The Futures Bright...
Grand National week – and with a fair amount of office work to do towards the end of the week – if I were to get to Aintree it would just be a flying visit. While I was slaving away at the coal face, one of us was flying – literally – Debbie headed out to Meydan on Monday and is off to Qatar for the next few days. She was kind enough to find time to put together a piece about her time in Dubai – the first instalment of which features below.
Monday morning – started with a video – not a schooling video from Ravenswell which is a common occurrence, this one from Ivy Lodge Farm. First lot, and all four of our 3 yr olds were out having their canters. Jason leading the way on Floyd (Falco x Savingforvegas), Tommie behind him on Finbar (Falco x Molly Childers) with Gatsby (The Grey Gatsby x Tucupita) and Red Bikini (Masterstroke x Ma Councha) whipping them in. It is safe to say that Jason was thrilled to be on Floyd and not Finbar, who was keen to show off his wellbeing with a demonstration of his best ‘Stallion’ impression.
Although happy to be on the quieter one, I’m not sure Maguire was that happy to be in front of Finbar and Tommie – I think he was slightly concerned for his safety at one stage! Finbar is certainly in great form, he is quite the character and has a very hardy and tough outlook to go with his athleticism. More about him later.
Later in the morning Jason called with an update on all of them – as you can see, Finbar very well and full of himself. Maguire very happy with the way that he is coming together. He thinks he will be ideal for the junior bumpers and juvenile hurdles next season. Floyd – is possibly going to need a bit more time – he is an altogether different type of horse – in fact he is the spitting image of his half brother, Nevada Samba. Floyd looks like being a little more of a long term project – we are not talking years – just a few months – he is one that will probably not start pre training until November, and head into training in early 2026. The hope is that as he shares the stunning good looks of his half brother, he also shares his ability, as Nevada Samba is just about as exciting a prospect as we have ever had on the team!
‘Gatsby’ is going really nicely too – he gives his riders a very good feel when they are in the saddle. He is a very strong individual – and he is another that will take as much work as you can throw at him and be ideally suited to the races for 3 yr olds in the autumn. He heads into training with Olly Murphy who is very much looking forward to getting going with.
The one that was a slight concern was Red Bikini, Jason a little worried that she had not progressed as he had hoped – he had arranged for the vet to give her a check over on Tuesday morning. Hopefully it would be nothing serious – but it was something that needed checking out.
Fergal sent an update on Intrepide Sud, who had finished tamely in Stratford on Saturday. I had asked for him to be scoped on Monday morning to see if we could find a reason for his capitulation late in the race – his trach wash was far from perfect – no blood, but just about everything else! It was definitely performance inhibiting – he will spend a few days in the field and have a course of antibiotics before returning on a more suitable track next time. He needs to show us a little more next time out – or he could well be heading off for an easier life away from racing. He is a horse that has had a host of problems and if he doesn’t put up a better display next time out, it may just not be fair on him to keep asking him to do it.
My day was spent in the office, starting the process of collating the figures to settle up The Sherington Partnership. I should get this finalised next week, and the members will be paid out the funds that remain in the account. Their horse Itchy Feet has settled into his new home in Norfolk – I had originally thought that his new home was local to Olly in Stratford but is seems as though I misheard and it is on the far side of Thetford, not Stratford. The good news is that he has the best home for life, and his new owner will keep us all up to date with his well being and what they have been up to.
