Solid as a Rock!

Every now and again I'm lucky enough to train a horse which is capable of building up a sequence of wins and another one seems to have been unearthed in Sabre Rock after he won his third race in a row at Lingfield on Friday. I get a lot of pleasure out of this type of horse and have many happy memories doing the same with the likes of Spruce, Rapid City and Najaaba. The key to doing this though is to have a very well handicapped horse to start with and luckily Sabre Rock hadn't shown much form before we bought him and he seems to have thrived since joining us. He won easier than ever this time so I hope there is plenty more improvement left in him. We will probably have to run again quickly before the handicapper has his say so he is in again at Lingfield on Friday.

Sabre Rock (Shelley) makes it three out of three

 

Also at Lingfield that day will be Meddling. She too won last time and seems in great form. She is quite a highly-strung filly so I like to give her plenty of time between her races. She enjoys bowling along in front at Lingfield and seems to win with a bit up her sleeve so hopefully there is still more to come from her, providing the race pans out as she likes.

Bushy Glade (Ryan) & Meddling (Shelley)

 

Kicking off the runners before then is Bushy Glade. She was all at sea over a mile last time so she's stepping up in trip and I think it should see her in a better light. She is lightly raced and I think there is more to come. She has a couple of entries at Southwell and Kempton and I'll have a look at the races and try to pick the one most suitable.

Our bunch of juveniles were given a couple of weeks off over the festive period to let their minds catch up with their new training regimes and they have come back in great spirits. They were going well before the break and have continued where they left off. The babies can get bored quite quickly so it's important to mix up their training and yesterday they all 'bunched-up' and got close to each other just to slowly get them used to race conditions. There is no rush as the two-year old races don't start until April so I'll just have to be patient before seeing what they've got!

The two-year olds 'bunching-up'

 

I can't wait to see Chelmsford City racecourse hold it's inaugural fixture today as it was always a track I loved when it was formerly known as Great Leighs. Unfortunately there weren't any races suitable for our horses this time but I hope to have a runner or two there in a couple of weeks. However, we did gallop two horses at the track last month as part of the trials day. Shelley said the surface rode really well and it is a handy track to have, being just an hour away from Newmarket.

Our pair (right) gallop at Chelmsford City

 

I don't know if many of you watched Tight Lipped run at Kempton on Wednesday night, where he looked to finish a disappointing seventh. However, there was a lot more to the run than met the eye as halfway through the race he had to jump a swan! The bird was on the track as the runners jumped off and the swan walked directly in front of him as he passed. Luckily he has run over hurdles and he jumped clear of the animal, much to jockey Ross' relief! The move caught the media's imagination and the Racing Post did a big story on the incident on Friday. Hopefully Tight Lipped can fly home next time after this incident!