Excited for the week ahead

I'm really looking forward to this coming week as we've some nice horses to run and hopefully at least one of them can get us back amongst the winners. There had been a few horses coughing in the yard about a month ago and some of them hadn't been showing their best form on the track but they all seem a lot healthier now and I think the results should improve too.

Up first tomorrow is Handheld at Windsor. He ran a huge race to finish in the frame at Doncaster on his seasonal reappearance last time. With a smaller field on this occasion, I hope he won't have to use up as much energy to get in front and he'll have the soft ground he loves too.
The following day at Yarmouth, we have another great pair of hopefuls. Automotive needed his first run after a break last time and I think he is a better horse on turf anyway. He is working as well as ever and if things go right for him, he should be involved at the finish.
So too should Tiger's Home. She was in great order last year before fracturing her knee so she has had plenty of time off to recover. In an ideal world, she would need a couple more gallops to be ready to win but this race came up with only a few entries so I put her in and I think she's good enough to fight out the finish despite not being fully wound up.

Automotive (Ross) & Handheld (Shelley)

Honeymoon Express (Graham) & Tiger's Home (Ross)

 

Continuing the busy week is Attain on Wednesday at Brighton. He has run well at the course before and will hopefully get the soft ground he likes. He was disappointing last time but was too far back to get involved and he is better when racing up with the pace. I'm looking forward to heading back down south as the town is not only my birthplace but we're also very lucky with our runners there!

Meddling came to ours with a big reputation from Sir Michael Stoute's yard and, despite working well at home, she is yet to show it on the track. She does get very wound up when at the races so ideally I'd like to run her at Newmarket where there is less for her to worry about but there is no suitable race there for a while. As a result, we're going to Lingfield on Friday. She finished second at the course earlier in the month and she is definitely capable of winning off her handicap mark if she decides to put it all in.
Another who let us down last time was Candesta but he did have the excuse of hating the soft ground. His best form is on the all-weather so he's trying it again on Friday in the hope that he can get back to his best.

Meddling (Danny)

 

Tailing the week is Veeraya at Newmarket. He ran a career best to finish mid-division in the Championship race at Lingfield on Good Friday and the handicapper only put him up a pound for it. If the blinkers work again, he should take a lot of beating.

We haven't run any two year olds yet and, after our early looking one Italia got injured, there has been no rush with the others as they are later maturing types. However, Celestine Abbey has really come on in the last few weeks and she's being aimed at a Newmarket maiden next month. I don't expect her to set the world alight but the experience will do her good and get her on the road to being a racehorse.

Celestine Abbey (Shelley) & Bushy Glade (Ryan)

 

Opus Too (Reno)

Nice beside the seaside

The turf season is definitely back this week as Yarmouth host its first meeting of the new season. We were extremely lucky at the course last year with a load of winners so I'm more than happy to be making the short trip to the coast tomorrow.

One of our horses who absolutely loves the seaside air is The Ducking Stool. All five of her career wins have come at the track and she managed to win three there last term, including the race she goes for tomorrow. After a great time of it, she's very high in the handicap now but she can never be written off and is certainly fit enough to do herself justice on her seasonal comeback. She has quite a fan club at the course nowadays so it will be great to see her admirers out in force.
Silver Alliance heads to the course the following day and he too loves the place. He made a great comeback at Wolverhampton last time and is in A1 condition since then. He needs the race to be run to suit him but, if it is, he will be thereabouts.

The Ducking Stool (Shelley) & Silver Alliance (Ross)

 

Another of our lucky tracks making a comeback is Brighton on Thursday. We have two entered there but I doubt they'll run so I'll have to postpone my return to my hometown until later on in the season.
Veeraya ran a blinder to finish in mid-division on All-Weather Championships day on Good Friday. It was a race worthy of Group status but he ran a career best to be beaten just under five lengths. He wore blinkers for the first time so if they work again, he could win a handicap.

Automotive is looking good for a trip to Yarmouth next week. He had a good blow after his comeback a few weeks ago and, as per usual, he is working brilliantly at home. He is hard to predict but certainly has enough ability to win plenty of races.

Automotive (Ross) & Shelia's Heart (Ryan)

 

Bushy Glade (Ryan) & Candesta (Reno)

 

Tiger's Home and Honeymoon Express are two sprinting fillies I'm very excited about seeing this year. They both improved a tonne last season and have done very well over the winter - they both look like body builders. Unfortunately they were both coughing a bit last month so their work had to be stepped down and, as a result, they are a few weeks behind schedule. That's not to worry though as there are plenty of races for both and I can't wait to get started with them.

Honeymoon Express (Danny) & Tiger's Home (Reno)

 

After Ross' marathon efforts last week, we had another winner in the yard as Reno won his boxing fight last night. It was his fourth fight and second victory but he was made to work for this one and just got the points verdict. As you can see, he was jumping for joy afterwards!

Training record breakers!

Even though the horses haven't been breaking many records on the track recently, we can now boast a Guinness World Record holder in the yard after Ross set a new record for the fastest marathon dressed as a jockey with a time of 3hrs 8mins at the London Marathon yesterday. We were watching the TV coverage all day in the hope of getting a glimpse to him but we only saw some other bloke dressed as a jockey so he must have had some competition on the day!
Special mention must go to owner Len Cousens who completed his 34th London Marathon and finished in a time of 4hrs 48mins. Just the thought of doing it makes my joints ache!