Tuesday- Red Bikini headed off to the vets for her checks, sadly the news was not good – and it was clear that she was not going to be able to continue her career as a racehorse. She would have a perfectly normal life and undertake less strenuous activities, but the rigours of being in full training and being a successful race mare were deemed to be beyond her. A real blow – I had purchased RB as a foal – being the half-sister to Hidden Beauty, and by a sire that was really coming to the fore with his stock in France, I felt that it made a lot of sense to have her on the team. She was a very good-looking filly, with a sweet nature, and when I launched her syndicate a few weeks ago, 20 of the 25 shares were soon spoken for. Although the majority of the shares were reserved in her – I had not taken any money for them – instead, I was letting her get through the full pre training period, and seeing what Jason thought of her before taking anyone’s hard earned cash. Just a way of looking after clients – buying horses is always a risk – if I can mitigate those risks for my clients all the better – all part of the service. The problem she developed was not one that could be foreseen, and is very rare – it is very sad that we will not be able to race her – given that her half-sister, Hidden Beauty was such a talented mare, and her 5 yr old half-brother, the winner of an Irish point to point on debut a few weeks ago is held in very high regard and thought to be a contender for the Albert Bartlett at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival! Sadly, her condition means that it would not be right to breed from her either which is a double whammy! Although an expensive exercise for yours truly, having bought her as a foal and kept her through to this stage of her life, I am very happy that none of those costs were incurred by our clients. The good news is that Jason very quickly found her a new home locally and she will have a fun and less strenuous life ahead of her.
Another job for Tuesday was to finalise the restructure of Dino Bellagio’s syndicate – as you will have read on this page in the past few weeks, we have decided to branch off on a slightly different path with Dino for the time being – he will switch to the flat and have a few runs in that sphere this spring and early summer. I was conscious that he was syndicated as a national hunt horse, and therefore it was only fair to give those of his members that have no interest in flat racing the opportunity to leave the syndicate ahead of the end of the contract term in May. Many of his syndicate members feel very invested in this rollercoaster journey we have been on with him and are only too happy to continue with him – if it works – he should be lots of fun – especially if he takes to somewhere like Chester – how much fun would it be to have a few runs there through the summer?! There are very good reasons to think that he could be alright on the flat – he shows SO much speed in his homework. He has won two bumpers easily, his form only deserting him when we put 8 flights of hurdles in front of him. We have found that he had a slight problem, which would also have been affecting him over the winter and could possibly be caused by the very action of jumping hurdles – so without them in the way – that will be a great help to him. Flat racing will also put less pressure on his system, which will be a huge help to him as well – so all in all – it might just work. His homework with other flat winners would suggest that he could be quite good on the level, one thing for sure it will be fun with him! His stalls work has gone well – no issues there, and he is pencilled in to make his flat debut on April 17th.
For anyone that would like a bit of flat fun with Dino over the summer get in touch. No Capital outlay – all you have to cover is your share of his training/keep fees which I have kept at £110 per month. There is no minimum term either – if this doesn’t work, you will not be tied into a lengthy contract, we will take it one month at a time for now – but if he ends up at Royal Ascot in June, we will revisit that!! There are just a handful of shares available – get in touch if you fancy joining in with the latest chapter of the ‘Dino Journey’
Wednesday was a beautiful, bright but chilly morning – a lovely morning to stand and watch horses work at Olly Murphy’s Warren Chase yard. His horses look really well – even the trainer was puzzling how, ‘the more my horses run the more weight they put on!!’ We watched three lots on the round gallop and got the added bonus of seeing Olympic Gold Medallist Laura Collett put the finishing touches to the preparation of Strong Leader ahead of his run in the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle on Saturday. Laura popped him over a few grids and poles, and he was very good. Laura delighted with him.
On the way home I caught up with Donald McCain – just to make sure he wasn’t going on holiday after Aintree as I planned to pop up and see him next week. Donald in fine form – Dino likewise – he had worked very well that morning – In the words of his trainer - ‘As usual’. Old Blue Eyes had not worked that morning as he wasn’t 100% happy with him again – we have learned that he needs better ground than the very soft ground he encountered in Aintree on Boxing Day, but he will not be risked on the watered, bare and rough ground that we see on most racecourses at the moment – as he is still being troubled by a niggling splint I will chat to Donald next week when I am up there and decide if we just call it quits for the season and turn him away and let his system calm down and reset. This will give us the chance to start next season with a clean slate. I will have the chat and be in touch with his owners. Frustrating, but he is a nice horse, and the last thing we want to do is mess things up by doing the wrong thing at this stage of his career. Ridin Solo is well, no ill effects from his poor show in Kelso – just one run too many for him. He heads off for a break – and will return next season – we still have 3 miles and chasing up our sleeves with him – and he will be plenty of fun! Many of you will have seen in the press and heard on various racing podcasts, how recently introduced rules by the Financial Conduct Authority have impacted horse racing – in particular shared ownerships – we have had some lengthy discussions with both Weatherbys and the BHA regarding the implications and costs of these rules – but as ever, to little end. The latest thing to come to light is a slight change to the rules regarding Racing Clubs from HMRC. As it stands this is going to impact how The Red Sash Racing Club functions in the future, so I am keen to get this sorted as soon as possible. More discussions!
