The turf is back...or is it?

It was great to see the turf season kick off again this weekend and it hopefully means the warmer days are coming and I can finally cast off the thermals!
Unfortunately we didn't get off to the best possible start with Guising at Doncaster yesterday. It was his first run for us and it was clear to see that he will benefit for the fitting of blinkers and can improve for this effort.

Even though we are now officially racing on the green stuff, you wouldn't think so by looking at the fixture list as there is no flat racing full stop on Monday and Tuesday just sees all-weather racing at Southwell! This happens every year and I don't see why the start of the turf season couldn't be put back a week to avoid a clash with the Dubai World Cup, to make the beginning of the new campaign a bit more 'official' and to give the turf tracks another week to prepare for racing as the condition of the ground is never that great currently.

Talking of Southwell tomorrow, we will be there with Candesta. He ran a very promising race last time and was unlucky not to finish closer. It's his first try at the track but he has run well at Chelmsford which seems to be quite similar and he is American bred which seems to be a positive there too. He has a wide draw but it isn't the end of the world and I hope he can finally get that elusive first win.

Jumping out of his skin: Candesta (Shelley)

 

We've had some good results at Chelmsford since it was reopened a couple of months ago but a first win there still hasn't come. We've a trio of chances on Wednesday though and hopefully one can hit the target.
Dakota City is a big gelding we bought last autumn and decided to give the winter off to help him strengthen up. He has come out of the break in great order and his homework has been very pleasing. He is likely to improve for the run, and there is a hot favourite to beat, but this is a good starting place for him and it can hopefully lead to better things in 2015.
Meddling was a bit disappointing last time but she couldn't get to the front as she likes and sulked a bit as a result. Things should be a bit easier on Tuesday though with only four runners in the field. She is having a massage just to correct a sore muscle in her back this afternoon so, if she is fine after that, she will take her chance.

Attain (Ross) & Dakota City (Mark)

 

Completing the trio is Inauguration. We bought her from Charlie Hills' yard in February and she ran a stinker on her debut for us earlier this month. She is better than that and we're going to try some more patient riding tactics this time just to save her for the finish. These aren't ideal tactics at Chelmsford but it should benefit her and we just want to see her finishing her race better this time.

Honeymoon Express (Ross), Go On Gal (Adam) & Inauguration (Mark)

Trainer Mark Johnston had a phenomenal day on Saturday by winning all three two-year old races with his horses. I knew plenty of other trainers fancied there runners in those races and it just goes to show that you don't truly know how good your babies are until they hit the track.

I thought Go On Gal would be ready for the first day of the season but a little more time will do her the world of good and she should make her debut at Wolverhampton in a couple of weeks. She did a nice piece of work on the grass on Saturday and her attitude is faultless - she really does have the will to win.

 

Fans of The Ducking Stool will be pleased to know that she is in great form and making progress towards her seasonal return. With her beloved Yarmouth closed for redevelopment, we're having to go elsewhere with her for the first part of the year and it looks like she'll head up north to Wetherby for her return. It will be the course's first ever flat meeting and I think the flat, galloping, left-handed configuration will be ideal for her.

The Ducking Stool (Nick) & Harry Bosch (Tess)

 

Also likely to be going to Wetherby is Veeraya. Things didn't go his way at Chelmsford last time but it was a start to his year after he suffered some serious colic issues last autumn. He is very happy in himself and he'll eventually find his grade again.
One who always shows his best is Silver Alliance. He won at Pontefract last summer and he could head back there in a few weeks. He just loves his work and is a pleasure to train.

Veeraya (Adam) & Silver Alliance (Ryan)

 

THREE TO FOLLOW COMPETITION
The entries have been flooding in so don't miss out - get your trio in now!
The format is simple: pick three horses from our yard to score you points throughout the season - 5 points for a win, 3 for a second and 1 for a third.
The only rule is that you pick ONE horse from Pool A (two-year olds and three-year olds) and TWO horses from Pool B (older horses). When you've made your mind up, email your choices to rbirkett1989@hotmail.co.uk
The competition runs from 28th April - 7th November so don't delay - get your entries in and you could win the £100 first prize!

