Dakota destroys them!

Lingfield on a Saturday night seems to be the place to be as we made it another winning weekend at the Surrey venue after Dakota City put in an astonishing display to lose his maiden tag.
Disappointing in a few runs for us, we had felt that he wasn't really putting it all in so we tried a visor on him and it seemed to do the trick as he came from last to first and win easily.
It was pretty spectacular to watch as he appeared to have no chance for most of the race but jockey Adam Beschizza made a brilliant mid-race move which saw him swoop the field and grab the lead. If you still can't believe he won, owner Matt Bisogno has summarised the race here on YouTube.
This win should do the horse's confidence the world of good and we have also learnt that he probably doesn't like being hit with the stick as Adam dropped it halfway round so never got the chance to use it!

Dakota City storms home in the Lingfield twilight

Dakota's win capped off a busy week with runners most days and there were some good performances elsewhere. The Ducking Stool has been struggling for form this year but her third place finish at Newbury was a step in the right direction and hopefully she can build on this effort. Also filling the third spot was Limerick Lord who remains very consistent and will be getting his head in front soon.

Hitting the track for the first time on Friday was Duke Of Diamonds. He has been a late maturing gelding and thankfully his owners have given me the time to let him mature until he was ready to run. He made his debut at Newmarket and put in a very respectable display to finish fourth. He seemed to love the soft ground and looks likely to get a long trip.

Duke Of Diamonds finishes 4th at HQ

Owners Jon and Carol look happy with the result!

After a good deal of runners last week, there aren't as many to send out over the next few days so it is not until Thursday that we head off racing. Attain made it a perfect start for our new apprentice Luke Rowe when scoring at Lingfield last weekend and hopefully the pair can double up at Epsom. Attain has never really had the soft ground he loves for a long time now and I'm sure that if he gets it he'll be better than we've seen even up to now.
Dakota City is likely to get a hike in the weights for his win so I'll enter him at Lingfield next Saturday just in case the handicapper does put him right up. I'll have to see how fresh he is after this run but at least we have an option and can decide what to do when the new ratings come out on Tuesday.

Silver Alliance (Luke) & Dark Diamond (Nick) stride out on the Flat Gallop

THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE
Dakota City was one of the most popular selections this season so his win has seen a big shake up in the rankings. Along with The Ducking Stool's placing, many have seen themselves come out of the dreaded 'zero points' club!

Mark Rimmer 19
Ros Cousens 18
Steve Moore 17
Shelley Birkett 17
Adam Beschizza 17
Jim Stevens 17
Malc Shields 14
Megan Digby Baker 12
John Birkett 12
Geoff Roberts 12
Barbara Walton 12
Gordon Hill 12
Poppy Feilden 11
Eddie Partridge 11
Rita Aspland 11
Julia Feilden 11
Paula Smith 11
Steve Clarke 11
Julie Feilden 9
Linda Wright 8
Stephen Broadley 8
Martyn Clark 8
Dominic Lisle 8
Jason Coote 7
Sophie Collington 7
Chris Shirran 7
Dave Barnett 7
Brian Reilly 6
Jonathan Kinge 6
Sam Feilden 6
Steve Springford 6
Ryan Moore 6
Liz Moore 6
Dave Morris 6
Phil Collington 6
Rachael Shucksmith 6
Rob Weston 6
Lee Cousens 6
Tina 6
Kel Mansfield 6
Sarah Macdonald 6
Tessa Stone 6
Harry Hurst 6
Ged Turley 6
Bill Aspland 6
Geoffrey Walton 5
Nick Feilden 5
Martin Godfrey 5
Wayne Moore 5
Michael Buckley 5
Sheila Collington 5
Matt Bisgono 5
Robert Wright 5
Adi Tuddenham 5
Bill Burgess 4
Allan Forster 3
Trevor Fuller 3
Barry Hine 3
Carol Bushnell 1
Chris Shelley 1
Sophie Feilden 1
Maureen Case 1
James Collington 1
Jane Shirran 1
Tony Birkett 1
Anthea Telford 1
Lewis Richards 1

PLUS SIX OTHERS ON ZERO POINTS

Debut gold for Luke and Attain

Our new apprentice Luke Rowe got off to the best possible start for us by winning on his first ride for the stable when steering Attain to victory last night at Lingfield. Luke has settled in well during his first month with us and this win will do his confidence plenty of good after an enforced injury absence. His 7lb claim will be a big help for some of the handicappers and hopefully this is the first of many Feilden successes.

