Feeling The Pressure!
With plenty of the horses heading to the fields for their holidays - our quieter spell has arrived. It has been a long season - and it will not seem like two minutes before I am organising their returns to their yards in July, but the intervening few weeks will be a chance to get some other jobs done - things that have been forced onto the back burner, and also time just come down a gear, and enjoy a bit of the summer. There will still be plenty to do - the National Hunt Store sales start next week, and I will be at most of them - I am not going to Fairyhouse next week for their May Store Sale, but I will be in Doncaster the week after, along with both the Goffs Arkle Sale and Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale in June, where we will be on the hunt for a couple of nice horses for clients. We do of course have Reflexion Faite to run for us through the summer months, and I am very much looking forward to having our first 2 yr old runner. The only jumper left in training is Mamoon Star who had been due to run very soon, but who had a dirty scope thisweek, and will spend the next few days on the easy list. He is in good form at home, and it is hoped a short break, and a nice bit of gorund together with a step up in trip will help him. He has been hanging badly in his races, and tests were carried out to try to get to the bottom of it - certain factors were highlighted as possible reasons for him hanging, and these have been dealt with - including a slight change of diet. Fingers crossed he can get back to the form he was showing early in the season when we see him out again.
Last Sunday Ben and Pat and their families were travelling down the country and popped into Ivy Lodge Farm to see their horse Cloud Dancer who is enjoying his break in the field. Thanks to Jason for accomodating them - CD was the winner of one of the National Hunt Juvenile Hurdles in Newbury in March, and would have run once more in another of them, but he wasn't quite right after his run, nothing serious, but it meant that it was an easy decision to draw stumps with him and send him to Ivy Lodge to recuperate. A period of rest, and water treadmill work saw him recover well, and he is now enjoying the lush Gloucestershire grass. He will come back into work as usual, pre train with Maguire, and then head back to Cisswood Stables in August. He remains eligible for novice hurdles this season, and we think he has a nice future! 
Ben with Cloud Dancer
Three more headed for the field on Monday - Volkovka, Greyval and Fortune Forever made their way back to The Elms. Three lovely mares who will all be winning next season! Volkovka needed the experience of her first season over fences, but showed that she is ready to win over them in her final run in Ludlow where she was just touched off on the run in. Greyval is very talented and Paddy already has a plan in place for her, and it was a shame that we didn't manage to win a bumper with Fortune Forever, but she has shown a decent level of form in her four runs in that sphere, and is likely to improve for a step up in trip and a few flights of hurdles. Monday afternoon we headed out for a Coronation BBQ with friends and neighbours - a great afternoon - Cheryl knocked up a little cake for the occasion! A good social, that went on longer than expected, but was really good fun!
L to R - Volkovka, Greyval and Fortune Forever enjoying breakfast at The Elms
Great British Bake Off beckons!
Another that will be joining the team at The Elms for a summer break shortly is Auditoria, who had her final run of her season in Fakenham on Tuesday. Always a bit of a punt to keep them in training through May, they have had a hard season, and there comes a point when they need a break and a bit of a holiday - on Tuesday Audrey told us that it was her time for a break.The race was the right race for her, but even before we turned up at Fakenham we knew we could be on the back foot a little bit - for a race with just 7 runners, four of the declared runners were front runners, including Audrey, and it was always going to be a bit of a dash to get to the front. Fergus jumped her out on the rail, and we hoped that a couple of good leaps at the first two could see her with at least a share of the lead, but it didn't pan out, and they had to settle for a position on the inner in third. Not ideal, and it was soon clear that it would not be our day. Fergus was not hard on her, and in the end she jumped round to finish a distant fourth. She, along with Tintagel Queen will head back to The Elms this coming week. Both will return to training in July. Auditoria will continue to give her owners lots of fun around the country and will win again next season, Tintagel Queen has been extensively schooled in the last month, and has taken to jumping very well - she should give her syndicate lots of fun over obstacles when the mud is flying!
Auditoria in action
Post race - now time for a holiday!
Wednesday we were at home - more garden jobs done - I am sure that pressure washing is merely a way of transferring muck built up over the last 12 months from one surface to another - usually me - I always seem to produce more mess than I started with!
Thursday we got the news that Mamoon Star was on the easy list, just a routine scope and trach wash showing him to be under the weather slightly - nothing serious, he will be back in a couple of weeks.