In the afternoon it was very good to see Mister Cessna win very easily in Ludlow – a horse that we had purchased in France in September last year, he was purchased by new owners with Fergal on the basis that he was sure to give them a day out at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. MC had a short break before making his UK debut in the Grade 2 Finale Hurdle in Chepstow in late December where he really didn’t appreciate the soft ground and was pulled up after being a but fresh early in the race. His next run was in calmer waters and on a much better surface in Ludlow in February, where he pushed an odds on favourite all the way to the line, going down by just over a length. His owners got their day out at the Cheltenham Festival, but things just happened a bit fast for him on the day and he was not given a hard time when his race was run – so it was good to see him hack up on Wednesday afternoon. He is a horse that loves a sound surface, and who is a very good jumper. He will be a force to be reckoned with over fences with all of his 4 yr old allowances!
Mister Cessna at Haras du Hoguenet the day we purchased him.
Thursday – another beautiful morning – a busy one at The Elms – so my visit delayed until the afternoon. I was keen to get over to see Savingforvegas and Nancy as they were scheduled to travel to France at the end of the week, but we were not sure of the day. They would be in France for a few weeks – so I had to get some pics and vids of the pair before they departed. Savingforvegas looks fantastic, she thrives on motherhood and now that she has a little one to look after she is in her element! I think she has her work cut out with this one though – safe to say that Nancy has a very strong will! She isn’t phased by anything and likes to impose herself on everyone and everything! Physically she is very nice, plenty of size, and a correct conformation – at this stage she looks very nice, and everyone is very happy with her! She may be offered for sale at an auction in the autumn, or she may be retained to sell or syndicate as a three year old – that is a decision that will be made over the course of the summer.
Nancy
'Vegas'
It was really good to see a couple of others too – George – our 2 yr old (Golden Horn x Savingforvegas). George is really developing now; a strong individual he is growing all the time and will make up into a lovely horse at 3. His sire is very hot at the moment – the sire of the Champion Hurdler and a first and third in the Triumph Hurdle illustrating what a fantastic National Hunt Sire he is. We are very lucky to have our lovely 2 yr old by him – and can’t wait to get going with him in the summer, when he will head down to Ivy Lodge Farm to be broken in and go through his 6 weeks of ‘primary school’. He will really benefit from this period of work and will come out of it a different horse – he has all the attribute to be another nice one – I was delighted when I saw him on Thursday!
George - 2 yr old by Golden Horn out of Savingforvegas
Another one that I was really taken with was the Waltzertakt yearling filly that I purchased for Steve in November in Doncaster (Wendy). Out of a Grade 2 winning hurdler, she has really done well since arriving at The Elms and she looks like she will do well whichever route Steve decides to go with her!
