That was the year that was...

As the year comes to a close, it seems a good time to look back on the last 12 months here at Harraton Stud.
We were never expecting to match last season's great tally of 19 winners as we had retained most of the horses who contributed to those wins and, as a result, they were very high in the handicap for the 2014 campaign. However, it was a thrill to score more success with some of those same horses, despite their high weights. Silver Alliance took another step up the ladder and notched two more wins to add to his three the year before whilst The Ducking Stool bagged her sixth Yarmouth win as well as scoring a hatful of placings right across the country. Automotive was another who kept us in the winners with a pair of victories which contributed to our 12 winners for the year to date. The only frustrating thing was the 50 2nds and 3rds we racked up...if only a few more of them had gone one better we would have had a record-breaking season!
Unlike last year, the exciting thing about heading into 2015 is the number of new faces we have looking over the stable doors ready to show us what they have got. I can't remember the last time I had six yearlings to train and that is very promising as they are, after all, the future of the yard. We still have a whole load of the stable favourites and it will be great to go to battle with them once again as well as a team of unexposed youngsters.
Most of all though, none of this would be possible without the help of my fantastic owners who make training horses a pleasure. There is very much an emphasis on having fun in our yard and I hope you have all had fun over the past 12 months. Here's to the same and more in 2015!

There is still time yet to add to our winners tally as we have a couple more runners before the year is out. Candesta has been pretty frustrating after a promising start to his career and we get the feeling he is taking things a bit too easy. To help wake him up a bit, he will be wearing blinkers which he galloped in very well at home last week and we also popped him over a few hurdles on Saturday to give him something else to think about. He seemed to really enjoy it and we will see if the trick worked at Lingfield on Tuesday.

Candesta (Shelley) gets a taste for jumping

 

Also there on the same day is Sabre Rock. He made a great start for us last time by winning over the same course and distance and he seems to be in as good form now as he was then. The handicapper wasn't harsh on him so you'd hope he could continue his good start.

I won't be out celebrating New Year too hard as on the first day of 2015 I'm heading to Southwell with Tolly McGuiness. He ran a good race last time but struggles to stay even the minimum trip of five furlongs. Southwell is a real galloping track so the hope is that he can blast off and stay clear.

Shares in our syndicate horses have been in hot demand all year with Dakota City selling out in less than a week in October. However, there is another opportunity to join our team with a filly I purchased this month.
Moment To Dream is an unraced two-year old by Halling who was personally recommended to me by leading trainer William Haggas. He trained the filly for Darley who were selling her as part of their annual dispersal sale and he was very reluctant to let her go but had no choice. He wanted her to go to someone who could make use of her potential and I was lucky enough to be given the call.
She has pleased us in all her steady work and she will be ready to run on the all-weather this winter and beyond. She really does have untapped potential so it's exciting to think what she could develop into. A 10% share will cost £800 plus £200 per month all inclusive training fees.

Syndicate horse MOMENT TO DREAM

 

The saying goes that all publicity is good publicity and luckily I don't get much of the bad type. This week we were paid a visit by Emma Berry from Thoroughbred Daily News who wanted to do a piece on the family and our success this year. If you would like a read, the article can be found here: http://pdfs.thoroughbreddailynews.com/generic_upload/pdf/Tales%20From%20the%20Heath%201222.pdf




THREE TO FOLLOW COMPETITION - THE FINAL STANDINGS

I'm sure you'll agree that it has been an exciting year following the horses' results and this fun competition has given you all some extra interest in our runners. The amount of entries we received was far more than we expected and, as a result, we shall definitely be running the competition next year, probably starting in March but more details will be given closer to the time.
Before I announce the winner, I would like to make my excuses now for why I scored no points! I am an optimist and obviously my choices were a bit too ambitious but it just goes to prove that I do believe every horse can win a race!
Congratulations to Harry Hurst and Sophie Feilden who ended up as joint winners and will split the £100 first prize between them...just remind me to give it to you!
Here are all the entries and their finishing points:

