Tears After 25 Years
Strap yourselves in – it has been quite the week!
When we had the weekly ramblings weighed in last Sunday we headed out for Sunday lunch with friends Matt and Sarah – The Red House in Longstowe, Cambridgeshire – our favourite place for a roast dinner – M & S first time – great lunch as always, and the chance to gently break the news to Cheryl that the Northampton Saints had made it through to the semi-finals of the European Cup again – and would be playing in Dublin at the end of our week in Punchestown. Last year Matt and I got a pass to stay an extra couple of days to see them take on Leinster in Croke Park and the girls headed home – part of that deal that got me the pass out last year was the promise that Cheryl and I would head up to Belfast after this years Festival and spend a couple of days up there – a city she has long wanted to visit. Sunday was the start of the process to persuade her that a couple of extra days in Dublin would be just as much fun! I will update on progress!
Sunday night – like many – glued to the coverage of The Masters on TV. One of the most dramatic sporting events I have ever witnessed – what an evening of sport – it had the lot – fantastic!
Monday – a schooling video – but not from Ravenswell this week – this one from Ivy Lodge Farm. Jason giving ‘Finbar’ a pop for the first time this year. He was very good, and speaking to Jason later in the day – he was delighted with him, telling me, ‘He simply loves jumping’ – Jason is very happy with him!
Chevelle, who has been held up with a little back issue and who has also been given time to recover from a breathing operation is ready to run, and on Monday morning she got an entry in a mares’ maiden in Market Rasen on Easter Sunday. It will be good to see her out again – and we hope to see a step forward from her.
Darran and his family were in to see Intrepide Sud canter on the round gallop. IS had been wrong after his last run, and he is on the road to recovery. He will be brought along slowly and should be out again in about a month. He is not an easy horse to train and keep right, and we have to get him spot on next time – it is very important that he runs his race next time out.
News of one of our ‘Old Girls’ – Maria’s Flame was scanned in foal to Passing Glance on Monday – she looks great – and has really settled into her new home. We look forward to seeing her new baby next year!
Tuesday – and a lovely video from Fergal – Chevelle on the round gallop – moving really well and looking in fine form ahead of her planned run in Market Rasen at the weekend. She really is a lovely moving filly!
Not one but two declared before the 10.00am deadline. Greyval declared in the Mares Challenger Series Final in Cheltenham on Thursday – this has very much been the plan for a few months, and she has been trained for the day – she is in great form, andmthere are sure to be a large contingent of her owners at the track on the day!
I would be heading to Cheltenham too – which meant I would not be in Ripon to see Dino Bellagio make his flat debut in a 1m4f maiden. Only 6 declared but 3 of them are three year olds with simply outstanding pedigrees. If that wasn’t enough – he would be having to give them 20lbs due to the weight for age allowance for younger horses – it would be a big ask, but we want to start him on turf, and this was just about the only option. Paul Mulrennan booked to ride – and we were all keen to see what Dino could do on the level and get Pauls feedback. We know that Dino is not slow – he has won two bumpers, but has totally lost his way over hurdles, so we have taken those out of the equation and hopefully we can get him back to his best without them in the way.
It was good to get another clip of ‘Finbar’ having another pop at Ivy Lodge Farm – this time on the left rein – equally good - and Jason as happy as he was the day before!
Wednesday morning spent organising the badges for syndicate members and owners in Ripon and Cheltenham respectively. Plenty turning up to both – I really do love how all of our horses are always so well supported by their ownership groups – it is great to see so many of you on track when we go racing!
Having got the badges all organised I set off for Cheltenham and an afternoon’s racing – good to meet up with Paul and enjoy an afternoon at the sports and a couple of pints. After a bright and breezy afternoon, I headed just round the corner to The Ellenborough Park Hotel for the evening. Having left a certain Luke Harvey in the bar at the racecourse – with him saying it was time he headed home – it was quite the shock to see him sat at the bar at the hotel when I headed there for a pre dinner drink! Luke was having a very sociable afternoon! Jason and Sharon Horsburgh had made their way down from their home in Nottinghamshire and were staying at The Ellenborough ahead of Greyval’s run the next day – and we had a really nice evening – a lovely steak dinner – with plenty of ‘Jammy’ red wine! It was a lovely night, and not too late either! The Ellenborough is the perfect place to stay if you are heading to the races – it is quite literally one field over from the 2m hurdle start and even has its own road onto the track – they offer a shuttle service from door to door on raceday! It wouldn’t be the cheapest room you will ever have, but it is not bad value for money.
