No shirking from Ducking

The Ducking Stool continues to be a model of consistency and did us all proud again last week with another fine second place on her first effort over two miles. We have been gradually stepping her up in trip and she has improved with every question we have asked of her. She is just the perfect flag bearer for our Newmarket Equine Tours racing club which makes ownership affordable at just £180 for a year's membership.

Our lucky track Yarmouth hosts another couple of meetings this week but amazingly the ground is still very fast despite all the recent rain in the area. It doesn't look like we'll be there on Tuesday but we will have both Handheld and Silver Alliance entered there on Sunday. Both of the boys won last time out and haven't been too harshly treated by the handicapper. Handheld needs soft ground to be seen at his best whilst Silver never seems to run two good races consecutively so we can only hope for the best.

Before that on Monday, we have a pair of runners on the all-weather at Kempton. Celestine Abbey ran well on her handicap debut at Lingfield last time and jockey Luke Morris said stepping up to one mile will see her in a better light so that's what we're doing and hopefully he's right.
Accompanying her to the Sunbury venue will be Don't. See showed promise on her debut for us last time at Yarmouth despite racing quite keenly. With that in mind, we are probably going to make the running with her this time as it may mean she settles better. She is still a lightly raced horse so there is plenty of improvement to come.

Then we're likely to be back at Kempton on Wednesday with another two. No Such Number has been running well all year and the fact he's rated a lot lower on the all-weather than the turf may just help him get his head in front. He is heading to the sales next month so it'd be nice if he could go there with a win by his name.
Also likely to be at Kempton is Bethan. She too has been hitting the crossbar all season without a win but it's only down to the fact she hasn't had the soft ground she loves. As I can''t seem to find any, we're giving her a go on the all-weather again. Her best form is probably on the turf but she seems to work well on artificial surfaces at home.

No Such Number (Josh)

 

This time last year on Sunday, we saddled a double when Honeymoon Express won at Yarmouth and Automotive did the same 15 minutes later at Goodwood. Although Honeymoon isn't running this time, Automotive will be bidding to win his race once again. He has been very hit and miss this season but still has plenty of ability on his day. If everything goes right for him, he should go very close.


Automotive (Ross), Avidly (Shelley) & Bethan (Ryan)

 

Avidly has enjoyed a mid-summer break after a long campaign and has come back in great form. She had her first gallop at the weekend and it was quite impressive so hopefully she will be ready to run in a couple more weeks.
Likewise, Sadiigah is on the comeback trail and has been pleasing in her slower motions. She has had some injuries in the past but we will try to keep her in one piece so she can finally hit the track again.

Sadiigah (Danny)