Harraton Stud welcomes Vokera!

The big news this week is that the yard has taken on its first ever sponsor! Being sponsored has never been too important to us but with more horses than ever this year with a wide variety of syndicates, it makes sense to now take on board a sponsor. Not only does it give the sponsor nationwide exposure but it also enables owners to be able to claim back any VAT they pay through racehorse ownership. The deal does not effect any existing sponsorship deals that some owners have in place as a horse can be sponsored by two companies. Owners' sponsors will be worn by the jockey on the silks whilst my staff will be wearing our sponsored jackets.
Now, more about the sponsor. Vokera (http://www.vokera.co.uk/) is one the the country's biggest boiler suppliers and we are lucky to have an association with the company through Eddie Partridge who has an interest in a number of our horses and managed to persuade his boss to sponsor us! Luckily the company's colour is green, just like ours, so it was a perfect match. The team look fantastic in all the new gear and we shall look like a professional outfit at the races now.

Julia Feilden Racing...sponsored by VOKERA

The deal doesn't officially start until February 5th so our trio of runners this week won't be in all the new gear but that shouldn't slow them down.
Kicking off on Wednesday, Tight Lipped becomes our first runner at the newly opened Chelmsford City racecourse. After watching the track's first two opening meetings, it looks as though you need a horse who races close to the pace or leads to have any chance as the kick back there is quite severe. With this in mind, I'll be selective of what I run there and Tight Lipped should fit the bill. He makes the running and doesn't mind a deep surface so he should handle the track. He has had two runs for us and, despite not shining, has had excuses both times and he has now dropped a few pounds in the weights to a good handicap mark. If he handles the course, I hope he can bounce back to form.

Tight Lipped (Shelley)

Having had to wait six years to run at Chelmsford City again after it shut down, we're there twice in one week! Attain heads there on Sunday and seems in great form after his recent holiday. He has been freshened right up and is going pretty well at home. It is an apprentice race so anything could happen but he is an easy horse to ride and usually likes to be up there with the pace. It's his first run as part of the Newmarket Equine Tours racing club so hopefully he can get off to a successful start.

Attain (Mark) & Automotive (Ross)

Automotive is the other runner this week as he is in at Lingfield on Friday. He was unlucky last time and never got a clear run through so he seems to be holding his form well. The distance is a bit of an unknown as he didn't look like he stayed 1m4f when he last ran over it well over a year ago but it is quite an easy course at Lingfield so maybe he could just stretch his stamina.

Moment To Dream is a filly who I bought upon fellow trainer William Haggas' recommendation in December and I couldn't be happier with what I have seen so far. She wasn''t very fit when coming to us but she has been gradually upping the ante and this weekend she did her first easy gallop. Everything seems to come very easily to her and, despite having never raced, she is not too green at all. All being well, she should hit the track early next month and I'm pretty excited to see what she has got. Incidentally, if you're getting excited by her too, there are some shares still left in her syndicate.

Moment To Dream (Niall) & Bushy Glade (Ryan)

The blog has been pretty easy to write over the last four weeks as stable star Sabre Rock has won on every one of them! However, despite yet again winning easily last time, Shelley said he felt a bit tired during the race and it was only his class that saw him through so we decided to give him an easy week. He has been turned out in the field with our two young yearling colts and has been having great fun. Hopefully he has also been teaching the two young guns how to win lots of races!

Sabre Rock chilling with his two boys

Four times a racehorse!

The fairytale keeps on going with Sabre Rock and he made it four wins from four runs for us at Lingfield on Friday after yet again running away with another race. After buying him for just 7,500gns in October, he seems to have thrived since joining us and that has shown on the racecourse. He has had four quick runs now and Shelley said that he felt a bit flat during the race despite winning so he will have a few weeks off before hopefully resuming his progress.

Apologies for the lack of photos this week but there was a problem with the uploader so there will be no visuals to go with my bleatings!

It looks likely to be a quiet week on the runners front with just two entries. Candesta has a couple of entries and is most likely to go to Wolverhampton on Friday. He has improved a lot recently for the fitting of blinkers and ran a good second last time. The return to a handicap should suit him and hopefully he can show himself in a good light again.
Tolly McGuiness is the other entry as he goes to Lingfield on the same day. He has a lot of speed but struggles to see out his races so a track like Lingfield with a downhill finish could help him out and, if he can last the distance, could pick up some prize money.

As mentioned a few weeks ago, Attain has replaced Previous Acclaim in the Newmarket Equine Tours Racing Club and he looks likely to make his debut in the club's colours at Chelmsford City on 28th January. As for Previous, she has found a good home with my nephew Sam who is using her as his pony at Pony Club. She is a very good ride and has such a nice temperament so it is great to see her put to good use. As every horse is treated as an individual at our yard, I always try to find them a good home after their racing days are over as I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing they were having a rough time.

My husband John is off on his annual holiday, this time in Tenerife so it has been a busy time at home making up for the man less in the the yard. People ask why we don't go on holiday together and I tell them it is because someone has to stay at home and run the yard but, in truth, I couldn't go on the lazy, sun-bathing holidays that he enjoys!

Solid as a Rock!

