Restructure
One runner this week – but a mountain of work done behind the scenes! The summer is always quieter than the winter in terms of runners, but it doesn’t mean that we sit back, light a cigar and watch the cricket – well me may light the odd ciggy, and certainly try to watch as much cricket as we can – but we certainly don’t rest on our laurels for sure! We may not be on a racecourse 2/4/or even 5 days a week – but the arrival of the summer months means that there is a mountain of admin to be done – and there has certainly been no shortage of that in the past seven days!
Last Sunday, after the News was published, Dino Bellagio found himself another syndicate member! Having recently got married, and while on their honeymoon in Koh Samui, Chris and Kirsty took the plunge and took a second share in him. Chris has had a share for a good while, and now that they have tied the knot – Kirsty felt it was only right and proper to join her new husband in his ownership journey with Dino. We send them both best wishes for their future together, and the best of luck with Dino Bellagio (more on him later).
Monday morning, a schooling video from Alan King – And She Was skipping up three flights very nicely. She looked in great form, and Alan called to say he would be giving her an entry in Bangor on Dee on Saturday. ASW had lost her jockey when the saddle slipped at the last in Newton Abbot last time out – she had been pencilled in for a much-needed break after that run, but Alan felt that she had come out of the race so well, she could have one more outing before that break. ASW has been in work, since she arrived back from the sales in May 2024, so a break is well overdue – she would be heading to the field directly after this outing!
June is the time of year when the annual contracts come up for renewal – one of which was The Red Sash Racing Club, whose term ends on June 30th. We have had great fun with Ridin Solo, over the course of the two seasons that we have had him, he has form figures of 2,2,5-3,3,3,5,1,P – all achieved over trips at least ½ a mile short of his optimum trip! He has been a tough, sound and admirably consistent performer, and we were very keen to keep going with him next season. In doing so, we would be restructuring the set up of the Red Sash Racing Club, a move aimed at providing an even better ownership experience for Club Members. Like a couple of other ‘micro share’ syndicate operations, we have taken the decision to reduce our membership numbers from 1000 to 100 – which will give each member a real ‘sole owner’ experience! Obviously with the reduction in numbers, comes an increase in subscriptions, and on Monday I sent out an email detailing our plans for the Club going forward, and asked for feedback from existing members. A decision as to the future of the Red Sash Racing Club would be taken on the basis of this feedback. We would know in which direction we were travelling at the end of the week!
Tuesday – the first day of Royal Ascot – but we would not be there this week. Commitments at home meant we wouldn’t be dusting off the top hat this year – a real shame as I do enjoy a day at Royal Ascot – especially the Tuesday!
First things first – it was all about handicap marks. Ratings updates published by the BHA on a Tuesday morning, and this one was important – we would find out what Dino Bellagio’s opening flat handicap mark would be after three qualifying runs on the level. 67 – happy with that – I had expected a mark of around 70 and would not have been surprised if he had been allotted a rating a couple of pounds above that after his excellent run in Hamilton last week! Donald, on a break in Palma sent a text to say that he was ‘surprised’ – in a good way! Having won two bumpers over 2m we know that Dino is a strong stayer, but there are simply no maidens or novice races for horses over staying trips, so he has had to have three qualifying runs over middle distances, improving every time. Now that he qualifies for handicaps, we can step him up to a more suitable distance, and he will find life a lot more to his liking, not least because he can now receive weight from talented 3 yr olds, rather than trying to give them 20+lbs! Off this opening mark, it very much looks as though Dino will give his syndicate a huge amount of fun through the remainder of the summer! There is a single 4% share available – no capital cost – just £110/month through to November 1st 2025. Come and join the party – we have a plan in place for him, and he will be running at some very nice meetings this summer!
The other one that the handicapper looked at this week was Intrepide Sud who he popped up 1lb to 105 after his excellent second in Uttoxeter last Saturday night. After two very good recent runs, Suddy looks like a winner waiting to happen, and a pound hike should not make too much difference to a massive lad like him. He has really got his act together over fences now – and is another one that will be heaps of fun for his patient syndicate for the rest of the summer.
