Found The Key
Plenty happening in the last week – we got round to a few yards – had a lovely day at one of my favourite meetings of the year – and potentially added another horse to the squad.
It’s all here – read on Macduff!
Monday was due to be a quieter day – and as a result I usually keep the lap top handy and logged on to the BHA Admin website to track entries at the weekend meetings. I try and keep an eye on them every day – as, on occasion you can spy an opportunity to run a horse in a race that you had not considered before, but that is not always possible as I will be driving, or at yards etc.
Fergal and I had been messaging one another from an early hour – arranging a few things, one of which was a trip down to Ravenswell the next day, and it was clear that Ferg was feeling ‘less than tip top’ and had taken himself off home for a few hours.
As the morning wore on, my eye was continually drawn back to a valuable mares’ handicap hurdle in Wincanton on Saturday. There were around 14 mares entered with 90 minutes to go until the race closed and although competitive, it didn’t look the strongest of races for the £35,000 prize pot.
With Fergal dealing with ‘matters of ill health’ I wasn’t going to bother him (he probably hadn’t got the time to talk to me)! So, I simply messaged Neil who does the race planning at Ravenswell and asked him to enter Greyval in the race – and I would chat about it with Fergal later in the week when he was feeling better.
The race was to be run over a distance of over 2m5f – nearly 1/2 a mile further than Greyval had ever run in her life – but after her last run in Stratford, which was, and let’s be honest about it, very disappointing, Johnny had said that he felt that she really needed to step up in trip. He even considered a jump straight up to 3 miles – so this trip was not out of the question – and it was worth a shot.
When entries closed there were 17 mares in the race – and I started to go through them – if she ran – this one would be on me – I wasn’t going to get it wrong!
Those of you who take the time to read this rambling nonsense every week (thank you for your perseverance!!) will know that last week we had to make the tough decision to retire Maria’s Flame – in fairness – it wasn’t a tough decision to make – that was made for us as she had aggravated the injury that she suffered earlier in the year, and the prognosis for her to stand training in the future was less than favourable and the right decision was to retire her and send her off to be a broodmare. As a result, I felt I needed to find another horse, so that the members of her syndicate that wished to could go to the races and enjoy some sport could do so. Fergal had mentioned that he had a horse in the yard that was worth a look, so I had arranged to head to Ravenswell on Tuesday morning to have a look at him and watch him work.
First Lot
First lot I got to see Greyval and Intrepide Sud both work up the hill. Greyval, as usual, was in stunning form, she really is a sight to behold as she strides up that gallop. Her homework this season has always been top class, and it was a pleasure to watch her! The level of ability that she shows at home, is not what we saw the last day on the track – so we were all left scratching our heads. Speaking with Johnny as the horses were washed off after work, he said it is like riding two different horses, the Greyval he sits on at home is not the same mare that he rides in a race, and he was very keen to step her up in trip and see if that would unlock a better performance. He felt that the race in Wincanton on Saturday was the right move, and that she should take her chance.
Greyval
Intrepide Sud is another that has caught the eye in his work this term – and, working alone as usual, he strode up the hill in fine form. He is still not 100% right – his work is fine, but his scopes are not quite right, so he has missed a couple of possible engagements recently, but he is on the road to recovery, and we will soon see him back on the track. After winning on debut – his work actually improved at home – so when he is back healthy, he should be fun to watch next time out!
Intrepide Sud
The horse we went to see to replace Maria, is a lovely young horse, with size and scope, and a nice pedigree – but he was quite weak, and would not be ready to run for a couple of months, and is likely to have only a couple of runs this season – so he was not quite what we were looking for, and we passed on him.
All was not lost – we had another iron in the fire – and we headed round to Ivy Lodge Farm to see a very nice son of Telescope with Jason Maguire. He is a lovely, athletic individual, but like the one in Ravenswell, is quite a way off a run, and would only run a couple of time this season – again – he didn’t quite fit the bill, but while we were having a coffee with Jason and Lauren, we did come up with another option that may well fit the bill perfectly. I will go into further details in the future, but we will be assessing a 5 yr old gelding that has been running on the flat – with a current rating of 81 he has plenty of ability, and has run very well this season. As a two year old, he was ridden by Holly Doyle and Ryan Moore who both felt that he was a stakes level performer. Sadly, things went west for him as a 3 yr old – but he returned to form at 4, and as I say, has run well this summer. He has had a short break, and it will not take long for him to be running again. He has schooled over hurdles and will head into training with Fergal O’Brien. He is a lovely dual purpose, fun horse that we can run over hurdles through the winter, and then have a bit of fun with on the flat during the summer!