On Friday it was good to have a catch up with Jason Maguire, he is thrilled with Old Blue Eyes (Frank) who he has had for over a month, and now has him cantering on the sand gallop. Frank is our homebred 3 yr old by Blue Bresil, and is a horse that Jason likes a lot. He has also had him in the loose school and given him a pop over some barrels, and he has proved a natural from the start. It looks like he has a bright future. He will have another week at Ivy Lodge after which he will head back to The Elms and his 2 yr old full brother Barry will head back on the return trip and he will have six weeks of breaking and education at the 'Ivy Lodge Acadamy' before heading back to The Elms for another few months. Now that Frank is broken in I will sit down and discuss his future with Jason. We will decide what is best for the horse - when to send him into training and who with, and when we have agreed where and when he goes into training I will issue shares. I have a very long list of interested parties - why wouldn't I - he is a half brother to the very exciting Dino Bellagio, out of a 3x winning half sister to a Cheltenham Festival winner, Rathvinden, and is by possibly the hottest national hunt sire on the planet in Blue Bresil, the sire of the superstar Constitution Hill, possibly one of the best horses that many of us have ever seen! What's not to like? Get in touch to get yourself on the list - nickbrownracing@gmail.com 07909 518902
Old Blue Eyes - a natural! Get involved - he is highly recommended!
The other two 3 yr old fillys that are with Jason will remain there for another couple of weeks and have a couple of spins up the woodchip gallop at Tom Georges. They will get to a stage of striding on upsides and then head back out to grass. They are two lovely fillys, again Maguire and myself will discuss what we think is the right path for the pair - who trains and when, but one thing that is already set in stone is that the Mahler filly, will be syndicated in 25 shares - free lease, so no capital cost, and just an all inclusive £30/week training/keep fee. We will decide between us where we think she will be best suited to train, and when we have decided that, we will issue shares in her. She is a lovely filly, and goes very nicely. The Jukebox Jury three yr old is very much at the same stage - although I have yet to decide how many shares we will make available in her - gain when I have sat down and gone through them all with Jason I will issue the shares. I can't wait to crack on with all three - there is a perfect programme for them all, and they have a host of options going forward!
Friday night we headed out on a rare excursion into Bedford, sadly our local town isn't somewhere we head to very often, it has, like many towns become none to welcoming over the last few years - but there are some nice spots and the Embankment, down by the river is one of them. We had a little stroll along the river before meeting a special overseas visitor in the Embankment Hotel, where she was staying, for dinner and a good catch up. It was a lovely evening, and so good to see her looking so well! It has been a few years since we last caught up, and there was no shortage of news to cover - great to see her - and we will not leave it so long next time! She has now headed back to France for the Guineas in Parislongchamp - which should be a fun day for her and her friends!
Saturday and we sold the last share in Reflexion Faite - a big welcome to Ruth who snapped up the last share in her. RF now fully subscribed, and she deserves to have a full syndicate of nice folks, she is a lovely sweet uncomplicated filly, that seems to have a nice bit of ability from what they have seen at home - we won't have to wait long to find out, as she will make her debut over 6f in the next couple of weeks. The flat programme book is very alien to me, and race planning will be left to Kevin and his team, but I have found a nice target race for her, and I will discuss it with him when I see him later today.
Also on Saturday it was good to get a video of our yearling filly who has wintered with her breeder in Cheshire. She is a gorgeous chesnut filly, who is a half sister to Hidden Beauty. She has done well over the winter, and looks a lovely type - another nice one to have on the team for sure!
Yearling half sister to Hidden Beauty - another quality youngster on the team!
The remainder of the team are all well - Dino Bellagio is out in the field at Dave Sherlocks, I hope to get in to see him next week. Hidden Beauty, and Intrepide Sud are both out at Ivy Lodge Farm, and Itchy Feet has his 'feet up' and is out with his mates at Warren Chase Stables. At the stud - our latest addition - George the Golden Horn colt foal out of Savingforvegas really take the eye, he is a big strong boy, and really does look the part. Savingforvegas revisited Golden Horn last week, and now we just wait to see if she is in foal to him again! Finger crossed! Blue Bikini has not made it to the field yet, but it will not be long before she joins her mates on holiday! 
Gorgeous George and his mum! What a belter!
Today we are heading over to Newmarket for a little get together - news of that next week - in the next few days we will be on the road looking at horses and getting a few things in order before the busy sales season starts.We have a bit to do to get our new exciting venture up and running, and as a result we have decided not to launch in June as we had considered, but instead we will launch as the jumps season kicks into gear in October, when we will have everything in place to allow new clients to get straight into the thick of the action! I can't wait to get cracking with it - it is a new and innovative model that we will be launching - with some very exciting partners involved! Something that everyone can get invoved in, and something that will be exciting, a heap of fun, and above all educational! Stay tuned for further updates over the course of the next few months!
Hopefully by next Sunday we will have seen a bit of warm sunshine - and feel like summer has arrived - make sure you check in next Sunday to catch up with the comings and goings at NBR - I'm not sure if anyone does stop by to read the inane drivel I type each week, but if you have got here - then thank you - you must have nothing better to do - I suggest getting a pressure washer - strangely addictive, and you will spend at least a couple of days cleaning yourself and your surroundings after you have used it!
