Second September Syndicate Saturday
Be honest – did your heating get a ‘test run’ mid-week? It turned decidedly chilly around Wednesday, and living in an old, thatched property we felt it was the right time to just give the boiler a little ‘fire up’ - just so we knew there were no nasty surprises when the weather really turned cold!
I noticed the difference on Monday as we travelled north to Cheshire to visit a trainer to discuss his horseboxes. 14 degrees when we left Cambridgeshire early in the morning – and no need for jumpers and coats – as we headed further north, we watched the temperature continue to drop until it was registering a decidedly chilly and wet 9 degrees as we neared our destination! It certainly didn’t feel like shirt sleeve weather – but that’s what we were wearing! The scenery made up for it – a stunning part of the world – a lovely, small, up to date yard, and really nice people who have been very much let down by the manufacturers of two horse boxes both built less than 2 years ago and now not fit for purpose. We will do all we can to get them out of the awful situation they find themselves in. The seriousness of their story took our minds off of the temperature anyway.
We left Cheshire and headed down the M6 to Evesham – more horsebox business – this time to collect one that had been with a family for a few days’ rental – to see if their horse travelled well on it – they were very impressed and will be ordering a new Theault very soon! Luckily the temperature gauge rose again as we headed south, by the time we reached Evesham it was positively warm, and the sunglasses were on!
The trip was broken up nicely by a chat with a client in Ireland that buys our nice broodmares off of us. In the recent past he has had a couple of our black type mares – Molly Childers – who, earlier this year had a lovely big colt foal by Jeu St Eloi. That foal is developing really well and is a lovely individual. I had known that Molly had foaled when I last checked in with him in the spring, but at the time Yauthym, who is on the same stud farm had yet to foal but was due in the following couple of days – it was good to hear that she too had a trouble free delivery and produced a colt foal by Goliath du Berlais. Both mares and foals are doing well. Always nice to pass on news about our former horses when we can.
Tuesday – office. Check in with Donald about the yard visit on Saturday – the second of our September Saturdays, and we were looking forward to seeing the three horses in training at Bankhouse. A few details to go over – numbers and catering etc – good to hear that everyone would get the chance to meet former Champion Jockey Brian Hughes who would be in to ride work on that morning!
Down in the Cotswolds it was a big morning for a couple of ours – Johnny Burke had ridden new girl Chevelle in a couple of bits of work since she arrived from France and had been very impressed with the speed that she had shown on the shorter, steep gallop at Ravenswell Farm. He wanted to see how she would perform in a longer piece of work – and so her and Greyval headed over to Martin Keighleys gallop for a piece of work. Martins gallop is around a mile long with a gradual incline, and it would be interesting to see if Chevelle could maintain the speed that she shows at Ravenswell over this extended distance. Johnny would ride Chevelle, Fern would be on Greyval. First time up – Greyval was full of herself and was a little too keen so Johnny just sat off of her and let her go on in front on her own – having been keen first time up Greyval was then settled in behind Chevelle for the piece of work, joining her upsides at the foot of the hill and working together to the top. Both jockeys were delighted with the work. Greyval has been in fantastic form since her summer break – and really is a different mare from the one that we saw last season when Ferg and the team could never quite get a clear run with her. She seems to be right back to her best – knowing this – it was very exciting to see Chevelle match her right to the end of the work. Johnny was delighted – and learned a lot about her. He likes her – and is looking forward to riding her on her hurdles debut very soon!
Tuesday saw the return of Itchy Feet to Warren Chase. Itchy had spent the last month down at the yard of Connor Brace and his girlfriend Alex Knight, where he had been doing plenty of trotting around the lanes there. Itchy need a month of road work as part of his path back to full fitness after missing the latter part of last season with a touch of tendonitis. Nothing serious – and all of his scans have been good all the way through – but as an older horse, he has had plenty of racing and was just a bit ‘creaky’ after Christmas.
Itchy Feet is a very special horse to Olly Murphy as he was his first Grade 1 winner – and as he had never left Warren Chase before his stint down with Alex and Connor – he was obviously delighted to see him back at the yard on Wednesday morning – and was quick to get a video out to Itchys owners. You can almost hear the happiness in his voice to see his old friend back at his yard! Itchy really does look fantastic, and he was very well cared for at Condicup Stables – thanks to all the team there!
Another video we received on Tuesday morning was one of Cloud Dancer working on the woodchip gallop at Gary and Josh Moores Cisswood Stables. CD is another one who has really benefitted from a summers break – which he spent down with Jason Maguire. After starting the season off so well last year with a superb run in a valuable hurdle in Ascot he was always suffering with niggly problems, most notably with his feet. This led to his work suffering, and his form tailing off. With a few weeks rest under his belt, and a dry spell to help his feet – he looks to be back on fine form, and his work has been very good. Josh has found a race for him in around 10 days’ time, and hopefully we will see him back to his best once again.