I got back and sat down to catch up on the news from Aintree. The track looked fantastic, bathed in warm spring sunshine, but what drama, as the main attraction, Constitution Hill once again fluffed his lines and fell 2 out. As I said after he fell in the Champion Hurdle – he had shown that he had it in his locker on his two previous starts, and although nobody expected it – you could see it happening – this latest fall in Aintree a carbon copy – he has just got too brave at his obstacles – and is coming up out of his jockeys hands and ‘letting fly’ – he obviously hadn’t learned his lesson in Cheltenham – hopefully he will now. A feature of his career has always been his low, and lightning quick hurdling technique – he now needs to get a little higher and show his obstacles a little more respect. Could we see him over fences next season? He would have to give 4’6” of black birch a little more respect. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Friday another gorgeous day – what a week of weather we have had – although the nights have still been pretty chilly! I had thought about heading up to Aintree to see Romeo Coolio run in the Grade 1 Novices Hurdle, but in the end, I had plenty to do in the office in the morning and couldn’t get there. I was surprised to see Romeo Coolio running over the minimum trip in Aintree, having chatted to the guys that own him after The Supreme in Cheltenham, they were all sure that he would step up to 2m4f and would be very hard to beat in Aintree. He tried to make all on Friday, but in the end, he was just short of a gear in the final stages, eventually fading to finish second. Another good run – would he have been better off in the 2m4f novice on Saturday – as it turned out I think he would have been very hard to beat in that, with Lulamba a non runner – but hindsight is a wonderful thing! Before settling down to watch the racing I got in touch with the owners of Finbar, to see if they would be in favour of restructuring their syndciate to accomodate those that had reserved a share in Red Bikini, and who were now without a horse. His exisiting owners were very understanding and generously agreed to allow their group to expand and offer shares in Finbar.
Saturday – Grand National day, and I like many in racing – just hoping upon hope that the day is full of drama but devoid of incident! The morning spent putting together the new Finbar syndicate - it was a busy day - by the end of it nearly 80% of the shares would be taken - with just a few remaining - have a look at his details on the FOR SALE PAGE and get in touch - he is very well bred, is a very tough character and is really athletic!
Finbar - Head to the FOR SALE PAGE and grab a share! Just £500!
Sadly, we would not see Lulamba in the 2m4f Mersey Novices Hurdle – I was very much hoping that he would showcase the talents of his sire, Nirvana du Berlais, and give him his first Grade 1 in the UK. Nirvana du Berlais the sire of ‘Nancy’ and who Savingforvegas is travelling to France this weekend to visit once again, a Grade 1 win would have been very good for business! I am sure Lulamba will get a few wins at the highest level in the future, so we will just have to be patient – he looks like a real talent. Plenty of non-runners on the day – the dry, bright and breezy weather was definitely not what Aintree needed. They try to provide ground on the slow side of good, and it must have been a nightmare trying to keep it that way over the past 2 weeks. The ground was pretty quick by Saturday. One that did run in the Mersey Novices Hurdle was Horaces Pearl – a graduate of the same NBR pinhooking syndicate as Romeo Coolio – he has the most patient owners who simply adore him, and after easily winning his 2 previous hurdle starts this season deserved to take his chance in this Grade 1. He ran a lovely race to finish 5th beaten 9 lengths. It all happened a bit quick for him – but he ran really well!
Wille Mullins – first, second, third and fifth in the Grand National – Unbelievable. And Paddy on the winner too! What a result for the family – very unlike Willie to be so emotional after he race – that is what the Grand National does to you! One jockey in hospital – Tom Bellamy with a broken wrist – two horses kept in the vets for observation, but on their way home on Sunday morning as I type this – hopefully they will both be OK.
As all the drama was unfolding in Liverpool, our ‘Overseas Correspondent’ for the week, Debbie was in Meydan armed with her camera! It ended up being a very special day for her – and like they say on the TV News – Debbie sent the following report - you know what they say – all good things come to those that wait, well, you will have to wait until next week for the second instalment – after all, the girl is on holiday!
Dubai Destination part 1
In the media land that I mostly inhabit, it would seem that NBR has had what we’d call a ‘slow week’. By contrast mine has been somewhat more hectic, so I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share it with you all and give an insight into global racing.
Ordinarily I would have been getting ready for Aintree, staying in a house share with Sally Duckett, my editor at International Thoroughbred magazine. However, because of Ramadan in the Middle East, the Dubai World Cup had been pushed back a week and instead of flying during the clocks changing, I was at home, getting ready for a day’s work at Ascot. I also write for a Turkish/English magazine called Bosphorse, and Mehmet Marangoz, my editor there, had put me in touch with the Turkish dental firm, Dentakay who were sponsoring a hurdle race and wanted a record of their day. Now, I don’t want to cast too much of a shadow over Ascot’s marketing department, but I did have to let my contact, Jabbar, down gently when as part of my photographic brief, he asked for pictures of the Royal Procession and singing round the bandstand!
