Kemsing...the perfect present!

A couple of weeks ago I said it would be great if we could nick one more winner before the year was out to beat last year's winner's tally so I'm even happier to have now gone two ahead thanks to Kemsing's great win at Southwell on Friday. Regular readers of the blog will know I've been banging on about him for a while now so it was fantastic to win with him on his first run for the yard after we bought him at the October Tattersalls sales. Personally, it is very satisfying to win with a horse fresh from another trainer's yard as it goes to show that we must be doing something right here at Harraton Stud.
As well as saying how well he goes, I've also been trying to sell shares in him as only 20% had been sold so I thought the best way to advertise his abilities would be to prove how fast he can run! This win is just the start of what could be a profitable winter for him and £1200 for a 10% share (with £200 per month all-inclusive training fees) could look very cheap by the spring. Thankfully there has already been immediate interest but if you would like to join the syndicate or want more details, please email me on juliafeilden@aol.com

Kemsing returns to the winner's enclosure

We seem to have hit a rich vein of form at Southwell with our last two runners there winning and I hope Dark Diamond can bring up the hat-trick on Tuesday. He looked for all the world like needing further when third at the track over a mile last time so the step up in trip should be ideal. He is still a maiden but certainly deserves to win a race and it should be this winter.

Dark Diamond

Racing takes a break for a few days before the Christmas period and, after enjoying some turkey on the 25th and watching some top-class jumps racing on Boxing Day, we'll be heading to Chelmsford on Sunday with Attain. He was unlucky not to win there last time after getting boxed in and showed that he is still fresh and well after a long season. He unfortunately bruised his foot at the weekend but he has recovered well from it and we will see over the course of the week what kind of shape he is in before deciding whether to run or not.

Attain winning earlier in the year

Four of our six yearlings are back at our yard from pre-training now and I'm very happy with them all. I bought Secret Ballerina with the hope that she would be a razor-sharp juvenile and the early signs are good as she goes about her steady work in a great manner. The two-year old races don't start until next April so we will take things slowly with her, building up her preparation along the way.

Secret Ballerina (Adam)

Mungo Madness (Ross)

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has very kindly brought presents to the yard over the last few weeks. Myself and John will certainly be kept merry over the Christmas period with all the wine and even the dogs are well catered for with all the biscuits that have been brought in.
There's no chance of getting fat at ours with the horses all still needing to be looked after over the weekend, although they will be having easy days on Friday and Saturday before getting back into the routine.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy spending time with your families and, if you complain that the weather is too mild to be Christmas, remember it won't be long before we're back to scenes like this!

Emma's Gift winning in the snow at Wolverhampton