all at Kempton.

On Monday, Tiger's Home is looking to follow up her great seasonal reappearance at the track. She went up 2lb for finishing second last time but she should be a fair bit sharper now and if she can put in a similar effort, shouldn't be too far away.

 

Handheld seems to love going racing and he's out again on Wednesday. It's a race for apprentices who have ridden less than 10 winners only so I think we've got a good rider in Shelley Birkett. The horse seems to prefer the turf but with a lack of races, he has to come onto the all-weather.

 

Another who that comment probably applies to is Automotive the following day. Having said that, some of his best efforts have come at Kempton so I hope if everything goes to plan, he could be thereabouts.

 

Last of all on Saturday is Chilli Green. It's her first run for us but she's shown some great form for other trainers. It will be a tough task for her in a listed race but this is very much a learning experience and we will know a lot more about her afterwards.