POOL A (Two and three-year olds) PICK ONE
Inauguration
Big Bang
Moment To Dream
Duke Of Diamonds
Unnamed (Archipenko colt)
Serendib's Glory
It's A Sheila Thing
Little Orchid
Go On Gal

POOL B (Older horses) PICK TWO
Dakota City
Silver Alliance
Vastly
Harry Bosch
Tight Lipped
Meddling
Avidly
Veeraya
Automotive
Bethan
Attain
The Ducking Stool
Honeymoon Express
Bushy Glade
Guising
Candesta
Handheld

The Three To Follow is back!

It's not just the turf season that returns this week but also our hugely popular Three To Follow competition. More details can be found at the end of this blog.

Firstly, it's on to the most important matter - the horses.
It wasn't a bad week runners-wise with a few horses putting in good efforts and finishing in the money. It was encouraging to see both Candesta and Avidly running well as they have both had problems and hopefully we are getting on top of them and a win isn't too far away.
Meddling ran a bit below par when favourite at Lingfield on Friday for no apparent reason. She didn't travel with her usual zest and it may have just been that she got in behind a few horses and sulked a bit. She is better than this effort and I hope she can get back to form next time.

Looking on to this week, we are straight into action at Wolverhampton tomorrow. Tight Lipped has put in some good runs for us over the winter but just found one mile way too short for him last time. He's back up in trip and had a little pop over some hurdles at the weekend to freshen him up. He has run over hurdles once before for previous connections but he seemed to have forgotten that and put in some hairy jumps!

Tight Lipped (Ross) goes jumping

To help the inexperienced jumpers out I usually accompany them with a more experienced partner to show them the ropes and, although we don't have any national hunt horses in at the minute, good old Silver Alliance is a great jumper and thoroughly enjoys lending a hand.

Silver Alliance (Adam) shows him how it's done

Back on the level, it was a busy morning on Saturday with plenty of horses to be put through their paces.
The turf season kicks off at the weekend with the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster and we will be represented on Sunday with Guising. He was bought last autumn and given a winter holiday after not showing much form for his previous trainer. He is fresh and well now and has done plenty of work so should be fit enough. I don't really know what his level is at the moment so it will be a bit of a fact-finding mission with him.

Guising (Ross), Dakota City (Mark) & Attain (Adam)

Dakota City was bought at the same time as Guising and he too was given a winter holiday. He has done very well for the break and is a bull of a horse now. He showed some decent form in three French runs so I hope he will be good enough to win a maiden here before going on to bigger things. He has just started his faster work so will hopefully be hitting the course next month.
Attain has come out of his win last time in good order and seems very pleased with himself. He acts well on the all-weather so I will try to find a similar race for him.

Our two-year olds have been a pleasure to train this year without any major problems. A couple of them have a bit of a cough at the moment so that has set them back a week or two but other than that they are going well.
Go On Gal seems to be the most forward of the lot and, all being well, could make her debut as early as this Saturday at Kempton. It is usually a very good race, as shown by last year's winner of it - Tiggy Wiggy - but our filly looks ready for a run and the experience will do her plenty of good and should give her a head-start on her rivals in the coming months.

Go On Gal (Mark)

The return of the turf means the return of the legend that is The Ducking Stool. Now 8-years old, she shows no signs of slowing down and has come out of her winter holiday in rude health. It's a shame that her beloved Yarmouth won't be re-opening after maintenance work until the summer but she showed last season that she is more than capable of running well at other tracks so I hope she can finally break her hoodoo and win somewhere else other than by the seaside!

The Ducking Stool (Tina)

Bushy Glade put in a career best effort to finish second last time and she goes from strength to strength. She looks fantastic and I hope she can follow up that good run next time. I have entered her for Wolverhampton on Thursday but there are lots of entries and she might miss the ballot.

Bushy Glade (Megan)

Harry Bosch was bought by one of my owners a few months back with the intention of running him at Windsor's popular Monday evening fixtures and that looks to still be the plan as his training has been going well. He hasn't won in a while but Windsor is where he has run best so maybe a return to there could perk him up again when the time comes.