Attain and Luke win at Lingfield

Attain has now won three races this year - a great achievement considering he took 21 runs to break his maiden! He is part of the Newmarket Equine Tours Racing Club which for just £180 per year offers fantastic value as you can live like an owner and enjoy the champagne after winning!

Attain's win has really given us a boost and gets our hopes up for some good results this coming week.
Starting on Tuesday, Guising goes to Chelmsford City. It is the track's first meeting since the surface was refurbished and hopefully it will ride a lot more consistently as the kick-back had become pretty bad in recent months. Guising was third there last time and his homework is better than ever. He does need the race to go his way to run well but he couldn't be any happier at home so hopefully he can land some prize money.

Automotive (Ross) & Guising (Adam)

The following day we make the long but usually lucky trip down to Bath. Limerick Lord has improved with each run for us and the form of his third place last time has been boosted with the winner scoring again. I've put some cheekpieces on him as Adam said last time he was just holding a bit back for himself and if this can wring out a couple of pounds improvement, he should go very close.

Limerick Lord (Ross)

One horse who loves Bath time with two wins at the course is Harry Bosch. He won quite easily there earlier in the summer and hasn't run too badly in better company since. This time he is back down to a level he can win at plus on a course he loves so hopefully the two can factors equal success.

Harry Bosch (Adam)

Without Yarmouth to race at, The Ducking Stool has been a bit lost. All her six wins have come at the seaside venue and, although she hasn't shone this season, it does mean she is dropping to a good handicap mark and will be ready to roll when Yarmouth re-opens its gates next month. In the meantime, she goes to Newbury on Thursday. She has run well at the track before and is on a nice mark so maybe she can start to show some sparkle again.
Friday night sees Duke Of Diaamonds make his belated debut at Newmarket. He has been a slow-maturing type but the last month or so has been a lot more encouraging and he is ready for a run now. He'll be seen to better light in handicaps later in the year but an educative run will do him a lot of good.

The Ducking Stool (Sarah) & Duke Of Diamonds (Caitlin)

I've been a bit disappointed with Dakota City's last few runs but I think we'll see a different horse at Lingfield on Saturday as his homework with a visor on has been much improved. He has plenty of ability and his run last time was a better performance. He is on a good mark now and I think we could finally see him getting competitive.

Dakota City (Mark) leads the way

Also getting an entry on Saturday will be Automotive and Vastly at Salisbury. Vastly's comeback has been interrupted by the firm ground that is prevalent at the moment and as soon as we get some juice in the going, he will be back on course. He spent last week swimming as he had a slight back problem but a routine canter yesterday showed he has lost no fitness because of it. He is very well handicapped on the grass and I'm just itching to let him loose on a racecourse again!
Automotive will be dropping back to a mile for the first time in a few seasons and I don't think it'll be a problem as he has loads of speed. He is a bit out of form recently but he always pops up and surprises us.

My two new purchases had an easy week to settle in before checking out the Heath for the first time on Saturday morning.
Star of the Stage is a lovely looking son of Invincible Spirit who is very athletic and seems like a proper racehorse. He is very lightly raced and could have plenty more improvement in him. Shares in his ownership syndicate have been selling fast but there are still a few left if you'd like to get involved.

Star of the Stage (Mark)

The other new kid on the block is the filly Dissertation. She is a typically big Juddmonte-bred and looks likely to improve with every day which passes. She was highly regarded in France and I hope I can eek out that ability in her.

