Twice now Honeymoon Express' chances have been snubbed by the racing press due to an over-hyped odds-on favourite and twice now she has firmly put them in their place. Running just five days after getting her head in front at Yarmouth, she showed she still had plenty of petrol left in the tank by again making all of the running at the seaside venue. She had to dig deep this time though as the winning distance was only a head but Shelley said she was looking at the bouncy castle near the finish and slowed down.
We have to wait until Tuesday to see how the handicapper reacts and then we can decide where to go from there.
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| Honeymoon Express wins again at Yarmouth |
Then just 15 minutes later, Automotive romped home down at Goodwood. There really is no better feeling than seeing your horse win when at another course when you've just enjoyed one at the course you are at. It was extra special as both horses were ridden by my kids so it shows I must have taught them something at least!
Ross seems to have found the key to riding Mo now and this was their second victory together this season. The pair team up again under a penalty at Haydock on Thursday and, if he stays the extra distance, I hope a hat-trick could be on the agenda.
This was only the third double of my training career so I was pretty chuffed to do it again.
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| Automotive romps home at Goodwood |
After Sunday we had very few runners with just No Such Number running a bit below par in the Amateur Derby at Epsom.
This week finally sees the racecourse debut of Bethan. She has had a few niggling problems that have kept her off the track but the last couple of months things have been very straightforward and she is all set to run. She is still very green so will benefit for the experience but it will be a relief just to see her on the track.
Also on Wednesday is Omega Omega at Bath. Everyone in the yard is still scratching their heads over why this filly hasn't won yet as she goes so well at home. Blinkers seem to have got a little bit more out of her recently but we just have to hope that the penny will drop sooner rather than later.
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| Omega Omega (Alfie) & Bethan (Adam) |
Never Another was the most expensive horse I've ever bought when costing 35,000gns at the July Sales but he's been looking worth every penny of that since and has been impressing us in his faster paces. He looks likely to need a long distance so may start off in a bumper as in a flat maiden he will have to give away so much weight because he is a four-year old. Either way, I can't wait to run him in three or four weeks' time.
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| Never Another (Ross) & Sancho Panza (Shelley) |
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| Exopuntia (Billy) |
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| Lea Valley (Reno) |
On Friday we had to say goodbye to Arthur who had been with us on work experience during the summer holidays. It's fair to say he was somewhat reluctant to do any work at the start of things but a bit of graft did him no harm and he was a good character to have around the yard. After he went racing for the first time and the horse finished last, I told him he won't be going again but he somehow found himself in the horsebox off to the races the following day and the horse won so all was forgiven.
He got plenty of stick off the lads in the yard about his raking technique but it improved dramatically over the weeks he was here and was deemed worthy of a National Raking Qualification level one certificate before he left. It was all tongue in cheek but he accepted it with pride.
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| Arthur receives his NRQ 1 certificate from Poppy |
Well done on the double Julia, it was great to see
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