Tuesday 18 August

Figarella Borget managed to get a clear round under her belt yesterday, and showed a modicum of ability in the process. Having fallen the last twice, and not showing a great deal in the process, I put it to her patient and loyal owners, that I felt that they were into something that was going to be quite long term for limited rewards - as ever I had two things on my mind - firstly I never want to waste clients money - and secondly Figgarella Borget's welfare. The majority decision was 'to go with the majority' which in fairness wasn't much help - so the sensible thing to do was to give her one more run, get her round, and see where we were afterwards. So here we are - yesterday she got round, crept through into 7th, beaten just over 20 lengths. Good to see her get round, and now we know where her next career step would be. I had a good chat with Ciaran last night, and Stuart this morning, and both agree - she has ability - but she will be given a rating of between 95 and 100. 0-100 handicaps are her grade - but off of this rating she would have to shoulder welter burdens in her next few starts, and her size and constitution just aren't up to that sort of task. She would have to run a fair few times to get down to a mark where she was carrying a suitable weight, and this would probably carry us on through the winter and into next spring. This is a long term commitment, with the liklihood of low returns, whilst all the time putting her well being at risk. She has a wonderful pedigree, and I will work hard to find her a suitable on going career. Land League is entered in Uttoxeter at the weekend, and is an intended runner. He was due to run a couple of weeks ago but was withdrawn as the temperatures became extreme at the track. He is in great form, and hopefully he can show his old enthusiasm on the track. He has had a mutitude of problems over the years, and does well to stay as enthusiastic as he does. All of the horses in our first investment syndicate are now effectively sold - just one waiting to go to his new home - but that won't be long. It has been a trying time - with the global pandemic causing chaos throughout the sales schedules. Thankfully we have sold, and the members will in the black when all of the figures are finally tallied up - no mean feat on a year like this - it is a clear indication that the syndicates work - when even in a terrible year - that hit us very hard in terms of the types of horses we had to sell - we can still come out of it on the right side. We wish their new connections the very best of luck with them. We have certainly learned a great deal from the first round, and will fine tune the winning formula in the future. We added to the team last week - a supremely well bred foal - who will be sold as a 2 yr old in France in 2022. This week I hope to add at least one horse to the squad. The Tattersalls Derby sale runs along side the long postponed May Sale in Fairyhouse this week, and there are some lovely horses on sale and hopefully our patience on the other side of the channel will soon pay off!