Wednesday 5 December

San Seb travelled to Fakenham yesterday to make his hurdling debut. SS has always been well regarded at the yard, and his debut bumper run was very satisfactory, finishing third in a decent race in Huntingdon, having only once been round a bend, and having never galloped on turf. He was showing up well at home, and a good run was anticipated on the day - which all things considered, made his second run a bit of a disappointment. Although we knew after his debut that he wanted further than the 1m 5f trip, we thought he would show the necessary improvement, but on the day it didn't happen, and he finished a well beaten 9th. He has always schooled well at home, so it was always going to be hurdles after his second bumper, and that phase of his career started in some style yesterday! Nine runners around the tight Norfolk track, and Ciaran took the brave route around the inside. San Seb accelerated into the first flight and flew it, and from then on, until a minor mistake at the last his jumping was impeccable. He slipped through on the inner 2 furlongs out, and readily galloped clear, and despite the mistake at the last, he went on to an impressive 11 length win, from a horse who had won on the flat, and over hurdles in France and is rated 131. The time of the race was very good, clocking nearly half a second a furlong quicker than any other race on the card, and it augers well for a very nice juvenile hurdling career. He has come out of the race well and we will look to see where he goes next. Getaway Mixie will travel to Huntingdon on Sunday for the Listed Mares Bumper. She is a talented mare, but it will be a big ask for her to get near the front of this heat on her rules debut. It is a mares bumper, and we would like to start her off against her own sex, so she goes local to get going. All of her owners are looking forward to seeing her out, as she has had a rough time of it since arriving from Ireland - nearly dying in the spring, and then suffering an injury in the early autumn. As most of them are fairly local to Huntingdon it made sense to start there.