Harry Bosch (Ryan)

Many of you would have seen a few weeks ago that our star mare Bavarica had her second foal and this week they returned back to us. He is by first-season sire Cityscape and looks outstanding with a great character. It's hard to tell at this stage whether he will be fast or not but that's not a bad thing as it means I can dream that he will be a champion!

Bavarica's Cityscape colt

One month old but already a handful!

THREE TO FOLLOW COMPETITION

Due to popular demand, the Three To Follow is back!
The format is simple: pick three horses from our yard to score you points throughout the season - 5 points for a win, 3 for a second and 1 for a third.
The only rule is that you pick ONE horse from Pool A (two-year olds and three-year olds) and TWO horses from Pool B (older horses). When you've made your mind up, email your choices to rbirkett1989@hotmail.co.uk
The competiton runs from 28th April - 7th November so don't delay - get your entries in and you could win the £100 first prize!

POOL A (Two and three-year olds) PICK ONE
Inauguration
Big Bang
Moment To Dream
Duke Of Diamonds
Unnamed (Archipenko colt)
Serendib's Glory
It's A Sheila Thing
Little Orchid
Go On Gal

POOL B (Older horses) PICK TWO
Dakota City
Silver Alliance
Vastly
Harry Bosch
Tight Lipped
Meddling
Avidly
Veeraya
Automotive
Bethan
Attain
The Ducking Stool
Honeymoon Express
Bushy Glade
Guising
Candesta
Handheld

Counting the days!!!

I know you should never wish your life away, but I am so looking forward to the end of March not only because the new Flat season starts at Doncaster on 28th March but also Ross will be back from his travels in Australia to write this blog!! As you will probably have guessed the blog is probably not up to the usual standard of writing and layout.

The gallops on Saturday certainly stepped up a gear when we galloped all three lots that went out, it is very unusal to have that many horses to work. The two year olds are now ready to run and did a great piece of work over 4 furlongs on the polytrack All Weather, we will probably have our first two year old running at Kempton on 28th March with It's a Sheila Thing, a sharp filly by Sir Percy. Another filly ready to run is Go On Gal who will also be running in the next couple of weeks, she is by the good sire of two year olds Approve.

L/R It's a SheilaThing (Mark) Inauguration (Niall) Go On Gal (Adam)

The runners kick off this week on Monday with Silver Alliance at Chelmsford City, he has had a Winter break after having a fruitful season, winning twice but has paid the price by starting this year probably a little too high in the handicap, but he is a horse that can surprise you now and again.

Wednesday sees Avidly and Veeraya back on the track also at Chelmsford. Avidly seems to have the spark back doing a very good piece of work with Meddling on Saturday.

Avidly (Adam) leads Meddling (Mark)

 The two horses we have lined up for the first turf meeting of the season at Doncaster on Sunday, 29th March, did a good piece of work over 1 mile on Saturday. Handheld with me back in the plate! worked upsides Guising who will run in the Amateur riders handicap on that day.
Another exciting horse we have gearing up to run is Dakota City a stunning 4 year old half brother to Rapid City who won 6 races for us a few years ago. He has had three runs in France and has a rating of 75, so he will probably start off in a maiden. He has been syndicated and has some excited owners waiting in the wings!!

Handheld far side (Julia) upsides Guising (Tessa)

Dakota City (Mark) strides out on Cambridge Road polytrack

We are back at Chelmsford on Thursday with Candesta, he has also had a short break and will run back over 1m, as it seems this distance suits him best, he finished second there over course and distance two runs back. Tight Lipped has been ticking over waiting for a suitable race, he is best running fresh, so should be out again in a week or two.

Candesta (Rebecca) near side upsides Veeraya (Adam)

Tight Lipped (Niall) strides out on Cambridge Road polytrack

Tears of joy followed by tears of sadness

Well they say racing is a great leveller and so it proved on Wednesday at Lingfield. Sabre Rock scored in impressive style to make it five wins in a row under a fantastic ride by Shelley Birkett. He is now in line for the £10,000 bonus for most wins in the All Weather season, so will now aim for a race at the end of March. Half an hour later Tolly McGuiness ran in the Hands and Heels race ridden by our apprentice Ryan Moore. He was travelling well when disaster struck two furlongs from home when he fractured his fore leg and was pulled up quickly, unfortunately he could not be saved. I would like to thank Lingfield Racecourse for dealing with Tolly and myself with such speed and kindness. I had gone through every emotion in one hour.