Dissertation (Ross)

Although plans aren't set in stone yet, it may be worth you putting Saturday 29th August in your diary as I'm planning on holding a little party for everyone at the July course before racing takes place that day. We will be having a runner in the historic Newmarket Town Plate that day too, ridden by my brother Nick, so it'd be worth coming along just to watch that. I'll let you know final details closer to the time. Also, Ross is thinking of organising an owners' golf day the following day so if you think you'd like to take part, register your interest next time you see him. Don't worry if you're no good at golf, I've seen Ross try and hit some balls in the field and I can assure you he's no Tiger Woods! (Although the woods is where most of his balls ended up).



THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE
Attain's win has seen a shake-up in the order and Ros Cousens now gets back on top with a one point lead. We have plenty of chances this week so there could be more change on the way.

Ros Cousens 18
Steve Moore 17
Malc Shields 14
Mark Rimmer 14
Megan Digby Baker 12
John Birkett 12
Geoff Roberts 12
Barbara Walton 12
Gordon Hill 12
Shelley Birkett 12
Adam Beschizza 12
Jim Stevens 12
Julie Feilden 9
Poppy Feilden 6
Brian Reilly 6
Eddie Partridge 6
Jonathan Kinge 6
Rita Aspland 6
Sam Feilden 6
Steve Springford 6
Ryan Moore 6
Julia Feilden 6
Liz Moore 6
Dave Morris 6
Paula Smith 6
Jason Coote 6
Sophie Collington 6
Steve Clarke 6
Chris Shirran 6
Phil Collington 6
Rachael Shucksmith 6
Rob Weston 6
Dave Barnett 6
Allan Forster 3
Bill Burgess 3
Linda Wright 3
Stephen Broadley 3
Martyn Clark 3
Trevor Fuller 3
Dominic Lisle 3
Barry Hine 3
Lee Cousens 1
Tina 1
Carol Bushnell 1

REST ON ZERO POINTS

Happy Shopper

It's not often that I go horse shopping and everyone is happy with what I come home with but for once there were smiles all round as the ramp on the horse box dropped and the new arrivals revealed themselves.
As I'm sure you all know, the best horse I've ever trained was Spirit of Sharjah who ran and won at some of the world's biggest meetings, including Royal Ascot and the Dubai Carnival. I haven't been able to afford another horse by Spirit's sire, Invincible Spirit, as they are very sought after. However, I was delighted to be able to purchase Star Of The Stage at what I think is a fantastic price. A three-year old gelding, he was formerly trained by Richard Fahey and won a maiden at Lingfield for him in December and has run respectably in two handicaps since. Richard says he has had some problems with his feet but this is a part of the anatomy we seem to have few problems with so hopefully it won't be an issue in his new environment. As you can probably see from the photo, he still has some strengthening up to do and I hope that he could develop into a smart miler. He's pretty fit and should be ready to run in no time - hopefully he is the next stable star!
70% of this attractive gelding has already been sold but the remaining shares are available to purchase for just £1200 per 10% share along with £200 per month all-inclusive training fees. Email me on juliafeilden@aol.com for more details.

Star Of The Stage

The other exciting purchase I made came from the Juddmonte dispersal sale, a source we have had plenty of success from in the past, and is called Dissertation.
She has come over from France where she was trained by Criquette Head-Maarek who thought she had the ability of a Group horse on her homework but she disappointed in her two maiden runs when sent off at a short price both times. Like Star of the Stage, she still has some strengthening up to do but she is an unknown entity and should provide her new owner Dick Creese with plenty of fun.

The two new faces give us lots to look forward to in the future but in the present, we have a group of runners heading to the track this week.
Starting tomorrow, Attain makes the trip up to Beverley for a lady riders' pro-am race. I had the race lined up for him for quite a while with it in mind that Shelley could ride him. However, Shelley only went and fractured her leg on Thursday morning so that scuppered that! Shelley is in good spirits but it looks as though she'll be in a cast for six weeks, thankfully she doesn't need an operation. The show must go on though and we have booked Rachel Richardson as her replacement. Rachel has been in flying form this season, riding loads of winners for her boss Tim Easterby and you'd think we are at an advantage by using a professional jockey whilst the rest are ridden by amateurs.