Before he donned his topper and headed off to Ascot I caught up with Alan King – I had spotted a 2m4f, 0-110 handicap hurdle in Uttoxeter next week – worth a staggering £16,500 – a race seemingly made for Rockola – so I was checking to see where she was in her training. We had spoken about her having a slightly longer break after her last run as she had been a little light post race, and Alan reported that she had gone to Jamie Magee’s for a few days on his water treadmill, she has thrived when she has had short spells at Jamies in the past. He would see how she was when she returned to Barbury to see if she could have an entry in Uttoxeter.
With the office work done first thing – I headed off to Olly Murphy’s Warren Chase Stables. No horses there currently, we would be on Horse Box duty. Olly having called us in to guide him as to the best way forward with his fleet of boxes. Olly in Ascot, so we didn’t see him – but really good to sit down with one of his excellent team and suggest the way forward for the yard with regard to their transport. While there it was great to get to catch up with Geroid Harney, who had ridden for us while with Olly a few years ago before switching to the West Country to David Pipe. Geroid suffered a horror fall in Fakenham over the winter, which has sadly ended his race riding career, but it was really good to see him back at Warren Chase – he is a really nice lad!
Back home in time for Ascot – and great to see Paul Mulrennan and Jim Goldie in the winners enclosure – Pauls second win at Royal Ascot – Jim breaking his duck! Paul Mulrennan has been our go to jockey for Dino Bellagio and has been very helpful in his progression on the flat – I hope we can keep the association going for the remainder of the summer at least!
What a performance by Field Of Gold in the St Jame’s Palace Stakes – his turn of foot rounding the home turn was jaw dropping. Frankel the only other horse that I can recall giving me goosebumps like that – he was mightily impressive!
Wednesday – and a little road trip down to see Jason Maguire. Meeting up with one of Chevelle’s owners whose partner is looking to get back into horses after the birth of their baby daughter. It was great to see them both and meet Eliza for the first time – such a sweety!
A lovely couple of hours spent looking round the horses – plenty of new arrivals from the Arkle Sale in Ireland – including one that I had spotted in the catalogue before the sale – a lovely filly by Kapgarde – we will be keeping an eye on her for sure! Thanks to Jason and Lauren for their time, tea and wraps! I didn’t get my usual mug this time! Bev liked Chevelle and has gone away to assess if she is suitable for what she has in mind. Should she pass on her – Chevelle will be sent to a professional rehoming centre and found a new owner through their system, after a short spell in the field.
Good to see Cloud Dancer looking so well – he is rehabilitating from a season ending injury – and will be reassessed by the vets next week to check on his progress.
Cloud Dancer
Gatsby was in his stable having a bite of lunch when we were there. He was brought in from the field that morning, as he was sore on his near hind – the farrier in to see him after we left and found an abscess in his foot. A couple of days poulticed, and he should be as right as rain. A common thing with horses at this time of year – that is why you see so many of them tramping around fields with a foot wrapped in silver duct tape!
Nevada Samba summering well – like a few of them – he will return to work on July 1st – spend 2 weeks with Jason at Ivy Lodge Farm, before returning to Barbury Castle.
While with Jason, Alan sent a video through of And She Was doing a lovely piece of work up the Sharpridge Gallop. She looked in super form!
Thursday – following that piece of work from ASW yesterday, Alan was on early confirming that she would be declared in Bangor on Dee on Saturday. Another run for experience, before a break away from the yard and some field time! Brendan Powell would be in the saddle as Tom Bellamy would ride Alan’s other runner in the race, and with 10st4lbs, Brendan could do the weight quite easily.
A day at home meant the right time to do our latest trophy auction – this one for Rockola’s Worcester win. By the end of the day Paul struck the winning bid, and along with it – he decided to take the share that had become available in her a couple of weeks ago. A smart move – Rockola is a cracking mare – a winner of three hurdle races, she is consistent, tough and genuine, and as she never does a lot when hitting the front, there could well be a fair bit more to come from her, and we are confident that she isn’t done winning yet! Thanks to Paul for his continued trust and support!
Another horse to find a new owner on Thursday was Finbar – we wish Jack the very best of luck with his new lad!
