Top Hats and Tales
By this time next week, the first of our horses will be back in a stable in preparation to return to training the next day. It does not seem like five minutes since we were organising them all to go on their summer holidays! The year really rolls around quickly, and it will not be long before we are back on the course cheering in some winners! At least then we will have something to write about on a Sunday morning – this weeks news may be a little short – it’s been a quiet week.
On Monday I will confess I was mainly glued to day 4 of the first Ashes Test match – a sure fire way of letting a day slip by – I did get some paperwork done in the morning, setting up The Pavenham Partnership, and organising the associated bank account. It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to open a bank account these days, and the hoops that have to be jumped through to get it done! I hope they get it sorted soon, as the shares in Old Blue Eyes, our Blue Bresil 3 yr old that heads into training with Donald McCain, are selling fast, and folks are very keen to get their shares paid for. Old Blue Eyes is currently enjoying a spell out in the field at The Elms Stud, but he will be making the trip back to Ivy Lodge Farm next Monday, so that Jason and the team can put the finishing touches to his prep before he goes up to Donalds. Day 4 of the Test Match was a little nervy – Englands batsmen all seeming to get starts on a good pitch and not going on to make a big score that would have really put the pressure on the Aussies. Chris, who owns shares in a number of horses with us was at Edgbaston and felt that anything over 250 was a good enough target to set the Australians in their 4th innings – I felt we needed 300, and England eventually set them a number in between our estimates – so hopefully Chris would be right, and I would be wrong!
Tuesday – the opening day of Royal Ascot, and the best days racing of the 5 days. Time to dust off the topper and get out the suit. It is always very wise to set off early for Royal Ascot, as getting into the track can be an absolute nightmare. We are usually collected at 8.45am, but it was a set of temporary traffic lights in the neighbouring village that put us on the back foot this year – it took our driver a hour to do a 20 minute trip to collect us, but as luck would have it, the minute he pulled up outside, the torrential rain that we had be enduring for hours stopped and we could get the car loaded and set off without getting drenched! Being held up also meant that the hour delay on the A1 around Hatfield due to an accident had gone, and the accident removed, we had a clear run down, but the last mile is always painful. At least it was dry when we got there, and we headed straight for Car Park 2 where we had been invited by Olly Murphy for pre-race drinks at his car. The Car Park picnics at Royal Ascot are always fun and it was really nice to bump into folks we hadn’t spoken to for a good while – great to see them on such good form! Thanks to Olly for the drinks and nibbles – they were just what we needed after a few hours in a car! The afternoons racing was top class, three Group 1’s and a Group 2 fill the first four races – what a way to start the week. The star of the day, and probably the meeting was Paddington who looked top class in the St James’ Palace Stakes for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. The concluding 1m6f handicap was won in a common canter by Vauban, again under Ryan Moore, who would end the week as the leading jockey at the meeting, just illustrating how good the top class jumps horses have to be these days! We kept a keen eye on the cricket all afternoon, with a sly watch of a few balls on the phone when appropriate. Midafternoon it looked as though England were on course to win, but after racing, as a crowd grew around the TV’s in the grandstand it was only Aussie cheers that were heard, as they made it to their target for a 2 wicket win. Never good to lose the first test of an Ashes Series, but what a great match they served up – such a fantastic spectacle – now just win in Lords! It was a fabulous day, enjoyed with friends, great food, and plenty of nice wine! The Top hat back in its box for another year!
Frankel
Paddington
Watching the end of the cricket
She's a lucky girl !!
Wednesday, a quiet day – ‘reflecting’ on Tuesday! Good to see Lee, who was round to look at the office. Lee has an electrical firm in the village, and while the office is gutted, we are going to have a bit of work done to make it easier to use as an office and get a few more sockets installed. One of the ‘advantages’ of having to rip everything out, is that we very much have a blank canvas and can get things how we need them. Talking of blank canvas’s, Barry our 2 yr old Blue Bresil gelding who is currently down with Jason at Ivy Lodge Farm being broken in and having his first taste of what it is like to be a racehorse, had his first little jump in the lose school on Wednesday. Just as he has done everything up to this point, he was perfect, and took to it like a duck to water!