31 - Harry Hurst, Sophie Feilden
30 - Mark Henry
29 - Sophie Collington, Ray Treacy
27 - Steve Freemantle, Ross Birkett, Zoe Fuller
26 - Malcolm Roper
25 - Linda Wright
24 - Stephen Broadley, Rob Wright, Angus Forshaw
23 - Chris Shirran, Anthea, Geoff Walton
22 - John Wardle, Dominic Lisle, Trevor James, Jean Allen, Ray Baker, Tony Birkett, Ged Turley
21 - Len Cousens, Graham Carson, Bill Aspland
20 - Jim Stevens, Rachael Shucksmith, Julie Feilden
19 - Colin Kennedy, Gordon Hill
18 - Danny Kerr
16 - Harry Crothers, Trevor Fuller, Reno Hawes, Sheila Collington, Rita Aspland
15 - Paula Smith, Emily Holloway, Jackie Olkowicz
14 - Mike Pop
13 - Carlo Malfatti, Jason Coote, Kevin Case, Manus Sammon, Andy Elliott
12 - Sam Feilden, Nick Feilden, Carol Bushnell, Martin Dawn, Jane Shirran
11 - John Mulgrew
9 - Wayne Moore, Glenn Johnson
8 - Poppy Feilden
7 - Barbara Walton
5 - Richard Fuller, Shelley Birkett, John Birkett, Ryan Moore
4 - Tony Monk, Geoff Roberts, Jeff O'Callaghan
3 - Christine Baker
2 - Jon Kinge, Li Moore, Chris Donaghy, Dave Betteridge
1 - Eleanor Monk
0 - Julia Feilden, Phil Green, John Ford

 

Merry Christmas to all

There has been plenty of talk in the press about the old Great Leighs racecourse reopening after closing a few years ago and it seems as if it is a definite thing now after I sent a couple to gallop at the course on Friday.
Now called Chelmsford City, the track quickly became a favourite of ours, despite only being open a few years. It isn't too far to go, the course was very fair and the facilities excellent. The new owners have done a great job to get the all-weather surface in shape and the new facilities look perfectly up to the job. Our two who galloped there loved the surface and jockey Hayley Turner described it as the best all-weather track in the country. The opening fixture is on January 11th and we are likely to have a few runners there in the coming months.

The Feilden pair (right) stretch their legs at Chelmsford City

There isn't too much racing over the next week with a blank in the fixture list until Christmas and then mostly jumps racing afterwards. However, we have one set to run in Previous Acclaim on Monday. She hasn't run in a while through no fault of her own and ran a good race when last seen. She's in good form so another placing wouldn't be out of the question.

The runners last week fared well with Automotive running a cracker to finish second behind an odds-on favourite at Wolverhampton. He can be frustrating at times but has earnt his keep all year and should win again soon. Tight Lipped ran a lot better than we expected on his debut for us but it is arguable that he threw the race away by hanging wide on the final bend. There seemed to be nothing majorly wrong for him to explain the hanging but the following day we got the physio in and she found that he had a few pulled muscles in his chest and hamstrings which could have been the reason. Still, he ran well and there should be a win in him this winter.
Honeymoon Express was the other runner last week and she was again disappointing. After a good second on her return in the spring, she has gone backwards since and hasn't fired on the all-weather either. We will just have to cut our losses now and she is already on a holiday to freshen her up for the turf season in the spring.

It was great to see so many owners at the yard on Saturday and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. We will be working as per usual on Christmas Eve so if you're free and have been meaning to visit, why not make it then. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are treated as a Sunday at ours so all the horses either have an easy day or get turned out in the fields. None of them are ridden as it would be a bit unfair on the staff! It's a bit different in jumping yards as Boxing Day is a big one for them but we can afford to take it a little easier.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope the day goes smoothly for you. Plus I hope Father Christmas brings you everything you asked for...I've asked him for plenty of winners!

Meddling gets gold!

Meddling got us back into the winner's enclosure this week with another great effort to record her second success of the year. After some early disappointment, we have finally found the secret to getting the best out of her and it seems to be working. She gets very agitated when at the races so we try to get there as late as possible (roughly an hour before her race) to make sure she saves her energy.
As well as this, she got a great ride from young Hector Crouch and, as it was a race confined to novice apprentices, having a capable pilot was very important.
Meddling lost a bit of weight after this win so she will be given a few weeks before running again. It was also fantastic to get another win for her enthusiastic bunch of owners who seem to be lucky as well!

This week sees a trio of runners heading to the track, starting tomorrow at Wolverhampton. Everyone knows Automotive is a hard character to predict so it's anyone's guess how he will run but he does tend to save his best for amateur races like this and he has won on the all-weather this year but, more importantly, he has to have a strong pace to run at.
Also heading up the M6 on Monday is Tight Lipped. We bought him in October and have given him plenty of time to get to full fitness. His work hasn't set the world alight but his course form is pretty decent so it may just be a case of him saving his best for the track. He is fit and well but it will be a bit of a learning curve for all of us.
Then completing the entries is Honeymoon Express back at Wolves on Wednesday. After a great 2013, she has struggled this season but may just be finding her level again and there will be a time when she starts to be back in the money. Her homework is as good as ever and a return to a fillies only race might just help her some more.

Our four yearling fillies are now doing a good canter every morning and they are progressing really well.
To help educate them, I like to have an older horse to lead them on the Heath and the responsibility this year has fallen to Attain. He had the summer off and is just getting back to full fitness himself so this job kills two birds with one stone for him.