There will be more details on this page in the weeks to come, but we are going to get him back in work and confirm that everything is fine with him before we fully ‘pull the trigger’ – but watch this space!
One we did see at Ivy Lodge Farm was Chevelle, who looked magnificent. She has thrived for her enforced break post wind op – and would resume ridden exercise the day after we saw her. She will start back cantering with Maguire and head to Ravenswell after 10 days on his round gallop.
Chevelle
While I was on my travels, Donald McCain gave Dino Bellagio another entry in Carlisle on Monday 11 November. Dino was also entered in Hexham on Friday – but Donald is not a fan of Hexham, and never seems to have too much luck there. He says he enters them, gets suckered into running them as the races look winnable, and then kicks himself when they run and get beaten! I have never been to Hexham, and it is one I need to tick off the list - but we both agreed that it was probably not the right track for Dino and he would continue to enter him going forward. Having returned to action with a nice run in Carlisle, it made sense to give him an entry there.
Wednesday – and a mare that we brokered a deal for, to go to Ireland finally caught the ferry – it had taken a while!
As planned, Dino was not declared in Hexham.
It was good to get a video from Josh Moore, Cloud Dancer having his first proper piece of work after spending a few weeks dealing with a few foot issues. They now seem to be 100% behind him, and he is in great order. As you would expect he had a good blow after his work, but he is nearly back up to full fitness and it will not be long before he is getting a few entries.
Cloud Dancer near side
Mamoon Star has settled into his new life of retirement and is now ready to rehome. He has been with Connor Brace and his girlfriend Alex Knight for a few weeks now – a period of adjustment from racehorse to riding horse. He has done plenty of flat work – schooled over poles and been away for a pop over some cross country fences too. Next week he will head out for a days hunting, and that will be the final part of his time with Connor and Alex. ‘Malc’ is an absolute gent of a horse, he is 100% sound, has the most wonderful temperament, and is the type of horse that will turn his hand to anything in the future. You could do as much or as little as you want with him. If you know anyone that could offer him a good home – he is available to try (Connors yard is near Broadway) and is priced to sell to the right home. 07909 518902 for all his details.
Thursday, another early start – and a trip up to Olly Murphy’s Warren Chase stables to see Tintagel Queen and Itchy Feet. Tintagel Queen had come out of her seasonal debut in Stratford OK, she had given herself a bit of a bash on a joint, but that had settled down, and Thursday was her first day back cantering. She looked great and was moving well. As detailed last week – and as I wrote in the race report for her syndicate members, I never expected to see her running around Stratford – as it offered a completely opposite test to the one that she needs. TQ needs a big galloping track – not the sharpest track in the UK! But we had to run – with no rain around – we had to get her started, and surely there will be some rain and some soft ground by the time she is ready to run again! A big galloping track, and soft ground is what we need, fingers crossed this ‘anticyclonic gloom’, as the weather men are calling it lifts soon, and we get some rain!
Tintagel Queen
Itchy Feet is in great order, he schooled for the first time this season on Wednesday and was very good as usual. He caused mayhem down at the schooling strip as they jumped off, but that’s him – he is a bit strange – but they all know and love him at Warren Chase.
While at Olly’s I was tracking the Wincanton declarations on my phone – in fact we both were, as Olly had a mare that he had declared in the race as well. In the end 14 mares were declared including Greyval – so we would be heading down to the Badger Beer Meeting – which is always a great afternoon out! Sally sent through a clip of her schooling and she was in great form.
Alan King sent a video through of Rockola leading a few ‘babies’ in a routine canter up the Sharpridge gallop. One of the youngsters was our own And She Was, who is really coming together nicely – Alan is delighted with her, and it will not be long before she is getting a few entries. With shares now very limited across all of our syndicates – have a look at her profile on the For Sale Page – she goes very nicely and has a wonderful pedigree! She is with a Master trainer, at one of the most beautiful yards in the country! What is not to like – get involved – 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com
Friday morning, and time to get some badges organised for Greyvals owners in Wincanton. A good bunch would be making the trip – and we were all looking forward to seeing what she could do over the furthest distance she had ever run over.