Sabre Rock winning at Lingfield ridden by Shelley Birkett

Ryan riding Tolly McGuiness RIP

We do not have any horses entered until Friday when Meddling may run in a fillies handicap at Lingfield, if this race looks like being too tough then we will wait until Lingfield the following Friday for a lower grade race. She has been slightly held up by an infected cut that happened when she was running around the field, but she worked nicely on the All Weather on Wednesday with Avidly who is coming back to form after a couple of months break and will be running in the next couple of weeks. The other runner we have entered on Friday is Bushy Glade at Wolverhampton, she is in a low grade 1m 4f handicap and we hope she can improve for the step up in trip. Moment to Dream has been improving all the time in her work, so we would hope to see her make her debut in a couple of weeks.

Meddling (Mark) far side with Avidly (Adam)

Moment to Dream (Tina) far side with Bushy Glade (Ryan)

 All the horses that have had a Winter break have now stepped up a gear in preparation for the new turf season that opens at the end of March. Silver Alliance is in great form and worked nicely on the Cambridge Road polytrack on Saturday, we hope to run him at Chelmsford City on 16th March as a prep run before another turf season. Guising worked along side Silver, he is a October Horses in Training purchase who has been given a Winter break in the hope that he finds the good form he showed as a three year old, he will head to Doncaster for the Amateur handicap when Ross will be back from his trip to Australia to ride him

Silver Alliance (Mark) far side with Guising (Niall)

Two more horses that are returning from a break are Veeraya who has over come a serious operation for a twisted gut last year, he is now moving better than ever so we hope that this will be his year to repay the vets bills his owner has incurred over the last few months!! Handheld hates running on the All Weather so he is gearing up for a run at Doncaster at the end of March, hopefully he will get the soft ground that he needs.

Veeraya (Adam) near side with Handheld (Tessa)

 The two year olds are well forward and will be hitting the track in the first two year old races of the season, our first runner in this catagory will probably be It's a Sheila Thing a sharp filly by Sir Percy also running along well with her is Go On Gal a filly by Approve and Big Bang by Observatory out our wonderful mare Bavarica, he is our new horse for Newmarket Equine Tours Racing Club.

Candesta leading the two year olds on Saturday

40/1 chance leaves us all tongue tied

Well Attain showed us he still has that ability that he shows at home with an emphatic win at Lingfield on Tuesday under a great ride by Shelley, the first time tongue tie seems to have been the answer, we hope he can follow up next time now we have found the key.

Attain winning at Lingfield

Next week kicks off on Wednesday at Lingfield with Sabre Rock aiming for a five timer, he has done well for his months' break and we hope that he is still on a winning mark and can keep the dream alive!! Also running on that day is Tolly McGuiness in the apprentice race to be ridden by our apprentice Ryan Moore. Thursday we move on to Chelmsford City with Tight Lipped, he is running back over 1m 2f as he found the 1m too sharp last time. We have given him a back up entry at Southwell on Thursday as the race has been put 'at risk' of being abandoned if there are less than 5 declarations.

Sabre Rock (Mark Rimmer)

Tolly McGuiness (Ryan)

Tight Lipped (Adam) Grey with Handheld (Shelley)

Another filly we hope to have on the track soon is Moment to Dream, she has been working nicely and is now ready to experience the racetrack. She is improving all the time and being by Halling will improve with age. After sadly losing Prussia Cove a few weeks ago Steve Clarke has taken a half share in her to realise his ambition to have a horse run in his colours.

Moment to Dream (Tina) in front of Bushy Glade (Rebecca)

Photographer John Hoy came to the yard on Friday and fitted a head cam to Shelley's helmet to take action pictures of a riders view for a video for the Jockey Club, we are looking forward to seeing some of the pictures and hopefully show you soon. As you know Shelley starts her new job with David O'Meara on Monday, we all wish her the best of luck, she will be very much missed around the yard but when available will still be riding our horses at the races

Shelley with head cam ready for action!