Comeback Queen


 

Another week rolls by – Soon be Christmas!

            Monday –An American Hall of Fame trainer once stated that ‘the most dangerous individual on the planet was not a lunatic with a machine gun – but an owner with a programme book!’ I can be that ‘owner’ but unless I see a glaring omission form a trainers’ plans I tend to let them get on with it without interference from me!

Donald McCain loves an entry – all trainers take a different view to entries, some enter early, and take them out of the races they have earmarked for them on the morning that the entries close. Others will be very specific and earmark a particular race and not deviate from that plan – some are ‘late brakers’ – entering horses at the very last minute after they have got an idea of what the opposition looks like – then you have those that are a mixture of all three! Donald falls in the latter category – and as a result he is inclined to give his horses plenty of options. Over the last few days of the previous week – he had been giving our ‘Club’ horse, Ridin Solo a good few options, so on Monday we had a long chat about the merits or otherwise of each race. We decided that Fakenham was too tight and sharp for him, even though there were very few runners likely to go to post, Newcastle’s ground was likely to be a touch quick for him, which left Ayr and Carlisle on the weekend – we would see how those races were looking nearer the time. While on the phone, he reported that Dino Bellagio had come out of his ‘comeback’ run well, and would resume faster work in the week, and that he was really happy with Old Blue Eyes who would be having an away day gallop on Wednesday – his first little taste of what is to come!

            A trainer that leans to the ‘last minute’ strategy of entries is Olly Murphy, and he gave Tintagel Queen an entry in Carlisle on Saturday. In fairness we had discussed the option in Cheltenham the Friday before – and decided, with the weather set fair, the ground drying back in a number of places, and Tintagel Queen ready to run, it made sense to give her the option of going to Carlisle where it looked like the ground would remain on the juicy side, should Stratford, where she had an entry on Thursday, dried back and was too quick for her. TQ fractured a hind leg in January, and as we all know she is a mare that relishes soft ground – so starting her off on the right ground would be very important.

            When all the possible entries were gone through – it was time to sit down and go through the catalogue for the Goffs UK British National Hunt Breeders Showcase Sale on Friday. Only 90 entries, but some wonderful pedigrees to look through and a good few vendors to pick up the phone and chat to about the stock that they were offering. I find foal sales fascinating – and was really looking forward to heading up to Doncaster on Friday – this time, without a horsebox – there just to look at foals!

            Tuesday – first things first – handicap marks. There would not be too much action this week, but all eyes were on what mark the handicapper would give Rockola after her 3 qualifying runs. Alan King was very much on the ball, and even as I was looking at the new number – he was on with a message – ‘91 – should be able to do some damage with that’. Rockola has come out of her race fine – and will be out again around the middle of the month.

Declarations for Tintagel Queen opened at 8.00am and closed at 10.00am. Ground described as Good To Soft. Olly on the phone to discuss options and we both felt that as the track was only a stones throw from her stable door, she would be declared, taken to the track on Thursday and if we felt that the ground was too quick for her she would be a Non Runner and head back home, without having incurred too manty costs – and we would look at her Carlisle option on Sunday. Stratford was not in any way a track that would suit her, she is a very big, rangey, mare and Stratford is a very tight track – with more of an emphasis on speed than the big galloping tracks she would prefer – but with options limited and the weather forecast looking very settled for the next couple of weeks – we decided it was worth declaring and seeing if there was still enough juice in the ground come Thursday.

Later in the morning I had a chat with Fergal. He had entered Intrepide Sun in a race in Hereford shortly after his win in Uttoxeter, but subsequently, IS had picked up a respiratory infection, and had been on the easy list for a few days. After declarations closed at 10.00am I turned my attention to entries which remain open until 12.00pm – probably just to see how many more races Donald had found for Ridin Solo! I spotted that Intrepide Sud was still entered in Hereford on Monday – so a quick call to Ferg averted an unnecessary entry fee. The good news is that IS is back on song again – he had completed his course of antibiotics that day and had done a swinging piece of work that morning in front of one of his owners, Darran and his family. IS would need a further couple of weeks to get back to up to ‘full chat’ again – but we are very much looking forward to seeing him when he does. Later on in the afternoon there were a couple of very interesting maiden hurdles run in Chepstow. Always contested by good horses, these renewals were no exception, with the winners of each division looking very smart indeed. The interesting thing to note was  that a couple of horses that were behind IS in Uttoxeter ran nice races in these heats in Chepstow – giving the form a solid feel. That solid feel backed up later in the week when there was to be further evidence that the Uttoxeter race, and Intrepide Suds performance was a decent level of form.

Intrepaide Sud Tuesday morning.