Wednesday night – a meet up with Friends in St Neots – not the usual night out for ‘Curry Club’ – this one at an Italian for a change. Sapori in the middle of town. The second time I had been – and it needed to step up from my initial visit – sadly it went the other way – the service was not the best – one man doing his best – but another ‘body’ was obviously needed, and the lamb shank that I ordered was not great – the meat was cooked beautifully, but the rest of the dish was simply awful. With two of us choosing the lamb shank it left a pizza and pasta dish, that were both OK. One pudding – not finished – tells you all you need to know about that! Sorry – can’t be recommending this one. It’s back to curry for Curry Club next month!
Thursday morning – Josh sent through a video of Cloud Dancer schooling. He was excellent – his jumping has always been an asset, and he certainly looked to be loving it as the sun rose over the Sussex countryside!
We welcomed a couple of new faces to NBR this week – first up Simon who purchased the share in Intrepide Sud that I had had to take back after the previous owner defaulted on his monthly payments – so sad that this happens, as it isn’t really fair on me – and certainly not fair on the other members of the syndicate – sadly that man was in a few other syndicates as well. Simon’s daughter, Remy, rides out at Ravenswell Farm, and he is keen to learn more about the sport that his daughter is so passionate about, and felt the best way was to jump right in and get himself a share! Remy is a lovely young lady, and very good rider and a valuable member of the team at Ravenswell – he should be very proud of her. We wish Simon the very best of luck with IS who will be ready to run either later this month or in early October. His work has been very good this time round.
If you read this weekly bulletin regularly, you will be aware that I can’t resist the opportunity to give people the chance to get involved in all aspects of the racing and bloodstock industries, be that the chance to own or lease a share in a racehorse and see him or her run – or, as we have done a couple of times in the past – offer the chance to breed your very own racehorse. A meeting at our recent Owners morning at Fergal O’Briens, has offered us the possibility to put together another breeding syndicate, and it would be interesting to know how many of you would be interested in breeding your own racehorse – it is just a thought – we have been offered the chance to purchase a big imposing mare – who won a point to point in Ireland – a novice hurdle and a handicap chase. Her career was interrupted by a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an injury – and all of her best form was after that – as a half sister to two Listed winners, it is anyone’s guess as to how good she would have been without getting injured! She is by Black Sam Bellamy – had four foals in her fist four years as a broodmare but is not in foal at present. With her size and pedigree, I think she could be lots of fun for a few like minded people to get together and breed their own horses – sharing the costs involved but getting all the pleasure that breeding can give! Get in touch for more details – I know there are a few of you that have enquired when we are putting together another breeding syndicate – now is your chance! Get in touch for further details – 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com.
Friday – work morning at Ravenswell – and it was a good morning for Greyval who put in a sparkling display up the hill – she is very much on track for her seasonal debut at the end of the month – she really is in fantastic form! Chevelle had a little cough after working – she worked well – but the little cough meant that she got a scope and a trach wash from the vet when she got back down to the yard. She has a very low-level respiratory infection – nothing serious, just like a young child going to a new school – she has picked up a little bug at her new home. A course of antibiotics and she should be good to go again! Mamoon Star is another one that has had a course of antibiotics, and as a result didn’t get an entry on the flat in Kempton. We will look at the programme book and put a plan in place for him – rest assured wherever he goes – it will be right-handed! As mentioned Intrepide Sud is in great form – and will be ready to rock and roll in a couple of weeks. Maria’s Flame is also very well – a couple of weeks behind the others as she had a bit of a longer break in the paddock this summer – she will be aimed at a bumper in the middle of October.
On Friday evening one of us hopped on the train and headed down to London for the Chopova Lowena show at the London Fashion Week – two things about the evening – one that will surprise you and one that will not – Firstly – and surprisingly – these shows only last less than 10 minutes! Secondly – and less surprisingly – it wasn’t me that went!
Saturday – an early start and a good effort from those of us that had been hob nobbing at a Fashion Show the night before to get up at 4.30am. A good trip up to Donald McCains for the second of our September syndicate visits. Donald in good form – Brian Hughes in riding out, and all the horses looking fantastic on a sunny and dry morning. Shame about the luke warm drinks before second lot – we are still hunting the person that unplugged the urn!
A beautiful morning for a yard visit!
Team meeting!
Dino (orange cap) Ridin Solo (light blue cap) Old Blue Eyes (Red cap)
All three were out second lot – Donald has changed things around a bit for Dino Bellagio this term – he is doing more on the flat, round, deep sand gallop and has built up to doing 3 miles per day on that. This week he did his first piece of work on the hill which he does after his cantering on the round gallop. Having suffered an injury to a hind cannon bone – this regime means that he is doing most of his work without putting excess pressure on his hind legs by going uphill. It was good to see that he has lost none of his enthusiasm and ability as we all got to see him do a sparkling piece of work upsides Jungle Jack – who is a winner of 5 hurdle races and has a rating of 132.
