Sunday 18 March

Well - that was quite a week. Lots to catch up on!! A winner - a new arrival with shares available, and a brave run at the Cheltenham Festival! We will begin on Tuesday, when we had a gorgeous mare vetted, and thankfully she passed the vet, and all is well. Getaway Mixie was second in what looked like a very decent Mares' Maiden Point To Point in Ireland the previous Friday. The winner is a half sister to the mighty Minella Rocco, so her performance looked good. The pair of them came from the rear of the field to jump the last upsides. It was here that the eventual winner Sinoria, got the slightly better leap, and went away to score by 3 lengths. On the face of it the time of the race was slow, but a closer look reveals a different story - These mares got from the fourth last to the finishing line in 1m 11 seconds - which was the same time as the 4 yr old geldings, the winner of which carried 2lbs less, and had the best of the ground, oh- and by the way - made the small matter of £330,000 at the Festival Sale in Cheltenham on Thursday. The mares were also 5 seconds quicker than the 5 yr old geldings for the same four fences, so it marks her performance out as a good one. We knew we had to get a deal done quickly as the winner Sinoria was bound for the sales on Thursday, and so we acted fast! As it happens we got it spot on, as Sinoria was sold for £130,000 on Thursday - making Getaway Mixie unbelievable value at £35,000! There has been a very strong uptake in shares, and depending on how big the partnership ends up being (10/12), there are just 2 or 4 shares left! Please get in touch if you would like to join in with her - We have had so much success with mares recently, it seems like the way to go - there is such a good programme for them now! Getaway Mixie could well head to Cheltenham next month, or if she pleases Stuart, a trip to Punchestown could even be on the cards. So the week started well, and we headed to Cheltenham in good form, but next up we had the excitement of Chandos Belle running in Huntingdon on Wednesday. CB has been in much better form recently, and has started to look a lot more like the mare that we bought 18 months ago. This in no small part to a step up in trip, and slightly better ground. Ciaran was on hand to ride her, and she was a well backed favourite, in a field of mares. An awful, and uncharacteristic error at the third flight had Ciaran nearly off twice, and losing his irons - and resulted in CB being stone last of the field of 14. In the end it mattered not, as she cut her way through the pack, and took it up on the run to the last to win by a cosy one and a quarter lengths. She should be competitive again! There is still a share available in her - please get in touch if you would like more information about any of the above 2 mares (nickbrownracing@gmail.com or 07909 518902). Thursday was the big day for the team at Fences Farm. The wonderful Maria's Benefit running in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle in Cheltenham. Realistically, with the ground being so very soft all week, the chances of her winning were slim, and as it turned out - with the tactics employed by the Mullins team, and the sheer brilliance of the winner - it was an impossible task. Under the circumstances MB ran a fine race to be fourth, getting run out of a sure second as a result if the spoiling tactics employed by the stablemate of the winner, who just sat on Maria's girth for the whole way round to make her just run a bit too quick in the ground. In the circumstances MB showed how tough she was to go through all of that and still finish fourth! Her connections can all be very proud of her! She now heads off for a well earned holiday. Both CB and MB are fine after their runs. All in all a very good week. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining in with any of our partnerships - we have shares available to suit all budgets - from just £25/week!