At Last!
The week when the final members of the jumps squad made it out on their holidays – which will signal a few quieter weeks for us, although we still have Refelxion Faite who will continue to run on the flat this summer, and a couple of jaunts over the water are planned to both buy and sell horses so we will not be kicking our shoes off and putting our feet up for sure!
One additional summer task has come to light over the course of the last couple of weeks, when we discovered a pipe which has been secretly leaking for quite a time had made a pretty large mess of the floor and walls of the office. So,on Monday we got stuck into the start of the remodelling and replacing. The room was emptied of furniture, and the carpet and underlay removed – dehumidifiers had gone in and the room was well on the way to drying out – but cupboards needed removing, so armed with some of the tools, (what I lacked in tools - I made up for with brute force and ignorance) I removed some fixed cupboards and opened the room up ready for them to be replaced. It is not going to be a quick job, and in the meantime the contents of my office are piled up in other rooms of the house which will make running the business slightly different for the next couple of months!
Tuesday, I made the early trip down to the Cotswolds to get round the horses we still have down there, and to make some plans with Fergal about some dates when they would return to training. Next season we will have an 8 strong team with Fergal and Sally, and they all have different routes next season – they do not all return to training at the same time. After a lovely visit to Ravenswell we popped over to Ivy Lodge Farm to see the horses that we currently have there. Some are in work, and others are turned out for their summer holidays. Our two 3 yr old fillies are nearing the end of their 8 weeks of ‘secondary school’ – they have really done well for the experience and look like two lovely horses for the squad this season. The Jukebox Jury filly is a gorgeous girl who finds all of her work very easy. She has an effortless way of going about her, and we can’t wait to head her over to Alan Kings next month, after she has had a few weeks R&R in the field back at The Elms. She has proved very popular, and over half of the shares in her are already spoken for. She has a fine pedigree, which is only going to get stronger and stronger, and she represents great value at just £2,500 per share, considering that she is already a half-sister to a black type performer, and her full brother is very highly regarded and made a cool 170,000 Euros at the recent Punchestown Sale after winning his Irish Point to Point on debut as a 4 yr old. Don’t miss her – she is very much recommended. The Mahler filly, was a little slower to come to hand, but boy has she done so now. She had been very good to break last summer, and Jason had really liked her, but this time round, she had proved to be a little weak, and had started off not showing him what he had expected from her, but as with all young horses they can change very quickly and she certainly did that – she really strengthened and came together, and you will have to look a long way to find a 3 yr old filly that enjoys jumping as much as she does! She is an absolute natural, and looks tailor made for the National Hunt Juvenile Hurdle series that we targeted with Cloud Dancer last season. Not only can she jump, but she can certainly gallop as well, and as Fergal is such a huge fan of her sire, Mahler – she heads into training at Ravenswell Farm in mid July after a short break in the field back at The Elms. She has been very popular, and shares are now limited, so grab your chance to join her syndicate as soon as you can – the 4% shares are on a free lease, so there is no capital outlay, and the £30/wk training and keep fee, is all inclusive with absolutely zero hidden extras, and in addition you will receive 100% of your share of her prize money, and are eligible for 1 O&T badge every time she runs. Have a look at her on the FOR SALE page and get in touch (07909 518902) she looks like she will be a lot of fun this season – and of course you get to pop into Ravenswell Farm when it suits to enjoy the fun there and see her on the gallops! I promise you – you don’t want to let this one slip by.
And now to ‘Barry’ our home bred 2 yr old Blue Bresil gelding. Oh boy! What a stunning horse, we are all simply blown away by him - he has everything. He has size, scope and the most amazing mind and attitude to life. To say that Jason is impressed is an understatement. On Tuesday we saw him long reined in the arena, and then he was backed in the stable – taking it all in his stride like an old professional. By Friday he was trotting around the yard and looking like he had been doing it all his life. At this stage he looks pretty special, and Jason thinks he could be a horse that will take NBR to the highest level! I hope he is right! One of his owners decided to sell his shares a couple of months ago, and in a round about way I have ended up back owning them myself. These three 10% shares are For Sale, - have a look at his full details on the FOR SALE page – now is the time to be buying into this horse, as he will only be getting more expensive I promise you!
Barry on the lunge
Barry being backed
Barry 2 days later - he has such a good mind!
The final horse in work at Ivy Lodge Farm, is a lovely Kayf Tara filly, recently purchased for a client at the sales. She is another with a great mind, and has broken well, she has size and scope and moves really well, we wish him the best of luck with her.
After seeing those four do a bit, we popped down the road to see the horses that we have down there enjoying their holidays. Hidden Beauty is out with Intrepide Sud. IS looks fantastic and will remain out in the field until later on in the summer, when he will return to full work, and be back on track at the end of the year. Hidden Beauty, for some reason still looks a bit woolly in her coat but is 100% recovered from the pelvic fracture that curtailed her season earlier in the year, and will return to Ravenswell in Mid July. She will start over hurdles but is one that could switch to fences later in the year.
