Sunday 1 August

It was good to get down to Ravenswell Farm this week to see the Mamool gelding and Blue Bikini. The gelding - who we will get on and name in the next couple of weeks is a real head turner, and has certainly caught the eye of the team since he arrived. It is not by chance, his career up until now has been carefully managed to ensure that he entered training in great shape, with the right physical and metal preparation to give him the best chance of making the track early. He was broken early and hard trained as a two year old with Charlie Poste. He was taken to a level of fitness not far short of full race fitness, and also schooled over all sorts of obstacles at this early stage too. He then had a full year off before returning to Charlie this spring. He had not forgotten his 'primary school' education from the year before, and spent around 8 weeks in 'secondary school' just to get a level of base fitness into him. All of this meant that he arrived with Fergal in great shape both physically and mentally and he has been able to crack straight on with him. He will be aimed at junior bumpers this autumn. Blue Bikini has undergone a bit of a transformation. She has always been a tricky girl and a 'bit of a madam', a fact that the team were made aware of before she arrived with them, so it was no surprise to them when she first arrived. We know from last season that she suffers badly with ulcers, so she has been gastroscoped and a different regime of medication has been prescribed for her to target the problem and hopefully help her along this season. As part of her changed routine she also has plenty of turn out - which was to prove a bit of a problem as she can be very tricky to catch. Nevertheless they persevered and after a few days when she just didn't settle, and was typically difficult, and after experimenting with a few things, she has now found a new best friend which seems to have transformed her attitude. She is happy, she is settled, and almost rushes up to be caught now. She has always been a fussy eater in the past, but that seems to have rectified itself as well and she isn't leaving a nut now! We are looking forward to seeing her over hurdles this season. Interestingly - the Mamool was also gastroscoped when they did BB and he was found to have no ulcers. It was good to see Liam, Tom and Olly at Ravenswell Farm, and we formed a good convoy and headed down the road to Jason Maguires Ivy Lodge Farm to see Hidden Beauty and Queenohearts. HB looks fantastic, and started cantering on the morning we were there, a bit later on in the week, Jason asked the vet to take a blood off of her as he just wasn't 100% happy with her energy levels, and the result of that blood test suggest she was suffering with a low level infection and she is on some anti biotics for a few days. Happily the vet has said that she can continue with her work, and it will not hold her up at all. Queenohearts is in terrific shape. This week she will start to do a little more in the school on the artificial surface. She is also having plenty of sessions on the water treadmill, which, working in tandem with the physio, is really helping her. At Fences Farm Go Millie Go has started to canter, and Classic Ben has arrived back from The Elms Stud. The journey back to the track will be a long one for him but he will be back towards the end of the year. There is a share available in both horses - a 1/12 share in Go Millie Go, and a 1/10 share in Classic Ben - if you would like further details please drop me a line - nickbrownracing@gmail.com or call me o 07909 518902 I also got to spend another interesting morning down at Ben Brains, Dikler Farm veterinary practice on Thursday, where one of our horses underwent an overland scope to check his breathing. We now have a plan for that one. Great to see David Menuisier's wonder mare Wonderful Tonight win the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes at Glorious Goodwood yesterday. David is a very very good trainer, and we are looking forward to getting something going with him in the near future. We already have a list of folks interested in our first Flat Syndicate, so get in touch to add you name to the group. Talking Frenchman - I have had further enquiries this week regarding our French Syndicate - we were on the verge of pulling the trigger on this one, with a trainer and horse both in the traps last year, only for the UK Government to pull the plug on foreign travel, making the syndicate a non starter, as travelling to France for weekends of rugby, racing, great food and wine was all part of the ownership package! So we put it on hold, but as restrictions continue to ease (although France seems to still be a bit problematic) this is definitely something we will pick up with again soon. This week I will be heading up to Olly Murphy's Warren Chase yard to see Auditiria, who is in great form. From there I will be heading up to the Goffs UK sales in Doncaster where we hope to add to the team. On Friday I will be heading down to Ravenswell Farm - so we will be doing a few miles before heading out to Ireland next weekend.