Every now and again I'm lucky enough to train a horse which is capable of building up a sequence of wins and another one seems to have been unearthed in Sabre Rock after he won his third race in a row at Lingfield on Friday. I get a lot of pleasure out of this type of horse and have many happy memories doing the same with the likes of Spruce, Rapid City and Najaaba. The key to doing this though is to have a very well handicapped horse to start with and luckily Sabre Rock hadn't shown much form before we bought him and he seems to have thrived since joining us. He won easier than ever this time so I hope there is plenty more improvement left in him. We will probably have to run again quickly before the handicapper has his say so he is in again at Lingfield on Friday.

Sabre Rock (Shelley) makes it three out of three

 

Also at Lingfield that day will be Meddling. She too won last time and seems in great form. She is quite a highly-strung filly so I like to give her plenty of time between her races. She enjoys bowling along in front at Lingfield and seems to win with a bit up her sleeve so hopefully there is still more to come from her, providing the race pans out as she likes.

Bushy Glade (Ryan) & Meddling (Shelley)

 

Kicking off the runners before then is Bushy Glade. She was all at sea over a mile last time so she's stepping up in trip and I think it should see her in a better light. She is lightly raced and I think there is more to come. She has a couple of entries at Southwell and Kempton and I'll have a look at the races and try to pick the one most suitable.

Our bunch of juveniles were given a couple of weeks off over the festive period to let their minds catch up with their new training regimes and they have come back in great spirits. They were going well before the break and have continued where they left off. The babies can get bored quite quickly so it's important to mix up their training and yesterday they all 'bunched-up' and got close to each other just to slowly get them used to race conditions. There is no rush as the two-year old races don't start until April so I'll just have to be patient before seeing what they've got!

The two-year olds 'bunching-up'

 

I can't wait to see Chelmsford City racecourse hold it's inaugural fixture today as it was always a track I loved when it was formerly known as Great Leighs. Unfortunately there weren't any races suitable for our horses this time but I hope to have a runner or two there in a couple of weeks. However, we did gallop two horses at the track last month as part of the trials day. Shelley said the surface rode really well and it is a handy track to have, being just an hour away from Newmarket.

Our pair (right) gallop at Chelmsford City

 

I don't know if many of you watched Tight Lipped run at Kempton on Wednesday night, where he looked to finish a disappointing seventh. However, there was a lot more to the run than met the eye as halfway through the race he had to jump a swan! The bird was on the track as the runners jumped off and the swan walked directly in front of him as he passed. Luckily he has run over hurdles and he jumped clear of the animal, much to jockey Ross' relief! The move caught the media's imagination and the Racing Post did a big story on the incident on Friday. Hopefully Tight Lipped can fly home next time after this incident!

 

Hoping to get 2015 off to a flyer

I was happy enough with how last year had gone but Sabre Rock saw off 2014 in the best possible way by winning at Lingfield on Tuesday. He has now won both his two runs since joining us and he seems to really have thrived since making the move. He is a pleasure to train and is a really laid-back character. He seems to love the all-weather so we will look to keep him busy and try to make the most of his low handicap mark. He has a few entries this week but the best chance looks to be back at Lingfield on Friday. It is the same class and distance as last time so you would hope he has a great chance, even with a 6lb penalty.

Sabre Rock & Shelley win again at Lingfield

 

He is not the only chance we have this week though, far from it. There are plenty of horses looking to get our first winner of the new year, starting with Tight Lipped at Kempton on Wednesday. He ran well enough on his debut for us last time but hung right quite badly in the straight. We later found he had a pulled muscle in his back which could have been the cause. This problem appears to be better now so he could improve on that first run, providing he stays the 1m4f trip.
Automotive is also entered this week at Wolverhampton on Thursday. He ran a great race at the track last time to finish second but he never runs two good races back to back so it's hard to guess what kind of mood he is in, even though he seems great at home.

Tight Lipped (Ross) & Automotive (Shelley)

 

Candesta also ran really well last time and I'm hoping the blinkers he had on that day have woken him up a bit. He has a couple of entries this week at Southwell and Lingfield. The first race looks in danger of being 'scrapped' under the new BHA rules which mean that small field races can be axed at late notice if there are insufficient runners. This has annoyed a lot of trainers and I'm not too happy about it either. After all, a trainer's job is to find races which are easy to win, and these can often be small field handicaps. You can have a race planned out for weeks, with the horse primed perfectly all for it to be for nothing when the race is cancelled at late notice. It's hard enough to make plans as it is but it's pointless moaning as the racing authorities just do as they please nowadays without consultation from those who the new rulings affect.

Another in a race without many entries is Bushy Glade. We probably got the trip all wrong for her last time and she may be a stayer rather than a miler so she's now going a bit further. All she does is gallop so it will be interesting to see if she fares any better.

Attain (Mark) & Bushy Glade (Ryan)

 

Avidly (Tina)

As I said last week, Previous Acclaim has now been retired from racing which means the Newmarket Equine Tours racing club had lost a horse. However, I have found a great replacement in Attain. He is a great, fun horse who is very reliable and sound. He had a lot of success last winter after putting together a string of placings before winning at Wolverhampton by a whopping six lengths. He had a summer break and is now back in full work, ready to run in the next couple of weeks. The Club really has a great quartet of horses now with The Ducking Stool, Handheld, Tolly McGuiness and Attain. You can be a member for just £180 for the year - you will get badges to the races to cheer your horse on and can even visit the yard to give them all a carrot! For more details, email me on juliafeilden@aol.com

New Club horse Attain wins at Wolverhampton by SIX lengths!