Watch The Bounce
All the action at the end of the week. The only excitement on Monday and Tuesday was the arrival of a couple of thatchers to start the job of rethatching part of the cottage - it will be a very interesting process to see.
Wednesday morning we headed to Warren Chase Stables to meet over 30 syndicate members in there to see their horses with Olly Murphy. A gorgeous morning, and great to meet so many new faces - many of them getting to see Tintagel Queen for the first time. They had travelled from as far afield as Sunderland, Lancashire, Hampshire and North Wales - everyone making a real effort! TQ looks fantastic and they got to see her close up in the arena and then out on the gallop where she cantered upsides. She is a big scopey girl who moves very nicely, seems to do everything very easily and is clean winded. The hope remians that she will be able to run in a bumper this spring, but should that not be possible she will have at least one away day at a racecourse for an organised gallop, and her syndicate members will be able to see her out before she heads off on a summer break. Having been broken and pre trained by Jason Maguire, he said yesterday that he would be keen to come and see that gallop - but he was less keen when I suggested he rode her in that work - making some excuse about overweight!!
Auditoria looks fantastic - she continues to develop, and had been given a number of entries next week. After chatting with Olly, and a few of her owners on Tuesday we changed plans slightly, disregarding a couple of options, and adding further possible races to her dance card. She has an enrty next week in a mares handicap in Musselburgh, and two further entries in Doncaster on Friday - She had been entered in the 2m4f handicap hurdle, but when the 2m mares handicap looked like it was nothing like a 0-130 I had a chat with Olly and we put her in that too. We will have a chat and decide which race she contests.
A meeting on Thursday morning went well, and I headed down to Cheltenham in the afternoon. Sadly my departure was delayed - I was on a roof! So I didn't get to the Tattersalls Ireland sale in Cheltenham in the afternoon where the trade was once again very strong. Another good night in The Kilkeney, and into Ravenswell Farm before 7.00am on Friday morning to see the four horses that are currently there. Friday is a work morning with Fergal, so it was good to see them all work well. Hidden Beauty did it very easily, and is on course to run in Sandown on February 12th. Yauthym also looked in great order and worked like she looked. She has never been a free mover, and can be very stiff first thing in the morning. After her work on Friday, Kev the vet took a couple of xrays of her back to see if there was something we could do to help her either now or in the future, but thankfully the images showed that there were no issues. Connor Brace rode Fortune Forever, and he was really pleased wirh her, she continues to progress nicely, and moves very well. She is a little green still in her slower work, but when she goes upsides she comes to life, and goes very nicely. She has now fully settled into the routine of work, and the hope is that she will be able to make her debut in a bumper this spring. Sunset Melody did a really nice piece of work with Black Kalanisi, which immediately afterwards had Fergal and I discussing a possible debut in around 3 weeks, but when she got back to the washdown bays it seemed as though she had tied up slightly. On her way back to her box, Kev the vet had a quick look at her and wasn't sure that is was a simple as her being tied up, and 10 minutes later he had done an xray and found her to have suffered a small fracture to her pelvis. The farcture had not displaced and she was in no immediate danger, and will make a full recovery. She was immediately given pain relief, and will have 4/5 weeks of box rest before resuming exercise on the walker. A real shame as she had just done her best piece of work to date, and all was looking so well with her. Thankfully it is not a major, and she will not be off for too long. We have had horses in training at Ravenswell Farm for well over 2 years, and this is the first injury we have suffered, but the timing is, as always frustrstrating. The good thing is that it isn't too serious, it was diagnosed within 15 minutes of her work, and she is in no pain.
Friday afternoon I headed down to Exeter for Queenohearts and Classic Ben. Queenohearts had been given 5 weeks to get over her fantastic, but gruelling run in Lingfield, where she had been beaten by the shortest of margins into second. She had taken the race very well, and had been in great form at home. Just 4 runners went to post, and jumping well in the main - she just grabbed at a couple and stumbled on landing after one in the back straight - and was travelling oh so well turning out of the back straight, with Ciaran thinking he was going to 'win without touching her' only for that thought to leave as soon as it had come to him, as she went from cruising to labouring very quickly. Eventually finishing third of the three finishers. Not like her at all, as the end of a race is always where she produces her ace card - her toughness. Ciaran coming back and reporting that he felt for sure that her run in Lingfield had certainly left its mark. She had suffered the dreaded bounce, despite everyones efforts to avoid it - there is no 'play book' to avoid it, and we just move on. The good news is that she was 100% on Saturday morning, and can go again when Kim and Matt deem fit.
Classic Ben, back at Exeter for the third time in three starts this season looked a picture in the paddock, and we were all looking forward to seeing him contest the Devon National. It had been the plan since his unfortunate fall on his last start, and this was a race that had been targetted for a while. He had had an away day gallop, and schooled well in the weeks in between, so we hoped he would go well. Able to travel and jump in his own rhythm he seems much happier and he was able to do so on Friday. He gave Ciaran a lovely ride, and as they turned for home there looked to be only Ben and one other with a chance of winning, but the Exeter straight is a long a gruelling stretch, and after taking it up he was headed by a strong closer between the last two, and after a tired jump at the last he came home for a gutsy and brave second place. It was a fantastic run, and we were all delighted. It's great to see him enjoying himself, and Ciaran is adamant there is another nice handicap win in him down the line. He is fine after the race, and will be out again in around a month.
Saturday I was back into Ravenswell, at beautiful morning when I arrived at 6.45 - thick fog by the time first lot pulled out at 7.30! Sadly Sunset Melody would still be in her box, but the other three of ours were out on the hill for two canters, at least I think they were - it was very foggy by then!
With only four in at Fergals - it means there are 3 elsewhere - Mamoon Star, Blue Bikini and Volkovka have all been having a short break with Jason Maguire for a couple of weeks, but will return to training on Monday. Blue Bikini seems to be over her respiratory infection, Volkovka has put on a fair bit of condition and Jason says she looks fantastic along with Mamoon Star - the plan is for all three to be running in March.
Back at Fences Farm Go Millie Go is back in full swing, and should be back on track in around 3 weeks.
There has already been a very strong uptake in shares in 'Dean' this week - our latest horse, is a homebred 3 yr old by Doyen who will be trained by Donald McCain. He is from a fantastic family, and is an ideal type for the new National Hunt juvenile hurdles next season. In preparation for that, on Thursday he went up to Charlie and Francesca Postes for two months of proper training to set him up for the next part of his career, and his move to Donald. Shares are just £25/week inclusive of all costs - get in touch if you would like to get involved with him - he is sure to be lots fo fun.
Next week we hope to add another lovely young horse to our ever growning team of quality horses. He is a very exciting addition, a beautiful looking horse with a fantastic pedigree. Shares will be for sale,and they will be very limited - this will be a small and exclusive syndicate, and it will be nice to have some shares to offer again and if all goes well - adding another new trainer to the ranks!
On the track, we have just Auditoria entered next , and she will run in either Musselburgh or Doncaster.
At The Elms the 3 yr old store horses that will be offered for sale this summer at the store sales will come in from the field and be prepared for the inspections by the sales companies later in the week.
As always - feel free to get in touch if you are interested in joining a syndicate with us - we offer a professional, friendly ownership experience, with a team of quality horses at some of the best yards in the country! - 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com
