Meddling gets gold!

Meddling got us back into the winner's enclosure this week with another great effort to record her second success of the year. After some early disappointment, we have finally found the secret to getting the best out of her and it seems to be working. She gets very agitated when at the races so we try to get there as late as possible (roughly an hour before her race) to make sure she saves her energy.
As well as this, she got a great ride from young Hector Crouch and, as it was a race confined to novice apprentices, having a capable pilot was very important.
Meddling lost a bit of weight after this win so she will be given a few weeks before running again. It was also fantastic to get another win for her enthusiastic bunch of owners who seem to be lucky as well!

This week sees a trio of runners heading to the track, starting tomorrow at Wolverhampton. Everyone knows Automotive is a hard character to predict so it's anyone's guess how he will run but he does tend to save his best for amateur races like this and he has won on the all-weather this year but, more importantly, he has to have a strong pace to run at.
Also heading up the M6 on Monday is Tight Lipped. We bought him in October and have given him plenty of time to get to full fitness. His work hasn't set the world alight but his course form is pretty decent so it may just be a case of him saving his best for the track. He is fit and well but it will be a bit of a learning curve for all of us.
Then completing the entries is Honeymoon Express back at Wolves on Wednesday. After a great 2013, she has struggled this season but may just be finding her level again and there will be a time when she starts to be back in the money. Her homework is as good as ever and a return to a fillies only race might just help her some more.

Our four yearling fillies are now doing a good canter every morning and they are progressing really well.
To help educate them, I like to have an older horse to lead them on the Heath and the responsibility this year has fallen to Attain. He had the summer off and is just getting back to full fitness himself so this job kills two birds with one stone for him.

Attain (Ross)

 

First of the yearlings is Serendib's Glory. We bought her privately from Ireland and is from a family we know well, having trained her brother and two of her sisters. It is a family that always wins and she is showing good signs even at this early stage.

Serendib's Glory (Shelley)

 

Also progressing well are Little Orchid and Go On Gal. Orchid is getting quite tall and will be a big filly eventually but has a great attitude and goes out of the yard bucking and squealing every morning. Go On Gal, on the other hand, is more of an early type and should be ready to run in some of the first two-year old races next April.

Go On Gal (Niall) & Little Orchid (Ryan)

 

Another big filly is It's A Sheila Thing. Having said that, she is quite strongly built as well so may not be as backward as her size suggests. She loves her work and has settled into the racehorse routine really well.

It's A Sheila Thing (Mark)

 

Completing the string is an older horse who came to us last month. She is only two years old but is absolutely massive, probably the biggest juvenile filly I've ever had. She is very well bred, being a half-sister to two St Leger runners and it's exciting to have a horse of her breeding in the yard. As she is so big though, we will give her plenty of time to learn her job and it will be interesting to see what kind of engine she has when it is time to go a bit faster.

Rip Van Winkle filly (Ricky)

 

As well as these lot, we also have our homebred colt out of Bavarica who has just started to be ridden.
Showing him how it's done is good old Silver Alliance who has just returned from a holiday after a great year with another two wins on the board.

Silver Alliance (Shelley)

 

Called Big Bang, the colt is very sensible although he seems a bit scared of traffic at the moment but this is something he is getting used to and won't blink at in the near future. He has only just started going out so is a bit behind the fillies but it won't be long until he is chasing their tails.

Big Bang (Ross)