One that didn’t get to go to the hill was Maria’s Flame who had been sore the week before, and the initial thoughts were that she had been cast in her box, and would be fine after a couple of days, but she was still not right on Monday morning when she went out to exercise, and she would be once again. Confined to barracks until the vet had seen her again. Greyval is in fine fettle and will be stepping up in trip when she reappears in a couple of weeks.

Another trainer to talk to on Tuesday was Josh Moore – and to check in with him regarding Cloud Dancer and his feet! The vet had finally got to the bottom of it and found an issue which was easily dealt with last week. Josh was delighted to say that CD was still moving really well and had done three canters that morning. With his issues behind him, and hopefully a clear path ahead, he will be back on track later this month, and off of his mark, should be giving his owners plenty of fun in handicap hurdles.  

            Wednesday, Old Blue Eyes headed out for a racecourse gallop at an ‘undisclosed location’. Having watched a bunch of younger horses do a swinging piece of work on ground that Donald described as horrendous (Soft) – the trainer headed down to the horses in training sale in Newmarket. It was there that I spoke to him, and he was delighted with how OBE had gone. He said he had been a lot more ‘green’ than he thought he would be, having a real good look around him all the time, but that is why they have these gallops – to teach them a thing or two, let them see a bit more of life, and prepare them for their ‘first day at school’ – I am sure we can all remember our first days at anything – they are never easy – so these gallops just help young horses to adjust when they finally get to making their debuts. Old Blue Eyes has always shown up very well in his homework, and we are all very much looking forward to seeing him make his debut in a bumper in the next few weeks.

            Thursday – Donald on to talk through the three entries that Ridin Solo had over the weekend – a 2m handicap in Ayr, a 2m1f handicap and a 2m4f novice hurdle in Carlisle. In the end we decided to head to Ayr – we are all aware that the 2m trip would be on the short side, but he is not a slow horse, and with the race in Ayr being a handicap, with what looked like only a handful of declarations, we felt that it was the perfect chance to give him his first taste of handicap company against older, more experienced and battle hardened horses, in a race with only a few runners – a lot less than the usual 12-16 strong fields that these races can attract. So, he would head to Ayr on Saturday.

After updating the members of The Red Sash Racing Club – (membership is just £75 and makes an ideal Christmas gift – you get £30 of free Tote bets too) it was time to head up the road to Stratford, where hopefully we would be seeing Tintagel Queen make her comeback after her nasty injury in January. Thankfully when we arrived and had a walk on the track – the ground was OK for her, not ideal – around this tight track she really would need it to be bottomless, but it was safe, and if we didn’t run her here – who knows when we would get the chance to go again. At least running her here meant that we would have 3-4 weeks when surely, we must get some rain somewhere and some proper winter ground that she so enjoys. TQ looked fantastic in the paddock, it was good to see her out again. She would obviously improve for the run after such a long layoff, and Olly had given her lots of long and steady work to get her towards full fitness due to the nature of the injury she sustained earlier in the year. She had had a couple of faster pieces of work – but this race was bound to bring her on no end. Sean Bowen in the plate, and his plan was to sit mid division and let her get into a rhythm around this tight track. He jumped off towards the rear of mid div and with a bit of daylight. Her jumping was a tad ring rusty to start with - this was only her second start over hurdles after all, so that was always going to be the case. The pair made good ground down the back straight to 2 out, where on landing, the lack of a recent run, and race fitness took its toll and she ‘blew up’. Taking a big gulp of air and staying on one paced to the line without being put under pressure. It was a very pleasing return to action, on a track that would be far from ideal, on ground that, although safe, was really not soft enough. There is an enormous amount of improvement to come from her, it is great to get this comeback under her belt, and hopefully we can string a few runs together now and she can start to show us on the track what she has shown in her two bits of faster work this autumn.

Big TQ in the paddock

A big crowd of her owners in to see her!

Heading to post

Back safe and sound 

Pleased with herself

One piece of less good news on Thursday afternoon was that Maria’s Flame would not be running any time soon – the vet had found that she was very close to suffering a similar injury to the one that sidelined her earlier in the year, and as a result the prognosis was less than ideal. The decision was made to retire her, and she will head off to be a broodmare. A real shame as she had shown a tremendous amount of promise on her debut, and we were expecting a very big run on her second start, where we think this problem first manifested itself and resulted in a poor run. She is such a sweet girl, and she is sure to make a lovely Mum!

Back home – time to finalise those lists for the sale in Doncaster on Friday, as it would be an early enough start up the A1 in the morning.

