After such a great Autumn for him, it was good of our jockey Adam Beschizza to rub a bit of his luck off on us this week as he gave Candesta a peach of a ride to win at Kempton on Wednesday night. I thought we had no chance after he started slowly but Adam bided his time, crept around the inside and got in front on the line to win a photo finish. I was delighted for the horse too as he is my hack at home and has deserved to win a race for some time now but has just not had the rub of the green. Credit must go to his owner George Bhatti as he has been very patient and his faith has now been rewarded.
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| Candesta gets the verdict at Kempton |
With the yearling sales at Tattersalls last week, having a winner certainly gives you a spring in your step and I certainly needed it as a week of inspecting hundreds of yearlings is a tiring process! I came away from the week with four new faces in the yard and I'm delighted with all of them.
Carol Bushnell stuck to her 'grey horses only' policy and bought two lovely fillies, one by St Leger winner Sixties Icon and the other by Champion Stakes hero Literato. Carol likes to have slow-maturing stayers and these two certainly have the pedigree for it, being from a rich Aga Khan line.
The Bahamian Bounty filly I picked up was part-bred by a current owner and I am delighted to welcome him and his friend into the yard with their filly. The mare Sunset Kitty won plenty of races so I hope we can do the same with their pride and joy.
Last but by no means least, I picked up an absolutely stunning chestnut filly by July Cup winning speedster Sakhee's Secret. She is already extremely well-developed and could almost pass as a colt, such is her strong stature. All the markers point to her being an early and precocious type as her mother won as a two-year old and her only sibling also won as a juvenile this year. To add to that, her grand-dam won at two years as well and bred a horse who finished third in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. She really should be a prolific youngster and an ideal type for the £150,000 Tattersalls Sales Race run at Newmarket next year.
There has already been plenty of interest in her and 10% shares are available for just £600 plus £200 per month all-inclusive training fees. Email me on juliafeilden@aol.com for more details.
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| Stunning Sakhee's Secret yearling filly |
In the more immediate future, we have a handful of runners hitting the track this week.
Starting tomorrow, owner Dick Creese has a busy day as both his horses, Dark Diamond and Dissertation, run at Windsor.
Dark Diamond has run some good races this year but went a bit flat on us last time. He has had a few weeks off to freshen up and we've also popped him over a few hurdles, just to give him something to thing about. He seemed to enjoy the experience and hopefully it will show in a good run.
Dissertation was a bit disappointing last time but I don't think she stayed the 1m6f and Adam said she just idled a bit when hitting the front. She wears a visor this time and drops down in trip so I hope she can show the ability I know she has.
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| Dark Diamond (Adam) & Silver Alliance (Ross) |
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| Dark Diamond and Adam go jumping |
The next day we are at two meetings, starting with Dakota City at Lingfield. He too didn't stay last time so a drop back to 1m2f is ideal and he showed last time that he is a much better horse on the all-weather. He is a course and distance winner, is in good heart and not too badly handicapped so hopefully he can go well.
At Wolverhampton will be Vastly. He has been slowly coming to hand after a return from injury but his last two runs were much better. He likes it around Wolverhampton so I hope a return there can see him pull out a bit more improvement.
Then on Friday we have another double-header.
The Ducking Stool has really missed her favourite track Yarmouth whilst it has been closed but has put up some good efforts in defeat at Haydock recently. She has run well at Newbury in the past too and goes there for an apprentice race over two miles, a trip I think she will really appreciate. It is only a 'hands and heels' race but we have a good jockey in Georgia Cox who works for William Haggas and has made a bright start to her career this year.
At Doncaster will be Silver Alliance. He has struggled in the weights since bolting up at Brighton in the summer but is slowly coming back down to an easier handicap mark. He is a bit unpredictable as he just does what he likes but a big field will suit him and he should get the strong pace he loves to chase.
As well as Dark Diamond schooling, we also gave sprinter Limerick Lord a pop and surprisingly he was a natural! He is usually quite hot-headed and keen but he was really relaxed over the jumps and seemed to love it. He better be careful though because if he doesn't start winning on the flat he might find himself facing eight hurdles at Fakenham! It was typical of horses though that he jumped a dozen hurdles accident-free but then slipped off the horsebox ramp when at home and grazed his leg. It was nothing too serious and he will be back in full exercise later in the week.
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| Limerick Lord and Ross wing a hurdle |
THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE
The competition ends on Saturday November 7th so there are just a few weeks left to collect some points and win the £100 first prize. It is still tight at the top and could be anyone's victory.
| Mark Rimmer |
25 |
| Adam Beschizza |
24 |
| Jim Stevens |
24 |
| Shelley Birkett |
21 |
| Ros Cousens |
19 |
| Steve Moore |
17 |
| Julia Feilden |
17 |
| Dominic Lisle |
17 |
| Sarah Macdonald |
16 |
| Tessa Stone |
16 |
| Malc Shields |
14 |
| Poppy Feilden |
14 |
| Eddie Partridge |
14 |
| Rita Aspland |
14 |
| Paula Smith |
14 |
| Steve Clarke |
14 |
| Martyn Clark |
14 |
| Geoff Roberts |
13 |
| Barbara Walton |
13 |
| Gordon Hill |
13 |
| Kel Mansfield |
13 |
| Harry Hurst |
13 |
| Ged Turley |
13 |
| Bill Aspland |
13 |
| Megan Digby Baker |
12 |
| John Birkett |
12 |
| Julie Feilden |
12 |
| Linda Wright |
11 |
| Stephen Broadley |
11 |
| Nick Feilden |
11 |
| Liz Moore |
11 |
| Jason Coote |
11 |
| Sophie Collington |
11 |
| Chris Shirran |
11 |
| Dave Barnett |
11 |
| Lee Cousens |
9 |
| Tina |
9 |
| Ryan Moore |
9 |
| Dave Morris |
9 |
| Allan Forster |
9 |
| Geoffrey Walton |
8 |
| Martin Godfrey |
8 |
| Wayne Moore |
8 |
| Michael Buckley |
8 |
| Sheila Collington |
8 |
| Matt Bisgono |
8 |
| Robert Wright |
8 |
| Adi Tuddenham |
8 |
| Sam Feilden |
8 |
| Bill Burgess |
8 |
| Tony Birkett |
7 |
| Brian Reilly |
6 |
| Jonathan Kinge |
6 |
| Steve Springford |
6 |
| Phil Collington |
6 |
| Rachael Shucksmith |
6 |
| Rob Weston |
6 |
| Trevor Fuller |
6 |
| Barry Hine |
6 |
| Lewis Richards |
6 |
| Chris Shelley |
5 |
| Sophie Feilden |
5 |
| Maureen Case |
5 |
| James Collington |
5 |
| Jane Shirran |
5 |
| Anthea Telford |
5 |
| Zoe Fuller |
2 |
| John Wardle |
2 |
| Malcolm Roper |
2 |
| Ross Birkett |
2 |
| Tony Piller |
2 |
| Carol Bushnell |
1 |
| Kevin Case |
0 |