Cloud Dancer
Wednesday I was back at the ranch – and decided to turn my hand to a little bit of computer work. I took it upon myself to try and put together a couple of sales videos for the 2 three yr old fillies, and remarkably I managed to do it! I think they turned out pretty well!
Wednesday night, as you would expect I was glued to the TV to see if West Ham could win the final of the Europa Conference League – well what a night – not the best of games, but a fairytale result, with Jared Bowen scoring the winner for West Ham in the 90th minute! Cue a long nail biting period of injury time, when it seemed as though the referee was simply going to continue to play until Fiorentina equalised – but in the end he blew up, and I nearly blew the windows out! Fantastic result – which triggered a give away I had announced earlier in the evening. I had announced on Twitter that if West Ham won, I would give a syndicate share in the Mahler filly to one lucky follower who retweeted our tweet – Rich Evans the lucky recipient, the original tweet got massive interaction – thanks for everyone that entered, sorry to those who missed out, but good to see a number of you take up a share anyway!
What a night!!
Thursday I got some work done in the morning, and then headed off for a little afternoon stroll round Bedford with my mate Steve Fullen who has been over from New Zealand for a couple of weeks. It was great to grab a few pints in the sunshine and have a catch up with him – we seemed to put the world to rights and had a lot of laughs on our tour of Bedford’s best pubs. Ending up at my favourite curry house – the Radhuni on the Embankment, where we had been a couple of weeks before for Cheryl’s Birthday!
On Friday the last of the National Hunt Horses made it out to the field and their summer holidays – Blue Bikini has been on box rest after ‘turning her ankle’ in the field at Martins Hill the day before she was due to go back to The Elms, and Mamoon Star had been kept in training to try him on some better ground this spring, but a few niggly problems in the last few weeks meant that didn’t happen so we decided to turn him out as well. Both will have around 5 weeks in the field and head back into training in mid July. The Jukebox Jury and Mahler fillies also made the trip back to The Elms and will go into full training with Alan King and Ferg respectively in mid July too.
Blue Bikini - A1 and now on her holidays!
This week we also decided on a trainer for our 3 yr old homebred – Old Blue Eyes (Blue Bresil x Savingforvegas). As Donald McCain has done so well with his half brother Dino Bellagio, Old Blue Eyes will head up to his Bankhouse yard and be aimed at bumpers next season. OBE is currently back at The Elms Stud and will go back to Ivy Lodge Farm in a couple of weeks for a little bit more education before he heads up to Donald. Jason very adamant that he needs him for a short while longer to put the finishing touches on his schooling and ground work before he heads into training. There will be just 10 shares available in OBE, priced at £3,000 each, plus £300/month training/keep fees, which will cover all costs. Considering how popular the progeny of Blue Bresil are at present, averaging 97,500 Euros at last years Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, and with this horse being out of a half sister to a Cheltenham Festival winner and a half brother to a dual bumper winner – he is outstanding value, and goes into training with the best National Hunt trainer in the north of England, There is a very long list of those that requested details about his share issue when it was done, and you will all receive those details in the next day or two – if you want to make sure you don’t miss out – get in touch now to book your share! 07909 518902 nickbrownracing@gmail.com.
Saturday – and the heatwave arrived as promised – 30 degrees – lovely! The perfect day to enter Reflexion Faite for her second start – in Goodwood next Friday evening! A 6f Fillies Maiden, I will chat with Kevin on Monday and discuss options going forward. She is likely to have a couple more runs over 6f, before stepping up to 7f when she has matured slightly and strengthened in a couple of months – it is worth remembering that she is a May 10 foal, so to be even competing at this stage of her life is quite astonishing.
The remainder of the team are all well. Volkovka, Greyval, Tintagel Queen, Fortune Forever, Blue Bikini and Auditoria are all out in the field together at The Elms. Old Blue Eyes and Mamoon Star are also back there now. Our latest addition – Gorgeous George, our Golden Horn colt foal is just that – gorgeous! He is a stunning foal, and we are very excited with him for sure! He and mum are doing great! Itchy Feet is out on his holidays at Warren Chase and will be back in around the start of July and be prepped for a big early season target over hurdles. A 10% share has become available in Itchy – of you, or anyone you know are interested then please get in touch – he won nearly £30,000 last season and will take you to some of the biggest meetings throughout the national hunt season!
Gorgeous George - Golden Horn x Savingforvegas - stunner!
There are plenty of ways to get involved with NBR – we have shares to suit all budgets – please get in touch if there is something that takes your eye – I would be happy to show any of our horses to any interested parties!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday in the sun and see you next week!