Amended brief in place, I had been wondering what to do for an hour before I left, and then on checking my phone, rather than my watch, realised BST had begun, and I needed to get a shift on if I wanted to be there before gates opened. Horseracing is extremely popular in Turkey, they have a lot of tracks and many a European stallion has ended up there. Topically this includes Authorized, the Derby winner who is now back at stud in Ireland, sire of Grand National winner, and this year’s second, I Am Maximus. I had the pleasure of meeting him at Capital Stud this January as part of my last ‘Break glass in case of emergency’ missive, reporting on the Irish Stallion Trail.
Authorised
Having met my Turkish clients on arrival (all with great teeth and yes, I did floss before leaving the house!), it was pretty clear that they weren’t regular racegoers. However I was happy to take their pictures “in that little field by the grandstand” and in their box, which, judging by the photos on the wall, appeared to be the regular haunt of the Coolmore team. Sadly, the good ground had meant that their race had cut up badly with only five runners, which made my job of taking lots of branded number cloths as the horses raced, a little more challenging! They weren’t so fixated on winner shots and I was swiftly on my way after the presentations were complete, back to Wiltshire to finish packing for Dubai.
Whilst Qatar may have been my first Middle Eastern trip back in 2014, I’ve subsequently spent more time in the Emirates and this was to be my ninth Dubai World Cup trip in ten years, Covid having wiped out 2020. Flight arrivals aren’t always convenient and by the time I’d got through security I knew that Tuesday morning’s trackwork session at Meydan would be over. Not one to waste time, I still went to Meydan and picked up my accreditation from the media centre and by some miracle, my room was ready way before schedule, and I was able to check in early. Not an easy day for me though as I still had the majority of the Dentist’s photos to edit from Ascot!
Wednesday is when the draw for all nine World Cup races takes place, which is always the most tedious part of any of these international trips. I have yawned my way through them in three different continents and having travelled with the beginnings of a cold, this year I whipped round and left them to it. I’m not the type to throw a ‘sickie’ but I felt sacrificing a day then, would have me in the best form for later in the week. A wise choice and I was back for trackwork the next morning, at a very reasonable 6.45am to catch the European and American horses going through their paces on Meydan’s dirt. The standout for me was the American syndicate horse, Straight No Chaser, trained by Brit, Dan Blacker in the States. I had the pleasure of meeting both Dan and his horse prior to their Breeders Cup win last November and personally I’m happy to promote this type of ownership any way I can. I have an American friend who was in another of the My Racehorse syndicates with the Preakness winner, Seize The Grey, and she filled social media all last year sharing his successes.
Back to the hotel to edit the morning’s pictures, sending a selection to Sally who was on her way to Aintree, so that they could go on the magazine’s social media feeds. That night we had the Gala Dinner for connections, to which I (and plenty of other media) had secured a ticket to. Held outside the Ballroom of the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building), we were treated to a fabulous buffet and live music as we watched the fountains put on their display. The only downside was when we got the coach to leave, the traffic is so bad on a Thursday (Middle East starts their weekend on a Friday), that it took 45 minutes to get off the driveway and onto the main road!
I’d kept libations in check, just the one champagne on arrival at dinner, as I had to be up at 5am to meet up with 12 times Champion UAE jockey Tadhg O’Shea, who had an apartment for the UAE racing season at the same hotel. I’d bumped into him having lunch in the hotel when I arrived, so was able to secure an interview with him for Bosphorse magazine. Fortunately for both of us I’ve been interviewing him for various publications since his sixth championship, so I really only needed an update. He’d suggested I come with him to Zabeel Stables to see some of his World Cup rides exercise and grab a few photos. Zabeel is the base of Bhupat Seemar who took over from his uncle Satish in 2022 and was formerly based in its own training grounds right at the heart of Dubai city. However the threat of redevelopment has dogged all the original stables ever since my first visit, and they finally had to move to the Meydan training facility fairly rapidly right at the start of the 2024/25 season – certainly not ideal for any trainer!