Record man Ross

The big meeting for us on the horizon comes next week when we'll have a large party heading to Yarmouth on Monday and Tuesday for their opening bank holiday meeting. We've always been lucky at the track and the horses love it there so we enjoy going. Plans haven't been finalised yet and final details will be in next week's blog.

As a result, we just have a couple of runners in the coming seven days, starting with No Such Number at Southwell on Tuesday. He has been running well at the track this winter and he is due a win after some consistent efforts. It's an apprentice race for jockeys who haven't ridden more than 10 winners but we've got a pretty experienced rider in David Parkes who has ridden a few winners recently and comes highly recommended from trainer Alan Bailey.

It's great that the all-weather calendar has a feature raceday now and this Friday sees the inaugural All-Weather Championships Day at Lingfield. We had plans for some of the horses to race in the valuable events but things don't always go as you want but we'll still be represented on the day. Veeraya is likely to be outclassed but his owner really wanted a runner on the day so he is heading there. We tried him in blinkers to wake him up a bit and he went better than usual so we'll be delighted if he can get in the prize money.

Veeraya (Adam) & The Ducking Stool (Reno)

 

Candesta and Shelia's Heart are two similarly imposing geldings and both will be running at the end of the month. Candesta didn't like the soft ground last time and has worked well on firmer going recently so we're hopeful he can put up a better show. Sheila will be due a break soon but is in good form and is very honest too so a win won't be far away.

Shelia's Heart (Shelley) & Candesta (Danny)

 

Silver Alliance loved Yarmouth last season and, after a good comeback run last time, he'll be part of the team heading there next week. Avidly hasn't had much luck in her last two runs but she is fine at home and will be running again in a couple of weeks.

Silver Alliance (Ross) & Avidly (Graham)

 

Bushy Glade was very weak as a two year old last season but came out of her winter break a lot stronger. She has taken a while to come to hand but is flying now and will be ready to run at Warwick towards the end of the month. She'll be having her third run so will likely improve for the experience but it'll be interesting to see what she's got.

Bushy Glade (Ryan)

Breeding future stars

Despite its name, our yard Harraton Stud has never had any foals grazing in the paddocks since we arrived nearly 10 years ago but over the last couple of years I've obviously lost my marbles and decided breeding horses would be fun too.
We had two cracking foals last year from the old stalwarts Bavarica and Bushy Dell and, even though the mares were rested this year, we were due another delivery from Emma's Gift. Her owners, Mr and Mrs Raffan, decided to breed from her after a successful racing career and on Thursday a little colt by Derby winning sire Sir Percy was born. You can already see he is a far better stamp of a horse than the two we bred last year and hopefully he'll have some of his parents' ability when hitting the track in two years' time!
They are currently at Northmore Stud across the village as we don't have facilities for foaling but they'll soon be back with us when strong enough.

Emma's Gift and her colt foal

 

Looking to the more immediate future, we have a trio of runners heading to the track this week.

Kicking off the action tomorrow is Luhaif at Windsor. He hasn't been able to get in front in his last few races on the all-weather and, if he doesn't lead, he tends to sulk a bit. He's rated a lot lower on the turf as well which will help as his recent races have been very competitive. It's hard to guess what will happen but he's in good order at home.

Then on Wednesday, Automotive makes his return to the races after a winter break. He has always had a lot of ability but it wasn't until the back end of last year that he started to show it. His handicap mark is still far below how good we think he is but he is likely to improve for the run as he is a big stuffy horse. Hopefully his run will be an encouraging one for the future.

Automotive (Shelley) & Luhaif (Ross)

 

Another who shows tonnes of ability at home is Attain. He finally managed to win a race in February and then bounced back from a poor run with a great second last time. He does need things to go right but he seems to like the way Wolverhampton is riding at the moment and it looks to be a weak race so hopefully he can get another win on the board.

Attain (Shelley) & Automotive (Ross)

 

We have never really had many sprinters to train over the years but I hope we have a couple of really nice ones to go to war with this season. Honeymoon Express ended last year on a high with two wins on the trot and she seems to have come back in just as great form. She loves firm ground so we will have to see what the weather does but she is only a couple of gallops short of a run so I'm excited by what she could do.
The other speedster I'm excited about is Tiger's Home. She thrived last autumn before getting an injury which ruled her out for a while. She's fully recovered now and looks like an absolute tank. Despite her success, she is still well handicapped so I'd be shocked if she doesn't get her head in front this season.

Honeymoon Express (Danny), Bushy Glade (Ryan) & Tiger's Home (Adam)

 

Yarmouth hosts its first meeting of the year in a couple of weeks and we'll be mob-handed at our lucky track. No horse likes it more there than The Ducking Stool and she'll be hoping to add to her five course success over the next few months. After a great time of it last year, she is pretty high in the weights but things will fall right for her again eventually and she'll make her fans happy.
Opus Too is an unraced three-year old who was too weak to run last year but he strengthened up over the winter and will be ready to run soon. He's still quite immature mentally so the experience will really bring him on.

The Ducking Stool (Reno) & Opus Too (Graham)

 

This time next Sunday Ross will be feeling pretty terrible after running the London Marathon for the first time. I must have dropped him on the head as a baby because he has decided to try and set a Guinness World Record by running the fastest marathon dressed as a jockey. He has been training hard but says he won't do any prep runs in the costume and just hopes the element of surprise gets him through it!
Special mention must go to one of our owners Len Cousens who has run every London Marathon since it started in 1981 and will be on the start line again this time. If Ross doesn't know the way, I'm sure Len does!

Muppet