Thursday – Ladies Day in Royal Ascot – great to see Frankie Dettori ride the winner of the Gold Cup in (what he says at the moment) is his last Royal Ascot – I still have a niggling feeling that this season is not the last we will see of the fantastic Italian – I just think he seems to be a man that thrives in the spotlight, and I am not sure that being out of it, when he is riding (arguably) as well as ever is something that is going to suit him in the short term. Of course, there comes a time when we can no longer do the things we could, but it is clear that Frankie is right at the top of his profession at the moment, and I’m not sure he can walk away completely. Having said all he has said over the last few months – I can see him take a break, but I would not be at all surprised to see him make a return to the saddle at some stage. I know one thing for sure – should he retire – those Legends Races will be a lot of fun to watch in the future!
Friday, Barry got his first taste of jumping with someone on his back – as usual – a natural. The rest of the day trying to solve my iffy Sky signal – we know what the problem is – we just hadn’t figured out a way of resolving it – hopefully we now have a way forward – and I just need to get down to the builders merchants!
Saturday – and with just Reflexion Faite being the only horse that we have in training it was left to Barry to fill the news void! Jason himself giving him a pop around the arena. You already know how it went – Jason on the phone straight afterwards to share his thoughts – you could say he likes him!! He has said since he arrived with him what a nice horse he is, and his opinions of the horse have only risen since! Now it is up to Barry to prove him right!
2 Yr Old Barry having a jump with Jason in the arena - a week ago he had his first canter in the same arena!
The horses on their holidays are all in good order, as mentioned the first one returns to training a week tomorrow – Greyval heads back to Ravenswell in preparation for her autumn schedule. The remainder will mainly head back into training the week after. Auditoria, and Tintagel Queen will head back to Warren Chase. Dino will make the short trip from Sherlocks back to Donald McCains. The unnamed Jukebox Jury 3 yr old filly will head to Alan Kings. All of the remainder of the Fergal O’Brien horses, the unnamed Mahler 3 yr old filly, Hidden Beauty, Blue Bikini, Fortune Forever and Mamoon Star will all head back to Ravenswell Farm the same week, with just Volkovka not going back into training until the end of July. Cloud Dancer will start pre training at the start of July with Jason, and head back to Gary Moore in early September.
During the summer when contracts come to an end, we always have a few shares come available in some of the horses. Many are snapped up immediately, this week a single share came available in Blue Bikini – she won three of her four starts in 2023, and all of those wins were achieved at a trip which we think is way short of her optimum – we all think there will be more to come this winter over staying trips, and that her winning days are not done yet – she is a free lease, and just £25/wk all inc. There is also a single share available in Cloud Dancer due to a change of circumstances for his overseas owner – a winner on hurdles debut – he remains a novice for this season and is a horse that Jason and Gary Moore both think plenty of. Jason believes he is well capable of winning races off of marks in the mid 120’s – so winning a couple of novices before heading into handicaps would be the plan for him– especially as he is a lot stronger now! Another one with a single share available is Itchy Feet – he will take you to the biggest meetings and has some very fancy targets for the upcoming season. The single share in Fortune Forever sold last Sunday to Chris – and we wish him the best of luck with her – she will be a lovely filly over hurdles this season. There are now limited shares left in the unnamed Jukebox Jury filly who heads to Alan King – she is one that Jason is very keen on, and she looks ideal for the 3 yr old races this winter. She is highly recommended and should not be missed – the other one that should not be missed is our homebred Blue Bresil gelding – Old Blue Eyes – we have seen what his half brother Dino Bellagio can do (winning 2 bumpers) and I have told you what Jason thinks of his full brother ‘Barry’ – well he likes this lad too, and as mentioned he goes into training with Donald McCain.
There are also shares available in our unnamed 3 yr old Mahler filly heading to Fergal, and dual winner Auditoria who is trained by Olly Murphy. Please get in touch if you are interested in any of them.
Last year we said that we had the best team of horses we had ever assembled going into last season, and we were 100% right – we had our most successful season by far. This time around I think that we are stronger again – none of last season’s horses were transferred off of the team as we are sure that they are all capable of winning races this season – and this seasons new intake are very exciting, we have known them all from foals, and therefore know absolutely everything about them, they have all come through our system, and all three are highly recommended!
Next week we head out to Ireland for a few days where we are selling at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale. Sure to be lots of fun, a drop of Guiness, and hopefully some profit! There will be lots to tell next week – check in to see how we got on!
