Monday 18 February

Well that was quite the weekend. Friday was a super afternoon, another fantastic day out in Sandown. Queenohearts showing all of her ability and tenacity in winning the Grade 2 Jane Seymour Novices Hurdle. In a race in which almost everything went wrong for her, she cruised through to the front through horses as they approached the second last, and despite diving at the last after being headed by Danse Idol, who incidentally, was given a superb ride in defeat, battled back to win a shade cosily by just over 2 lengths. She is one big, tough and genuine mare, and her future really is before her, as she will surely not be seen at her best until she tackles 3 miles and fences. She has come home safe and sound, and although all the talk at this time of year is of the Cheltenham Festival, it is unlikely that she will run there despite having 2 entries, and is far more likely to head to Fairyhouse at Easter for the Grade 1 Mares' Novices' Hurdle there. It was a great day, and a super night!! On Saturday Molly Childers travelled to Wincanton in search of very much deserved Black Type. This Listed chase had cut up to just 5 declared runners, but by the time they lined up, it was down to just 3 with 2 non runners. In effect Molly just had to jump round to get what we wanted, as third in this race got her the Black Type, but we still went out to win. Sadly on the day, Molly wasn't quite at her best, but with the fall of on of her 2 rivals she finished second and picked up a nice bit of prizemoney for her owners, 7 out of 8 of whom managed to make it to the races. As mentioned she Ciaran didn't think that she was her usual self on Saturday, and although she has come out of the race OK, Stuart will keep his eye on her for a day or two, as she could have just been coming into season. There was much talk of her future after the race, as her run had a big bearing on that, and all the owners that were there were very keen to retain her as a broodmare when her racing days are over - so that is great news, and she should breed some very nice foals going forward. Yesterday we headed to Huntingdon, where Our Bubba was making his second hurdles start. OB is a fine, big young horse, and these hurdle races are merely a part of his education before embarking on a chasing career. Josh Moore rode, and he gave him a super ride, over a trip that would have been a bit sharp for him, finishing 6th. He too is fine this morning, and he will be out again in about a month. Back home, Figarella Borget, the 3/4 sister to Sprinter Sacre is progressing very well, and is the subject of encouraging reports. She should be making her debut in around 3 weeks. Pull Together is going really well after a short break away at The Elms, and he could have his first entry since November next week. Lilly's Arc is A1 after her jaunt to Scotland, and schooled this morning - which went rather well - Stuart rang to say that after just 15 minutes she was bounding up the baby chase fences - as usual, she just want to please, and appears a natural over an obstacle. She will repeat this every other day this week, and will soon have her first hurdles entry - but a bit more local this time!! Getaway Mixie is in good form, and will hopefully run this Thursday in Huntingdon. Congratulations to The Garratt Family who had a pretty good weekend, with Now McGinty running a fine race to be second in the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Chase in Ascot on Saturday, and A Little Chaos fairly bolting up in Market Rasen yesterday. Cheltenham sales on Thursday, and we will be there trying to find the next batch of talent - please get in touch if you would like to get involved in one of our Partnerships! There are also a couple of places still available in our EIS Investment vehicles - for more details of these very tax efficient investments please email me on nickbrownracing@gmail.com