Vastly (Adam) & Attain (Ross)

Vastly has been trying his best over the past year to avoid going racing and after a long time off with a tendon injury, his long-standing back problem has made a reappearance the week before he was set to make a comeback! I really don't want to miss the opportunity of running him at Nottingham on Friday as it looks an ideal race so he will be doing plenty of swimming this week to keep him trim as he was already very fit. We don't swim many as there isn't often much need but it is good to do with horses who can't be ridden so Vastly went down to Newmarket's public horse pool and had his first dip. After a bit of trepidation, he lept in and was a natural. He will have a couple more sessions before his run and hopefully it means we can get him back to the track.

Vastly takes a dip

Bethan has had a great season so far with one win and three seconds from four runs. Hopefully her good run can roll on as she goes to Leicester on Thursday. Taking the ride will be our new apprentice Luke Rowe who joined us a month ago and has got to know Bethan well on the gallops at home. He has 13 wins under his belt already so knows what he is doing and can hopefully get off to a flying start.
Dark Diamond hasn't disgraced himself since joining us in May and I don't think it'll be long before he gets his head in front. He could go to Pontefract for a maiden handicap on Friday where the drop back to 1m2f will be ideal. He has to give quite a bit of weight to three-year olds in the race but he doesn't have many miles on the clock.

Bethan (Luke), Dark Diamond (Caitlin) & Dakota City (Ross)

Rounding off the week will be Veeraya at Lingfield. He didn't have much chance at the weights in a claimer at Doncaster last time and hopefully the claimer this time won't be as competitive. He is a tad high in the weights, hence the runs in claimers, but he has a good deal of ability and deserves to win a race again.

Duke of Diamonds (Nick) & Veeraya (Sam)

Festival time

Newmarket is set to come alive this week with the town's July Festival kicking off. Although I won't be represented at the racetrack, I'll still have plenty to keep me busy as it is also the July Sales at Tattersalls. I've been lucky at this auction in the past and you can sometimes find a bargain there...fingers crossed the same can happen this time around.

Runners-wise, we just have the two on Tuesday. Meddling goes to Wolverhampton and I hope she can get competitive again now she is back down to 0-60 class. She usually wins at this level, goes up in the weights and then struggles until she goes back down in grade. She is in good order at home and didn't stay the one mile up Newmarket's stiff finish last time, plus she has a good draw for a change.
The other runner on Tuesday is Inauguration at Brighton. She goes to the sales later on in the week but it'd be nice for her to go there with a bit of form to her name. She seems fine at home but she has been quite disappointing so it's hard to know what to expect at a track she didn't seem to like before.

The heat wave has meant the grass gallops are a bit too firm at the moment so all our work has been done on the all-weather. We are very lucky in Newmarket to have some of the best gallops in the world. The sand walkways can also get very dusty in the summer but the heathmen are out at 5am each day to water them and the careful maintenance of each canter means it is usable and consistent year-round.

On Saturday we just had a few stretching their legs on the Cambridge Road polytrack.
Attain really loves soft ground and I had him in on Saturday in the hope the thunder storms would bring us some rain but it sadly wasn't enough. He's down to a good mark now and will be ready to strike when conditions are right.
Likewise, Vastly is ready to go but after his leg issues, I don't want him to comeback on the firm ground and hurt himself again. He's in good order and ticking over nicely.
One who doesn't mind rattling ground is Guising. His aim for the year is the historic Newmarket Town Plate. His owner Carol was meant to ride him but a change of heart has seen my brother Nick step into the plate. He is now a groundsman at Godolphin but he was a jockey back in the day and rides out for me regularly. I've told him the horse will be fit enough for the day, he just needs to make sure he is! The race isn't until the end of August so there's plenty of time for him to get ready.

Attain (Mark), Vastly (Luke) & Guising (Tess)

Automotive (Ross)

Duke Of Diamonds (Caitlin)