Dino - Orange Cap
As you can seen Dino, on only his second piece of proper work did it very well. He has always been a very good horse; things went badly wrong for him last season – but he remains a novice for this term – and any horse that can work the way he has with a 132 rated horse surely has a big season ahead of him in novice company. That level of ability suggests that he can be competing in some very nice (and valuable) races this season – Donald had a very smart plan in place for him last year that sadly went west after his hurdles debut – but with that all out of the way now – we can look forward to a really fun time with Dino this time around. There are a couple of shares left in his syndicate – I am not sure where else you could get a share in a horse with this level of ability for just £25/week inclusive of all costs! You could be heading to some of the biggest meetings on the calendar – get in touch – you have seen how he goes – don’t miss out!
Old Blue Eyes is a week or so behind the other two as he had a little longer in the field in the summer. We saw him do three good canters up the hill gallop and it is safe to say he is a very impressive mover – he has a great way of going. By Blue Bresil, he is a half brother to Dino Bellagio and is another one that Donald has always thought the world of. I have left no one in any doubt about how much I like this lad, and it was good to hear from his regular work rider Will, that he is a horse that gives him a really good feel and one that he feels has a very very nice future. Old Blue Eyes had done some very impressive work at this time last year – before we decided to give him a break – he had a few aches and pains that you often get with very young national hunt horses. When he returned to Donald in the spring we had a chat about how we went about the 24/25 season with him – I am always keen to give them a run or two in bumpers, and am more than happy to give them the whole season in that sphere if they show enough to be considered for one of the big bumpers at the end of the season – Donald is always keen to head over hurdles sooner - so it was good to hear that he was very much up for the idea of concentrating on the bumper route with OBE – it must mean that he has seen enough to suggest that he could run in a nice one next spring! I gave everyone the chance to own a share in him in the summer – and am amazed that there wasn’t anyone that wanted it! Judging by the way he went about his work yesterday – you may all regret that!
Old Blue Eyes (red cap) third canter
Ridin Solo did two canters up the hill and finished up working on the third ascent. He looks really well – is the furthest forward of the three and it will not be long before he is back on the track. He will benefit from a step up at some stage this season – but could start over 2 miles when he gets his season under way in the next few weeks. We are hopeful that he has a bit in hand of the handicapper, and that he will keep improving as he steps up in trip. He will then switch to fences where we are sure he will be seen in a better light again. Good to see a few of The Red Sash Racing Club there to watch him work – he looks sure to give them a really fun time this winter. £79 buys you a share – and covers all of his costs until May 2025 – head over to www.redsashracing.co.uk to purchase a share – it’s a bit more than your usual club!
Ridin Solo near side light blue cap
Once again – huge thanks to Debbie Burt for taking the time to pop into Donalds and take some fantastic photos of the morning. Debbie had been up in Doncaster the day before for the first day of the St Leger meeting, and dashed back there after photographing our three in Donalds yesterday morning! One day I will get a photo of Debbie sitting down – it will be worth framing – she never does!
Debbie and Dug
Ridin Solo (light blue cap) Old Blue Eyes (red cap)
Ridin Solo - a lot of fun for just £79!
Dino - look where you're going!
Ridin Solo in front of some of his owners
Old Blue Eyes
While we were wandering round the yard seeing all the horses at Donalds, my day was made when the phone rang proving that my QR code formula was working. If you recall I had come right into the 21st century and put together an advert for Tintagel Queens stable door ahead of a massive stable visit Olly Murphy had planned for National Racehorse Week. He was expecting 800 people to be at Warren Chase on Saturday morning – and I was just telling a few people at Donalds about the morning Olly was having and the ‘ultra modern’ advert I had put together when the phone rang and Rod, who was standing with Tintagel Queen called to bag his share in her! Rod is new to NBR and we wish him the best of luck with his new girl! He will not have to wait too long to see her run – she will be ready to go around the middle of October as long as there is plenty of juice in the ground. Having been a short head second in her bumper in Chepstow and then a very eye catching third on hurdles debut over a trip that was way too short for her – she looks like being a really fun mare to be involved with for the winter – we have a plan for her – which will involve a nice mares race in the spring if all goes well!
Around the rest of the gang – Rockola is really well down with Alan King, and we are looking forward to seeing both her and the Lindas Lad filly when we head down to Barbury Castle for the third of our ‘September Saturdays’ next weekend.
The team of youngsters are all well – Gatsby managed to give himself a superficial cut last weekend – but nothing major and he is back out in the field.
Next week – now that the crowds have subsided at Olly Murphys I hope to get in to see Tintagel Queen and Itchy Feet – and we will be heading to Barbury Castle on Saturday – there are still a couple of spaces available if anyone would like to join us there – it is the most beautiful yard – Kingy the best of hosts, and you are guaranteed a fun morning. 8.30am – 11.30am. Get in touch to book your place. If Olly can cope with 800 yesterday, I am sure he can cope with a few more of us when we head to Warren Chase on Saturday 28th – if you fancy a trip to his yard – let me know as well – the more the merrier!!
Depending on how the week pans out I may also nip in to Warwick racecourse to see a couple of horses school on the schooling strip they have there. Nice to get a couple schooled on grass before they run.
