The Magnificent Seven
Well – what a week that was! Plenty of miles on the clock – a few early mornings, and lots of lovely horses and people! Having planned to get to a few yards this week, Monday was spent in the office. At Ravenswell Farm, like all yards, Monday is an easier day for the horses, just a day to get them back moving again after having Sunday ‘off work’. At this time of year, Fergal gets as much schooling into his team as possible, so a few jockeys are always in to give them a pop. On Monday Conor Brace gave Blue Bikini a spin up the chase fences and was really happy with her. Her next run will certainly be over hurdles, but she could well switch to fences when the time is right. Another one that took the eye on Monday was Volkovka, who got her turn up the chase fences too. She was partnered by Jack Hogan who said he had never been up the three fences so quick in his life! Last season was all about getting experience into her, and by the end of the season, after getting an almighty fright in Hereford earlier in the season, she started to show that she was getting her confidence back, and everything was coming together for her. She will be one to follow over fences this season for sure, especially if she gets her favoured soft ground!
Tuesday was an early start for a trip up to see Donald McCain and the two brothers we have in training at Bankhouse. Dino Bellagio was out first lot, and is in rude health as always, he has started his faster work now, and is very much on course to make his hurdling debut next month. Being a homebred he has been in our ‘system’ his entire life, so did plenty of schooling as a two year old, and more again at three. He has been well prepped for the day when he meets his first hurdle in public, and his schooling at home has been excellent. Every year, Paul Ferguson publishes his Horses to Follow for the upcoming jumps season (Well worth the purchase price), and it features the very brightest of prospects. Paul is very well connected and has access to the top trainers and jockeys in Britain and Ireland, so imagine how thrilled we were to see that the horse that Champion Jockey, Brian Hughes has put up as his horse to follow for the season was Dino! He knew how good his homework was before he got to sit in him for the first time in Doncaster and was very impressed with him that day. We know there are genuine reasons for his lacklustre effort in Aintree, and Brian certainly hasn’t lost faith in him! Fingers crossed – this season could be a very good season for Dino! His half brother, Old Blue Eyes, seems to be following in the family footsteps too. This three year old, by super sire, Blue Bresil is very much on track to follow a similar path to Dino Bellagio – he has done everything asked of him very easily, and is likely to make his debut in a Junior Bumper in the next few weeks. The jockeys that have ridden him are getting a very nice feel off of him, and with a bit of luck he could, like Dino, end up in Cheltenham on New Years Day, although this time we will try to make sure that the saddle stays in the right place! I know I say it every week – but he is a horse that looks like he has a very big future, and anyone considering getting involved in racehorse ownership would be mad not to get involved in this young horse! Just a couple of shares remain – he is from a great family, by a fantastic sire, does everything very easily, and shares are priced at half of his market value – please tell me what is not to like?? Get in touch – book your places on our syndicate morning at Donalds yard next Saturday morning, and get yourself a share! I promise, you will not regret it!! 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com We travelled up to Donalds, not only to see out two boys, but another horse that we were keen to see move on the hill gallop. Delighted with what we saw, watch this space – she could be another one that will be sporting the Black, Red and White!