            Not often I am in Doncaster without being on ‘horsebox duty’, but with just 90 lots and Andy on holiday, we (I) decided not to take a lorry up there. In fairness I had considered heading on up to Ayr from Doncaster on Friday night, and by the time I had finalised what I was doing, it made it tricky to arrange to get the box picked up from the yard etc. So up the road in the car. I did get to make a few calls. I spoke to Jim who owns Maria’s Flame and discussed options with her, and we settled on a plan. She would head over to Connor Braces to recuperate, after which she would be sold to continue her career as a broodmare.

I also chatted with Fergal about a possible replacement for her – so that her syndicate can go racing – and we have a couple of options going forward and should have something sorted this week. Some have taken shares in our other horses, and those that have done so will move straight over to their new horses and I will take up the cost of rehabilitating Maria’s Flame – therefore costing them no extra money in November. We do try to be fair – injuries are nobody’s fault, but we can try and make the ramifications as painless as possible. This now means that there is just a single share left in Tintagel Queen and a couple left in As She Was who is in training with Alan King – as I said – members of Maria’s Syndicate that take up the option of shares in either of these horses will not be charged for the training/keep fees of both – I will take on the cost of rehabilitating Maria – you would simply move over to your new horse. These remaining shares are first come first served so don’t delay! I will update all members about a replacement in Ravenswell next week.

When I got to Doncaster shortly after 9.00am I did a video for all of the Maria’s Flame syndicate explaining the situation which I sent out later in the morning (it seemed to take an age to upload).

Then it was all about the next generation – and a good look at a lot of filly foals. Great to see Steve in Doncaster. Steve has long held a passion for jump racing and is very keen on pedigrees and breeding as well, so if there was a nice filly foal on offer that we thought was value for money, we may just try to grab one for him.

There was a mixed bunch in fairness, and as it was Steves first rodeo, we were not going to be playing at the top of the market, having followed a couple in, and trying to buy one privately after she failed to reach her reserve, we did finally get one – a lovely, strong, compact filly by exciting sire Waltzertact out of a 130 rated Grade 2 winning mare. We were very much struck by her outlook to life, she really wanted to get on with things, but at the same time, was very sensible and took everything in around her. Delighted to get her for Steve, and we wish him the very best of luck with her going forward!

 

A good day – spoilt by an awful trip home! A1 closed – meant a long journey!

Olly had been on earlier in the day with a video message to say that Tintagel Queen seems fine after her run in Stratford which was the best news! There is a fun season to be had with her!

Tintagel Queen all good after her run

           Saturday – another video from Olly, this one of Itchy Feet working upsides. Itchy back on song and suffering no ill effects of the injury he had which curtailed last season. He will be ready to run in early December.

            Donald was up for a long chat when he rang to talk about Ridin Solo and his upcoming run in Ayr. He had just watched Dino Bellagio ‘work the house down’ and decided to enter him in a race in Hexham next Friday – this was just Dino’s second piece of work after his run, but he had gone so well Donald felt he earned an entry – we will look at the race and decide if he runs as the week progresses. Old Blue Eyes came out of his away day very well and was back cantering. He will now head straight to a bumper in around 3 weeks.

            Saturday afternoon and a great afternoon of sport. Ridin Solo the highlight, but it was great to see Romeo Coolio win so impressively in Down Royal. We had purchased him as a foal, and sold him at 3 as a store. He went on to win his Irish Point in fantastic fashion, and was very very well regarded. He was subsequently purchased by 2 friends/clients and having finished second in the Champion bumper in Cheltenham last spring, he looks like he will be every bit as good as everyone that has had anything to do with him thinks he will. You will be hearing a lot more about him over the course of the next few years!

            Ridin Solo ran really well to be a close 3rd in Ayr. Over the inadequate 2m trip. Theo Gillard made use of his stamina and made it a true test, but turning in he came under pressure, and couldn’t quite go with the speedier types. To his enormous credit he put his head down, gave it his all and kept galloping right the way to the line! He is such an admirable horse. He tries his heart out for everyone, his jumping is a real asset, and I can promise him he will never be asked to run over 2m over hurdles again! He will now step up in trip over hurdles before a switch to fences. I have just heard that he has come out of his race fine. We can now plan ahead, and he will be in the winners circle sooner rather than later!

 

Ridin Solo

            Around the remainder – And She Was, with Alan King is very well and building up to full fitness. It was nice to chat to her co-breeder, Juliette Minton at the sales on Friday – and she said that Alan had told her how pleased he was with the filly, and how much he liked her – all very positive! She will be ready to run in December and will make her debut in a bumper.

            Mamoon Star is settling into his new life as a retired racehorse. In a week or so Connor and Alex will be able to have prospective new owners in to have a sit on him, and I am sure he will find a lovely new home very quickly. He is a gorgeous horse!

            Next week I will be into a couple of yards and could be heading to Hexham on Friday so tune in next week to catch up with all we have been up to!  

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