Thursday morning – We had planned to head to Jason Maguires in the morning, but a video meeting for Horsburgh meant that I headed there on my own – a gorgeous morning for a visit – I had let Maguire know that I would be ‘flying solo’, and having seen our three horses the previous week, and with other owners at the yard that morning it was easier to get ours out early, so I didn’t get to see them being ridden, but I did get the chance to have a really good look at ‘Gatsby’ – who is really coming together now. He is a big strong boy – and takes his work very well – he is now starting to get his figure back – and as he does so he becomes more and more impressive. As everyone knows I am a huge fan of his sire The Grey Gatsby – who’s last 7 runners under national hunt rules had produced 6 winners – as he is the sire of our wonderful mare, Greyval – would she be making it 7 from 8 later that afternoon on the hallowed turf of Cheltenham?
There are just a couple of shares left available in this gorgeous horse – he heads into training with Olly Murphy in a couple of months and will be aimed at junior bumpers and national hunt juvenile hurdles in the autumn. He was extensively schooled last year as a 2 yr old and was very very good – he is an ideal candidate for those races. His details are all on the FOR SALE page – call/ message me on 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com to secure one of the remaining 10% shares.
Gatsby - Unnamed 3 yr old gelding - a lovely horse!
The Grey Gatsbys last 8 runners under National Hunt Rules!
While with the Maguires – the soon to be Paul Nicholls Assistant – currently the Fergal O’Brien Assistant, Charlie St Quinton, sent through a video of Chevelle schooling – her jumping has really been helped by having her back treated – and she was very good!
I headed straight to the track from Ivy Lodge Farm – and met up with a huge contingent of Greyval’s excited owners in bar. Almost everyone had made it to the races – and it was great to catch up with them all, we missed the couple that couldn’t be there!
Greyval contesting the third race on the card – the £50,000 Mares Challenger Series Final – a race that had been the plan for quite some time. Greyval had travelled over to Fakenham in January, to a track that we were pretty certain would not suit her, with the pure intention of qualifying for this race and hopefully picking up a nice chunk of their generous prize pot. In the end she hated every yard of the race – finished second collected £6k in prizemoney and booked her place in the final – with no damage done to the handicap mark, it was the perfect day! Her next outing against the geldings over 3 miles in Ascot led to a small but significant change in the tack that she had been wearing since she arrived from France, which, in conjunction with better spring ground and a return to mares company next time out in Chepstow, led to her finally getting her head in front again, and arriving here for the final with her confidence sky high. She was her usual self in the pre parade ring – she always gets a little on her toes – and the team quickly had her back in a saddling box, which settled her down nicely. She doesn’t boil over or anything like that – she simply wants to get on with things!
Of course, Greyval was not our only runner on the day – and I was gutted to be missing Dino Bellagio make his flat debut in Ripon ten minutes before that tapes were due to go up in Greyval’s race. I would be watching the race on my phone in the paddock. Dino’s trainer, Donald McCain was also in Cheltenham, and just before he saddled his runner in our race, he came over to say that he had very much left the tactics in Ripon to jockey, Paul Mulrennan who had been booked to ride. If he broke well and found himself in front- so be it. If he was slowly away from the gates, ride the race as he found it – nothing too complicated! With me in Cheltenham – it was down to Olly Dickens to get the pics and vids of Dino in Ripon – but when he got delayed in traffic – I had Nick on standby. Olly got there in time, and he sent through pics and videos of Dino in the paddock – he looked fantastic as usual. When we got into the Cheltenham paddock, I got sidetracked getting the pictures and videos for Greyval’s owners and nearly missed the start in Ripon – but luckily someone nudged me just in time and we got to see all of the race. Dino jumping well from the gate and getting to the front nicely where Paul was able to settle him and set his own fractions. We had been keen to start Dino off on the turf, not anticipating the driest spring for ages, and the race being run on pretty quick ground for mid April. We were pretty sure the undulating track would not be ideal either, but there were so few all age maidens that we had to run. Dino turned into the straight travelling nicely to the 4 furlong pole where the pace lifted. He was left a little flat footed at that stage, and then clearly failed to handle to undulations of the Ripon home straight, becoming very unbalanced from that point until the track levels out in the final furlong. When he met the level ground again, he stayed on very well to the line, but two very nice 3 yr olds with sparkling pedigrees, and in receipt of a massive 20lbs from Dino had pulled a little way clear and fought out the finish – with Dino staying on nicely, and hitting the line well in third. In fact, he hit the line so well that it took Paul half the length of the back straight to pull him up! A thumbs up from Donald from across the paddock and a quick chat – all happy – delighted that Dino had run a solid race – and from where we were in the paddock in Cheltenham, there were plenty of positives to take out of the run!
