Winter warmers

December has arrived and winter looks to have come with it as it was a frosty morning on Saturday with temperatures down to -3C. Although the grass is frozen, it doesn't effect the horses' work thanks to the fantastic all-weather gallops on offer on Newmarket Heath.

 

We had a large contingent stretching their legs at the weekend, led by Tolly McGuiness. I've always believed there is a race in him and, to be honest, he has never had a change to show his true form. He is an out and out sprinter, so even 6f is too far for him. There is a good race for him over the flying five furlongs at Southwell soon and, if he handles the track's deep surface, he should be seen in a better light.

Tolly McGuiness (Ryan)

 

Automotive is a hard one to predict when he runs as a lot depends on what side of the bed he gets out of and, although he ran a stinker last time after winning the time before, I think he is back in good form and will head to Wolverhampton next week. He has never run at the track since the surface was replaced but horses seem to be able to win from behind so it may just suit him.

Automotive (Tina)

 

One who is yet to run for us is Tight Lipped. We bought him in October and we have just taken our time with him to get him back to full fitness. He is a bit of a wise old owl and knows all the tricks of the game but he has shown some good ability on the gallops and it will be interesting to see what he does at Wolverhampton the week after next.

Tight  Lipped (Ross)

 

At the same sale in October we bought Sabre Rock and he gave us a quick return on our investment the following week when winning. It came as a surprise to us that day as he hadn't done much work but he is clearly a horse who is still improving and I've been saving him for a race at Lingfield at the end of the month.
Avidly missed an engagement last week and she has got me scratching my head a bit as she has seemed to gone out of form and her homework hasn't been as good as usual. It might just be she is having a bad week so I'll give her a bit of time to get back to her usual self.

Avidly (George) & Sabre Rock (Mark)

 

I gave Bushy Glade a bit of time off in the summer as she went pretty weak and couldn't keep weight on but she has come back in great form and I can't wait to see what she can do on Friday at Wolverhampton. She is galloping well at home and is running off a basement handicap mark so hopefully all is in place for a good run.

Bushy Glade (Shelley)

 

Before that though we have Candesta at Kempton on Monday. He too is in really good form now and his last run was a step in the right direction. It doesn't look a great race so I hope he can be in the money.
Another with a good chance is Meddling at Lingfield on Wednesday. She is usually the ride of Shelley Birkett but the race is for novice apprentices only so we have booked the services of Hector Crouch. He has ridden a good few winners recently and come highly recommended from his boss Gary Moore. If he can get her out in front like she enjoys, she should be hard to catch.

Big Bang learning the ropes

Although we have four yearlings already ridden and cantering on the Heath, there are still two who are learning the ropes. Big Bang was bred by myself out of our legendary mare Bavarica and he has started his racehorse journey. Here he is being lunged to get his mouth used to having a bit in it and also to develop his steering and brakes for when he is eventually ridden!