While getting those sorted it was good to hear from Josh Moore who was on to ask if it would be OK for him to take Cloud Dancer to Windsor on Monday for a racecourse gallop. The track had asked him if he could take a bunch of horses there for a trial of the new track that they will be using when national hunt racing returns there next month. Having missed a bit of time with his ‘niggly feet’, Josh felt that this would be an ideal opportunity to get a nice ‘blow’ into Cloud Dancer, which should put him spot on for a return to the track in 10-14 days time. I was all for it – it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss – and Cloud Dancer will enjoy a day out in Windsor on Monday.
Later in the morning, another clip from Kingy – this time Rockola leading the same bunch of babies, including And She Was on the summer grass gallop. Rockola has been given a good while to get over the exertions of her seasonal debut in Southwell. She is a light framed filly, and despite eating everything that is put in front of her, she is not an easy horse to keep weight on, so she needs that time to recover from her runs. She is moving really well, and now that she has a handicap mark – she can be placed to good effect going forward.
Saturday – and it was off to Wincanton – Badger Beer Day – always a great day with a huge crowd! Good to get there early – and it was a good trip down to be fair. Wincanton on a weekday can be a right pain – but early on a Saturday – not so much! Great timing – I pulled into the car park one space away from Debbie Burt, who was taking a bit of a ‘Busmans’ on a Saturday and was down at one of her old ‘stomping grounds’ to see friends and take a few photos. Debbie had kindly offered to snap Greyval for us. The ground was given as good, and the jockeys after the first reported it to be riding just on the soft side of that description – perfect for Greyval – two non runners – 12 going to post. Having put my neck on the line and instigated the entry for Greyval – I had spent longer than usual going through the form of the runners heading to post – and had concluded that if Greyval stayed the extra distance she should run a very big race in this valuable handicap.
She looked stunning in the paddock – she always comes in late and leaves quickly as she can get a little bit on edge in the prelims – it’s a shame that we can’t show this beautiful mare off to racegoers, and we have tried a red hood to keep a lid on her – but we found that the process of putting that on her wound her up more than it calmed her down – so that had been dispensed with – much to Debbies delight (better photos)!
She was settled at the start, and the plan was to hold her up off what looked like being a quick pace on the front end and ride her to finish her race. The tapes went up and she settled beautifully, and at the slightly slower pace her jumping was very good. She did miss one down the back at a vital stage and was left behind the eventual winner rather than landing in front of her, and in all honesty – the way the race panned out – it may have cost her victory. As they turned for home, she looked like she was labouring, but having jumped 2 out, Johnny gave her a tap on the tail and she really picked up for him. She certainly stayed the trip, and was really motoring after the last, eventually finishing a close third.
Everyone was delighted with the run – she had shown that she still had the will to win and that she certainly stays 2m5f and it looks like she will stay further too! This opens up so many options for her – and there is some real fun to be had going forward. I was delighted for her owners, who have had to endure a bit of a lean spell with her over the last 12 months – but we are back on track and now we can look ahead!
Johnny pre race
On the way down – Donald had declared Dino Bellagio in Carlisle on Monday – another trip to Cumbria – but I quite like Carlisle – so it will be fun! Looking forward to seeing what Dino can do off of his opening mark of 96.
Around the rest – Old Blue Eyes has come out of his racecourse gallop well. I will pop into Bankhouse on Tuesday morning and see him – it will be a chance to go through some race options with Donald as he will not be far off making his debut now. I will also get to see Ridin Solo, who will be out again soon – upped in trip – he will hopefully show the improvement we saw from Greyval yesterday! Don’t forget – a share in Ridin Solo is just £75 – includes all costs for this season – and £30 of free Tote Bets! They make wonderful Christmas presents – just over 40 shopping days left you know! They also make great Wedding presents – so head over to www.redsashracing.co.uk and tick one gift off that long Christmas shopping list – without even leaving your house and having to endure thousands of people around the shops!
Our three year old Blue Bresil gelding, Barry is getting close to starting his life as a racehorse. He will head down to Ivy Lodge Farm in the next few weeks – whenever the weather turns wetter or colder. Jason will start his pretraining, and he will head to his chosen trainer (yet to be decided) in the New Year. I think Louise wishes he was going this week - the rug repair bills would go down!
Away from the horses - huge congratulations ot Alex and Lucy in the birth of Thea Emma - Mum and daughter doing fine!
Tomorrow its off to Carlisle to see Dino – Tuesday a stop in at Donalds to see the others there, home on Wednesday – and then off to Cheltenham on Thursday for their November meeting! Always a fun few days! Next weeks news may be a day late!