The rest of the morning spent on a new project – an exciting venture that we are looking to launch in the next few weeks – keep your eyes out for that! In working away at that last week – it transpired that my previous application to the BHA for my Syndicate/Club managers license had ‘gone awry’ – so that all had to be done again – I will be having a chat with one of the senior executives in Weatherbys next week to talk through the changes that they are introducing to the application process for setting up and running syndicates. Not before time – with the introduction of any amount of legislation over the course of the last 5 years – the process of setting up and running a syndicate has become unbelievably complicated and long winded, with all of the new protocols that have had to be introduced, seemingly ‘gaffer taped’ onto the existing structure, rather than starting afresh. This has now been done – the changes are due to be implemented next month (they have said that before), and my chat with Weatherbys will help both parties to get to grips with the process going forward.
I also ordered a couple of fresh sets of colours – one for Alan King – the team there seems to get bigger – and one for Fergal O’Brien – from whom I have nicked a couple of sets to help other trainers on the team who have not had enough sets to cover our runners on a particular day. Oh – and Fergal managed to rip the only set he has left while in the paddock before a race one day – I’ll bill him for the new set!
With the badges organised for Bangor on Dee on Saturday – I settled down to watch a bit of Royal Ascot. What a fantastic performance from Trawlerman in the Gold Cup! A stunning victory by the so of Golden Horn. A first Group 1 for the sire! Although he sires winner after winner on the flat, many of them of above average ability, his stock are not precocious enough form the flat boys – and he was a very welcome addition to the National Hunt stallion ranks in the UK. We were quick to use him, and his first crop of National Hunt bred foals are now 2 yr olds – including our own ‘George’. George has developed into a lovely individual, he has size and scope and will head down to Ivy Lodge Farm in July for his first taste of ‘primary school’ when he will be introduced to tack, lunged and long reined. We will assess him after three weeks of this, and if we think he could be a candidate for one of the store sales next spring/summer we will leave his education at that and turn him away. If we decide that we would rather like to keep him on the team, he will continue on the process and be backed and ridden for 3-4 weeks. Jason will make that call. One thing is for sure; he has all the attributes to be a really nice horse – and I think the pedigree is about to get at least one major uplift too!
Debbie has been on duty in Ascot all week – I really didn’t envy her that job in the heat we have had this week. She has kept her spirits high though and taken some wonderful photographs, including this one of Trawlerman.
Trawlerman winning the Gold Cup - photo Debbie Burt
Friday – restructuring of the Red Sash Racing Club underway – with plenty of feedback coming in from existing members. I fully understand that the increase in price point form a £50 renewal to a £350 annual subscription is a large price hike, and that some Club members would not be able to continue their membership with us – but quite frankly I have been blown away by the positive response to the options that I put forward. Last year when the renewal cost was set at £49 we had an above 95% renewal rate – given the change in price this time – we were always going to see a dip in those figures – but to get above 65% of respondents taking up the increased share option and continuing their membership was simply amazing! I wrote on the Members Area of the Club website yesterday that I was blown away by the response – and took the positive approval as a sign that all of the hard work we have put into the Red Sash Racing Club has been appreciated and was worthwhile. It has been hard work – but we have enjoyed it – and look forward to continuing with Ridin Solo for the 2025/26 season. There will be a limited number of shares available to purchase - £550 one off payment for the entire season, includes ownership (not lease) of a 1% share in RS, who will be aimed at one or possibly more valuable series finals in the spring of 2026. He is yet to run over his optimum trip of 3 miles, and we are sure that there will be improvement to come from him when he does take that step up. In addition, Brian Hughes is very keen to get him over fences – and he will be chasing this coming season for sure. Brian is certain that he will be a far better chase than hurdler, so there is plenty to look forward to this winter! Full details will be on both the NBR and RSRC websites around July 1st – but for full details – just get in touch – 07909 518902.
The process of starting a new venture, when you have been syndicating horses for 25+ years, but now have to fit into a scrambled BHA system reared its ugly head again on Friday. Another lengthy call with the Ownership Desk – to flag up another glitch that they had not envisaged when they made it mandatory for some syndicates to be managed by a Limited Company! We got there in the end!
Good to get an update from Timmy Murphy about the two boys that he has at his Cilldara Stud. Floyd and Finbar summering well – Floyd will remain out for the rest of the summer. Finbar will return to Ivy Lodge Farm on July 1st.
Floyd
Finbar
Saturday – a quick note of thanks to the members of the Red Sash Racing Club – more renewals in the morning.