Dino Bellagio cantering first lot
Old Blue Eyes going down second lot
Wednesday we headed south, another early start down to Alan Kings yard at Barbury Castle to see the Jukebox Jury filly in training there. A beautiful morning, and a lovely trip down. Barbury Castle Stables have to be one of the most beautiful yards in the country, and it is a joy to spend a warm, sunny, late summers morning there! I got down early to see first lot, where Trueshan had a final blow out before heading up to Doncaster for the Doncaster Cup on Friday. Ridden as usual by Alans assistant Robin, he looked in great form. I was a keen watcher, but there was another set of eyes that were firmly fixed on Trueshan as well, those of Hollie Doyle who was in to ride work. Hollie is probably the best female flat jockey in the World, and it was really nice to meet her. Trueshan went well, and then had his usual turn in the spa – he and Hollie would go on to surprise many by winning the Doncaster Cup on Friday, under a spectacularly good ride. Alan’s horses are in great heart, and the result was fantastic for the yard! Second lot, and it was time to see our filly stride on up the hill gallop – once again, going that little bit quicker, and learning all the time. It was a very pleasant surprise, when we walked into the school to see the horses warm up and see Hollie Doyle on our girl – I wasn’t expecting that! After seeing them warm up, and the riders get their instructions from Alan they headed over to the hill gallop. Twice up, and she did it very nicely. She is the only 3 yr old in her work group which is made up of 2 other mares that have already shown a decent level of form in their bumper runs last spring, and old Emitom, a 150 rated horse in his day. Our filly goes very nicely and is certainly well matched with her workmates. After steering her up the hill twice, Hollie was thrilled with her, very satisfied with her work! Nice to hear! We will be having a syndicate morning for her owners at Barbury Castle on Saturday 30th September. There are a couple of shares left in her, so if you would like to join us at Alan King’s stunning yard, and see her work up the hill please let me know – 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com. For the pedigree students out there, it was very good to see this years Germany Derby winner Fantastic Moon win the Group 2 Prix Niel in Longchamp last weekend. By Sea The Moon, he is out of – you guessed it – a Jukebox Jury mare! Our filly is already a half sister to a black type performer, her siblings have achieved sales prices of £145,000 £220,000 and her full brother is very highly regarded and made 170,000 Euros in April, so there is a good chance that there will be a host of fresh black type alongside her name in her pedigree, and she will have a lovely future and value as a broodmare when her racing days are over – once again – another quality addition to our team this season! Get in touch!
Beautiful Barbury Castle Estate
Hollie Doyle and the Jukebox Jury filly warming up
Hollie very happy after exercise
Thursday, office day, videos and pictures out to all syndicate members from the yard visits over the last couple of days! Communication is key – and we go to great lengths to keep everyone up to speed and involved! We also got plenty of overdue Confirmation letters out to new members, and some welcome gifts wrapped and ready to post. It was good to see a couple of form boosts for Reflexion Faite on Thursday in both Doncaster and Chelmsford. RF had been denied the chance to run in Kempton on Wednesday but is fit and well and her syndicate received a nice update from Kevin Philippart de Foy on Thursday. Having been denied a run on the all weather, she will run again in a couple of weeks on turf, before having a go on the all weather next month.
Friday, a good chat with Fergal ahead of our syndicate morning at the yard on Saturday. He is very happy with all of the team there – Friday is work morning at Ravenswell, and there were very positive updates on all of them. We got everything planned for Saturday, and now we just had to hope that the weather forecast was right! In the afternoon I was in front of the TV shouting home Trueshan – unbelievable! It was also good to get a video update from Jason Maguire. Our new boy – the yearling colt by The Grey Gatsby purchased last week, has settled in well, and is doing everything right. We have made a decision about his future and are going to take a slightly unorthodox route with him, but one that will take his new owners on a very interesting journey for sure. Although he has a flat pedigree, he is by a sire who we have already shown with Greyval, is well capable of siring quality National Hunt stock too. This colt is a big boy, and would be very unlikely to run as a two year old, and is more likely to be seen on the flat as a three year old. For this reason, we have decided to take a longer term approach with him, and he will be gelded in the next few weeks, and enter our ‘system; as a national hunt prospect. When he has recovered from the ‘unkindest cut of all’ he will head out into the field for the winter. At this stage it would be the plan to break him in at two, and get him ridden, worked upsides and schooled at Ivy Lodge Farm, but there is another string to our bow so to speak. If his sire starts to really make waves as a national hunt sire, both here and in his native France, we will have the option of not having him backed and ridden next summer, and leaving him to run on as an unbroken store horse and present him at one of the big National Hunt Store sales. The primary objective will always be to retain him and run him, but if there is a chance of making a sizeable return on his purchase price, we must keep the sales option open! It is a route we have taken before, with a Nathaniel yearling we purchased in a Newmarket yearling sale and resold as a national hunt store at the Derby Sale in Ireland – the first horse by the sire to be sold at the sale. It will be a fun journey to take with this gorgeous colt, and there has been plenty of interest in him. He will be syndicated in 10 shares each priced at £4,000 plus £100/month. If you fancy going on this journey with us – once again – get in touch – 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com – his details will go on the For Sale Page next week. The slight drawback of your IT man emigrating to Arizona a few years ago, is that his work hours are a little different to ours, so you often find yourself going through things with him late in the evening after a long day. Friday we were getting more things put in place for a new website for our new venture. Things are looking good, and we are on course to let you into what we have been planning next month – really looking forward to it!