Attain (Ross)

 

First of the yearlings is Serendib's Glory. We bought her privately from Ireland and is from a family we know well, having trained her brother and two of her sisters. It is a family that always wins and she is showing good signs even at this early stage.

Serendib's Glory (Shelley)

 

Also progressing well are Little Orchid and Go On Gal. Orchid is getting quite tall and will be a big filly eventually but has a great attitude and goes out of the yard bucking and squealing every morning. Go On Gal, on the other hand, is more of an early type and should be ready to run in some of the first two-year old races next April.

Go On Gal (Niall) & Little Orchid (Ryan)

 

Another big filly is It's A Sheila Thing. Having said that, she is quite strongly built as well so may not be as backward as her size suggests. She loves her work and has settled into the racehorse routine really well.

It's A Sheila Thing (Mark)

 

Completing the string is an older horse who came to us last month. She is only two years old but is absolutely massive, probably the biggest juvenile filly I've ever had. She is very well bred, being a half-sister to two St Leger runners and it's exciting to have a horse of her breeding in the yard. As she is so big though, we will give her plenty of time to learn her job and it will be interesting to see what kind of engine she has when it is time to go a bit faster.

Rip Van Winkle filly (Ricky)

 

As well as these lot, we also have our homebred colt out of Bavarica who has just started to be ridden.
Showing him how it's done is good old Silver Alliance who has just returned from a holiday after a great year with another two wins on the board.

Silver Alliance (Shelley)

 

Called Big Bang, the colt is very sensible although he seems a bit scared of traffic at the moment but this is something he is getting used to and won't blink at in the near future. He has only just started going out so is a bit behind the fillies but it won't be long until he is chasing their tails.

Big Bang (Ross)

Winter warmers

December has arrived and winter looks to have come with it as it was a frosty morning on Saturday with temperatures down to -3C. Although the grass is frozen, it doesn't effect the horses' work thanks to the fantastic all-weather gallops on offer on Newmarket Heath.

 

We had a large contingent stretching their legs at the weekend, led by Tolly McGuiness. I've always believed there is a race in him and, to be honest, he has never had a change to show his true form. He is an out and out sprinter, so even 6f is too far for him. There is a good race for him over the flying five furlongs at Southwell soon and, if he handles the track's deep surface, he should be seen in a better light.

Tolly McGuiness (Ryan)

 

Automotive is a hard one to predict when he runs as a lot depends on what side of the bed he gets out of and, although he ran a stinker last time after winning the time before, I think he is back in good form and will head to Wolverhampton next week. He has never run at the track since the surface was replaced but horses seem to be able to win from behind so it may just suit him.

Automotive (Tina)

 

One who is yet to run for us is Tight Lipped. We bought him in October and we have just taken our time with him to get him back to full fitness. He is a bit of a wise old owl and knows all the tricks of the game but he has shown some good ability on the gallops and it will be interesting to see what he does at Wolverhampton the week after next.

Tight  Lipped (Ross)

 

At the same sale in October we bought Sabre Rock and he gave us a quick return on our investment the following week when winning. It came as a surprise to us that day as he hadn't done much work but he is clearly a horse who is still improving and I've been saving him for a race at Lingfield at the end of the month.
Avidly missed an engagement last week and she has got me scratching my head a bit as she has seemed to gone out of form and her homework hasn't been as good as usual. It might just be she is having a bad week so I'll give her a bit of time to get back to her usual self.

Avidly (George) & Sabre Rock (Mark)

 

I gave Bushy Glade a bit of time off in the summer as she went pretty weak and couldn't keep weight on but she has come back in great form and I can't wait to see what she can do on Friday at Wolverhampton. She is galloping well at home and is running off a basement handicap mark so hopefully all is in place for a good run.

Bushy Glade (Shelley)

 

Before that though we have Candesta at Kempton on Monday. He too is in really good form now and his last run was a step in the right direction. It doesn't look a great race so I hope he can be in the money.
Another with a good chance is Meddling at Lingfield on Wednesday. She is usually the ride of Shelley Birkett but the race is for novice apprentices only so we have booked the services of Hector Crouch. He has ridden a good few winners recently and come highly recommended from his boss Gary Moore. If he can get her out in front like she enjoys, she should be hard to catch.

Big Bang learning the ropes

Although we have four yearlings already ridden and cantering on the Heath, there are still two who are learning the ropes. Big Bang was bred by myself out of our legendary mare Bavarica and he has started his racehorse journey. Here he is being lunged to get his mouth used to having a bit in it and also to develop his steering and brakes for when he is eventually ridden!