Off to Bangor on Dee in the afternoon – via Huntingdon racecourse where I picked up one of the And She Was syndicate (among others), Tom. A good trip up to Bangor, a few showers on the way – but that meant a welcome dip in temperatures.
Bangor was busy
A good lunch as always – including a free half bottle of wine – a real shame that one of the syndicate was not guided to the owners restaurant when he arrived and didn’t get his lunch – I will be emailing the racecourse tomorrow. After a brief shower the temperatures rose again – and it was a very hot afternoon. And She was would not mind the quick ground – but I’m not sure that any jumper particularly likes very hot weather! She looked great in the prelims – and Brendan came out to the paddock with his eye on a decent run round – and a top 4 finish at least. And She Was behaved really well in the paddock, had a little mess around as Brendan got the leg up but went to post beautifully. The race itself went pretty much to plan for the most part. Lining up in behind, ASW travelled very sweetly and jumped great. The front three got away on the approach to 3 out, but ASW was still travelling fine as she jumped it – on landing, and just as Brendan was thinking he had fourth place in the bag, and was going off in hunt of third, he pressed the button only to get absolutely zero response. ASW faded and finished a very tired 7 of 8. When ASW arrived back at the unsaddling area, I was ready with buckets of water, and it was instantly obvious that there was blood in her nostril – she had burst a blood vessel. With two runners in the race, Alan’s staff needed to be in two places at once, so I continued to throw water over the mare, and offer her a drink regularly. As a result, I missed Brendan’s debrief, but he caught me as he made his way back to the weighing room to say that he had been very happy with her all the way round, only for her to find nothing when he asked for an effort – initially attributing this to a lack of maturity and strength. He had not spotted the blood in her nose and was unaware of her bleed. When I told him – we agreed that the poor girl had not been able to pick up when he asked her, as she had burst a blood vessel – so there was a genuine reason for that. I think she would have picked up the eventual third had she not burst, and we would have been very happy with that. Sadly, it has been a very tough start to her career, where nothing has gone to plan for her. She will now have her shoes off, and head out to the field for a well-deserved break. We can all reset and go again later in the year.
Donald McCain was back from his break to saddle most of his runners at his local track. It was good to catch up with him. Dino Bellagio high on the agenda – Donalds assistant Adrian Lane, reported him to be in fine form, and really enjoying life at the moment. He is fresh and well and is ready to run again. Donald letting slip that he almost entered him in the Northumberland Plate that morning! We discussed plans and have decided to aim at the Grassroot Stayers Final in late September with him – we will get him qualified – and make good use of him through the summer – but this gives us a valuable target race to aim at. Another one that we had a good chat about was Ridin Solo, and we have put a plan in place for him. He has thrived in the field this summer and is looking big and well. He will return to work on July 1st. Two weeks after this he will start a course of ulcer treatment, as we are now convinced that he was suffering badly from ulcers last season, and his poor final run of the season could probably be put down to him being in a bit of pain in his tummy. This plan is one that we have used on a few of our horses in the past – those that we know suffer badly with ulcers, and the results have been very positive. With improvement for the ulcer treatment, step up in trip and a switch to fences – he should be very well handicapped!! Old Blue Eyes is also summering really well, and he too will return to work on July 1st.
Sunday – Alan on to say that And She Was seemed fine this morning. He added that had she not burst a blood vessel, he would be scratching his head a bit, and wondering if it was worth continuing with her, but he has seen enough at home to know that she has ability and is very capable of winning races. The burst is a genuine reason for a sub-par finishing effort, but that will only lead to a lower handicap mark when she starts of in that sphere after one more run – so there are a few positives to take out of the day!
That just leaves one to mention – Greyval who is thoroughly enjoying her summer break, and will return to Ravenswell on July 1st – can’t wait to get going again with her – there is still more to come – I had decided to start her off in a flat handicap for her first run of the season – she has to be well treated off of a mark around 66 – but there is a valuable option over hurdles, and we may well look at that before switching her to fences.
Next week – a quiet one – I will try to get over to The Elms to see George, Vegas and Nancy. I will be touching base with Debbie – we could be a lot busier soon! I will be speaking to an interested party re a share in Intrepide Sud – and also have that chat with Weatherbys pencilled in.
Time for that cigar and a spot of cricket!!