Dino in the paddock
Now our attentions turned to Greyval – having been watching Dino on my phone in the paddock, I had missed Johnnys pre race thoughts as he was quickly ushered out of the paddock by the trainer to get on her quietly in the chute that leads to the track. I had met up with Fergal the day before and he had said what the plan would be – line up handy, try and get a spot in the first few, and if not, we would have to ride her for luck – the last thing we agreed on was that under no circumstances would she be wide!
Johnny got on board without drama and the pair made their way to the start nicely. Johnny lined up in the middle of the front rank, but as the field jogged to the start, it looked for all the world as though they would not be let go as they were coming in a little too quick – in fact – I thought that Johnny was going to slow Greyval to a stop and make the starter ask them to line up again – but at the very point that Johnny took a pull and let the others go ahead a stride, the tapes went up, and he found himself in behind a wall of horses and not in the front few as had been the plan. So, a change of plan – and Johnny was quick to realise that Greyval was not comfortable in amongst horses – so he got himself out of there – guess where – wide! The trainer later admitting – ‘I was fxxking fuming’! At least Greyval was in a great rhythm and jumping beautifully. She was really acting on the ground and seemed to be enjoying herself. As the pace lifted on the decent to the home turn Johnny got her in a position to challenge, and a great leap at the second last took her right up into contention. Now being wide was where we wanted to be as he made a beeline for the stands side rail, only to find that route blocked by last years winner, Pretending. Johnny switched inside, got a super jump at the last, quickly dealt with Pretending and headed over to grab that rail. They set sail for the finishing line, a run that seemed to take about a week! Greyval, her head outstretched and trying for all she was worth, looked like she had put the race to bed, only for Bethpage to emerge from the pack after the last, and make her challenge on the far side of the track. I really didn’t think that the line was ever going to come – I went from being sure she would win – to no she wouldn’t – to yes she would – back to definitely not – and then YES! She was home in front – a winner at Cheltenham. Having watched on my own, from my ‘lucky spot’ (it was as lucky as I could get – having never before had a winner at the track) all I could hear was a manic yell from Fergal who had watched the race from the rear of the paddock. Like a romantic scene from a period drama – we converged near the weighing room – arms outstretched and embraced in a huge hug! Fergal achieving the impossible - lifting me off the ground which amazingly actually did more damage to my back than his! Greyval’s owners were in a mixed state of unbridled joy and disbelief – she had done it – and they had themselves a Cheltenham winner! It may not be the Festival but any winner at Jumps HQ is very special! There were plenty of hugs before I herded everyone back towards the winners enclosure to welcome back their girl. It was at the moment, when I was left alone, waiting for Greyval and Johnny to come back in, that it struck me that it had taken me 25 years to get this first Cheltenham victory – cue lump in throat and the smallest of tear! Luckily, before that situation got ugly (no one wants to see a grown man cry) Greyval and Johnny were back in the paddock and making their way towards her triumphant syndicate.
Great scenes in the winners enclosure – I even got myself in the winning photo and was persuaded up onto the podium to be part of the prizegiving as well – something I never do!
It will be a day that lives long in the memory – and we were lucky enough to have Debbie on hand to capture the whole thing – wonderful photos – in some tricky circumstances!
Excited owners in the paddock
Heading to post
Over the last flight
Starting a long run to the line!
Dragos and Jo - it means so much - he loves Greyval!!
Winners are grinners!
I had threatened to stay down for an extra night, and really get to celebrating, but as has happened so many times before, the whole afternoon – Dino, Greyval and all that came with the pair, had left me pretty drained, and I decided to head home.