Seemar was allocated what had been formerly known as Green Stables, which had sadly shown signs of wear and tear having had a number of temporary trainers installed since long term resident Erwan Charpy made the move to work as an advisor to the Dubai Racing Club in 2022. As we made our way across town, Tadhg told me that it was actually there where he had started as a 16 year-old, fresh from winning Ireland’s apprentice championship, having been awarded a generous sponsorship to ride in the Emirates for a season by HH Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum as his prize. It was also the first yard I visited when I came to Dubai to interview Erwan and Bhupat has done well to recover some of the old Zabeel feel. Boxes have had extra windows knocked through to the outside, the office completely refurbished, as well as some landscaping, which Bhupat told me had involved saving some of the turf from Zabeel before the bulldozers came in.
I stayed with Tadhg as we watched Trafalgar Square and Imperial Emperor (another syndicate horse) walk out to the dirt track, along with a horse I’ve had a keen interest in, Mufasa, who had only arrived five weeks ago having been bought by one of Bhupat’s owners. I had met Mufasa’s Chilean breeder and her family coming back from the Arc on the Eurostar last Autumn, when her son-in law saw me editing racing photos on the train. Horse people can’t help but talk to each other and I soon learned that Mufasa would be at the Breeders Cup too, and I arranged for Mrs Hurtado’s daughter Anna and her husband to go to Cheltenham races in November, as well as the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale. Obviously, I would be busy, but Nick kindly stepped in to give them a bit of a tour at the races for which they were extremely grateful.
Mufasa
Once back at the yard I had hoped to photograph Tadhg with Tuz, who had won all the major stakes sprint races in the UAE this season, a feat never done before. However, we were interrupted by a certain ex-England footballer who also wanted a tour and I had to step back and just grab a pic of him with the first horse that came to hand. Such is the contrast of my working life, having arrived with Tadhg in his brand new Porche, I left to go back to the Meydan media centre by rusty stable pick-up!
Tadgh O'Shea and Bhupat Seemar
Tadgh parades a horse at the new Zabeel Stables with the Burj Khalifa in the background.
Around the rest of the squad. Chevelle continues to work very nicely at Ravenswell Farm – she will be back on the track later this month. Greyval is very much still on course to run in Cheltenham on the 17th. Cloud Dancer will need a long spell of rehab and rest after suffering a tendon injury – I will chat to Josh tomorrow and put in place a plan for him. We will discuss whether or not he needs further treatment, or if he can travel to Ivy Lodge Farm for his rehab.
And She Was is scheduled to return to Barbury Castle this week after a short break with Jamie Magee. She will have another run in a bumper before a summers break. Rockola thrived for her break and is working well up the Sharpridge Hill gallop. She will have a spring/summer campaign, and we are pretty certain that she hasn’t reached the ceiling of her ability yet. Nevada Samba will not be running this spring. We have seen what he is capable of – his work with Alan has been top class, working very nicely with triple Group 1 winner Trueshan along with a host of very talented horses – all who have far more experience that him. As a result, we took the decision not to run him this spring – but give him the summer to take in what he has learned this term – and have a full season in bumpers next season. He is still only 4 yrs old – and Alan has seen enough to suggest that he can have a very successful season in bumpers from the autumn. He believes he is capable of running in one of the big ones at the end of the season, which will stand him in good stead ahead of his novice hurdle campaign the season after. You know by now – he is very exciting, and I am thrilled to have bred a horse of this quality!
Next week – a trip up to see Donald McCain – I have a prize to collect! I’ve only forgotten it 3 times – watch me leave it up there again! I am also looking forward to heading down to see the 3 yr olds at Ivy Lodge Farm on Friday and catching up with some owners down there.
The weather looks set fair once again – I am hoping that it doesn’t decide to pour with rain the week after – just when Greyval is due to run in Cheltenham – this weather and the quick ground would be perfect for her!
Same time, same place next week – see you then!