The Grey Gatsby yearling colt being long reined
Saturday, and we were once again on the road early to get to Ravenswell Farm for 7.00am – our syndicate mornings with Fergal O’Brien are always really well attended and great fun and we were looking forward to seeing over 70 owners and syndicate members. The first started to arrive at 8.00am and soon got stuck into teas, coffees, orange juice and breakfast baps – sausage, bacon black pudding, tomatoes and onions all on offer! We saw four of the team out third lot – Volkovka led the way in front on her own as always – she is in fantastic form as mentioned earlier, Greyval worked great, and Maria’s Flame really took the eye as she swung up with Oak Grove, a winning Irish Point to Pointer who made £250,000 at the Cheltenham sales in April! We do have 2 shares remaining in her, she is going very nicely as we saw yesterday, and is bang on course to debut in a 3 yr old bumper next month. She is another that could well turn up in Cheltenham on New Years Day, in a race that we have targeted in the past – you know what to do - get in touch to grab one of the remaining shares! Blue Bikini made up our quota in this lot, and although her spin up the hill didn’t go entirely to plan, as they went a bit too quick at the bottom, she is in great form, and still managed to demolish a few kilos of carrots that her syndicate members bought in for her! There was also a special gift – thanks to Liz who made these stunning Blue Bikini cup cakes – the only thing to do when your Dad is a shareholder in her! They were stunning – well done!
Blue Bikini admiring her very own cup cakes courtesy of Liz - great job!
Maria's Flame worked very nicely with Irish Point winner Oak Grove - who has a big price tag and a big reputation!
Greyval bounding up the hill!
Blue Bikini getting a wash off
Breakfast!
Fourth lot, Mamoon Star led Hidden Beauty with Fortune Forever in behind. When they paired up MS did a really nice bit with Go To War, HB was really well matched with Aintree winner Punctuation, and Fortune Forever went really nicely with her workmate. After fourth lot were washed off, Ferg came up with the great idea of getting all of our 7 horses in one photo – The Magnificent Seven! It was a bit like herding cats, but great work from the folks on the lead ropes, and Debbie managed to get a fantastic shot of them all – the stakes were then raised when we decided to get all of the owners that were still there to gather in front for a team shot – that was sketchy – but Debbie once again managed to get a great snap, just before Fortune Forever decided that she wanted to get back to her box and her hay net – and the presence of humans in front of her was not going to stop her – cue slight chaos – but thankfully no hospitalisations! It was once again a fabulous morning, lots of smiling faces, and all dreams intact! When the syndicate members and owners had had their fill of breakfast, it was a pleasure to provide a bite to eat for all the hard working staff at the yard – just a little thank you for all their efforts on our behalf! Back home and out to a BBQ – making the most of the warm weather – great to catch up with old friends – it ended up being a loooong day!
Hidden Beauty nearside of Aintree winner Punctuation
The Magnificent Seven Lto R Volkovka, Fortune Forever, Hidden Beauty, Mamoon Star, Blue Bikini, Maria's Flame and Greyval.
This was an interesting exercise!
Around the other yards – the three in with Olly Murphy are all in good form, Itchy Feet on track to make his seasonal reappearance next month. Auditoria could get to go at the end of September, and Tintagel Queen will be ready when the soft ground arrives in November. At Gary Moore’s, Cloud Dancer has settled back into his work routine well, and it will not be long until Intrepide Sud is back in harness down at Ivy Lodge Farm – the first Monday in October – he will be back in work!
Next week the syndicate day bandwagon rolls on to Donald McCains – please let me know if you would like to attend – a great chance to see Old Blue Eyes if you are interested in a share in him!
As I write this waffle every Sunday – I have decided to conclude each weeks ramblings with my thought for the week – a small effort to try and make the world a better place!
Old age isn’t so bad ……when you consider the alternative!