I had all the trip back to think about what had happened. Dino’s first run on the flat in Ripon had gone as well as we could have hoped – it is safe to say that this was very ,much a plan B for him, at no stage did I envisage him ever going anywhere near Ripon, even in the horsebox, let alone lining up there in a flat maiden having to give 20lbs to two beautifully bred horses from two of the countries top flat yards! He did us proud – and hearing Paul Mulrennan’s debrief – it is clear that he has a future on the flat and will be plenty of fun for his syndicate. We know that he has a lot of talent – he won two bumpers, but for whatever reason he has just not taken to hurdling like he should have. He shows a lot of speed at home – so we took the hurdles out of the equation, and he has run very well once again. He broke well from the stalls, settled well, hated the undulations and stayed right through the line. 1m4f is clearly a minimum for him – and Paul said he would relish slightly more give in the ground – a more conventional track – and any trip above 1m4f that we cared to run him over. He looks to be a really fun stayer on the flat! There are two shares left to lease in him – no capital outlay – and just £110/month training/keep fee. The term of the contract is for the flat season – and will be renewed in October. Get in touch for a bit of summer fun – 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com.
While all this was going on it was great to get a clip from Alan Kings assistant Robin Smith, of And She Was having a canter at Barbury Castle – Alan had given her an extra week at Jamie Magees and she returned last Monday rather than the previous week as had been planned. She will not have lost too much fitness as she has been doing plenty on the water treadmill at Jamies, and she will be ready for her second start next month.
Rockola, who also had a break at Jamies after her last run took no time at all to get back up to speed, and her work has been very good since her return. On Thursday she got an entry in Ludlow next Wednesday.
Friday – great to get videos of Greyval and Dino pulling out OK after their runs – Greyval A1, Dino a little stiff but otherwise OK.
Chevelle declared in Market Rasen on Sunday – it will be good to see her back in action. It has been far from straight forward with her – she has had to have a couple of wind ops since her hurdles debut and also had an issue with her back – so it has been a while since we have seen her out. Hopefully all that we have done with her will help her and she can show us what she can do on Sunday – with Johnny over in Ireland – Jack Hogan will ride, and take off a handy 3lbs.
Rockola received a further entry in Bangor on Dee on Thursday – we will look at both races and see which we think suits better nearer the time.
Alan also on with another video of And She Was.
Saturday – I got the two race reports typed and sent out to Greyval’s owners and Dino’s syndicate. I had a long chat with Fergal – and we both agree that Greyval should head off for a summers break now. She has done her job for the season – form figures of 3,4,6,3,2,5,1,1 – and over £40,000 in prize money – she deserves a rest! She will head out to grass at Sally’s stud and will do so, full of confidence from her last two runs. Her owners will have plenty to dream about over the summer! Before she heads out – she will be schooled over fences again as she was last year. After the trophy presentation on Thursday, Johnny did say that taking the cross noseband off her had resulted in her already sound jumping being even better, and he was keen to school her over fences again. Fergal and I have cooked up a fun little plan for her for the autumn – and we can’t wait to see her back in action!
Alan King sent through a video of Rockola’s work – she is in great form and will relish the spring ground she looks sure to get from here on – although she won two races over the winter – she only just got away with the ground – and was found out by very tacky conditions last time out – I don’t think her winning is done!
Today we head up to Market Rasen – hopefully Chevelle can get her career back on track!
Around the rest – Nevada Samba has joined a couple of friends in a field right by the side of Jason and Laurens house at Ivy Lodge Farm – he wants to keep a close eye on them – with NS are Mydaddypaddy, who was a very impressive winner of his only bumper this season and a lovely unraced horse by Harzand – staying close to the yard and right up by the house is the equivalent of wrapping these three up in bubble wrap!
Cloud Dancer has settled in well at Ivy Lodge Farm – he is being rehabbed for a tendon injury, which will take time, but he is very much worth the wait – I’m afraid I couldn’t watch the Challenger Stayers Series Final in Haydock yesterday – a race that we had mapped out for him months ago – a plan that had gone very much to plan – with him on the perfect handicap mark to win the big prize! With only 7 going to post yesterday – it really was one that we missed out on! I went out – didn’t watch it!
Cloud Dancer
Ridin Solo and Old Blue Eyes are on holiday – RS out in the field – OBE will join him in the next week or so.
Next week I head for the Breeze Up Sales in Doncaster – sure to be plenty going on up there. Rockola should run in either Ludlow or Bangor on Dee, and there will be plenty of work to do in the office at the end of the week.
