Hot Hot Hot
Last Sunday, after the weekly ramble was published a couple of our former members got in touch – it is always good to hear from folks that you have not spoken to in a while, even better to be able to welcome them back into the ‘NBR Family’! They had read about the restructure of The Red Sash Racing Club and decided to get involved again – last week I wrote how existing members of any of our Syndicates across all of NBR would receive a 10% discount on membership of the Red Sash Racing Club – well we have now expanded that offer to include any returning syndicate members – so if you have ever held a share in any of our syndicates or partnerships, in the 25+ years that we have been operating, and you wish to get involved in Ridin Solo for the next 12 months – you will receive a 10% discount from the annual subscription! Head over to www.redsashracing.co.uk and get to know Ridin Solo, learn the plans we have for him for the upcoming season and why we think he is incredibly well handicapped!
Monday – a couple of entries for Dino Bellagio. Dino has had his three qualifying runs on the flat and now has his flat handicap mark. As there are simply no maidens or novice races over 2m – he has run three times over middle distances, each time having to shoulder a welter burden and try and concede weight to some talented, well bred and expensive 3 yr olds. Now that he has his mark, he will be on a slightly more level playing field in handicaps, and can also step up in trip to a more suitable 1m6 or 2m. Dino got entries in Chester on Saturday – a 1m6f apprentice handicap, and in Southwell on Sunday a 2m ½f handicap on the all weather – we would chat with Paul Mulrennan and get his thoughts on the suitability of the artificial track for Dino, and also see if his regular work rider, Charlie Maggs would be able to ride him in Chester. Charlie has been off games for a few weeks recovering from an op he had to have on his hand. His availability would be key to Dino running in the apprentice race in Chester.
Jason Maguire sent an update on Finbar – back on the round gallop – it took a couple of days for him to ‘get his back down’ but now that he is back in his routine he is fine and going forward nicely.
Finbar
Tuesday – and Donald McCain was on the phone after Dino had worked in the morning. As usual Dino had worked great – he always does – but as I have mentioned before on here, Donald has taken advantage of a quieter spell at Bankhouse and renovated both of his hill gallops – lengthening and resurfacing his carpet gallop, and removing the all weather surface from his main gallop and replacing it with a woodchip surface – that particular gallop had been woodchip for a good many years and a lot of good horses had been trained on it – Donald changed it to a sand and synthetic surface a couple of years ago – but although the surface itself was fine, the drainage and maintenance was an issue and he took the decision to rip it up and go back to tried and tested woodchip. Due to this work going on – Dino has not worked up the hill gallop all summer and has just been cantering on the round sand gallop at the top of the hill. Now that the hill gallops are open, he has finally been able to gallop him at home, and he has flown as usual. The hope is that this hill work will bring him on again ahead of his handicap debut at the weekend. Donald and I arranged to meet up in Newmarket at the sales on Wednesday to discuss Dino’s entries and go over some other exciting plans that we are looking at for the future.
Charlie Granger – who, along with his father, Tony has a share in Greyval and Nevada Samba, was down in the Cotswolds for a few days and asked if he could pop into Ravenswell and see Greyval now that she is back in work – I suggested he should pop round to Ivy Lodge Farm while he was around, as it is only 20 minutes from Ravenswell, so I arranged a fun morning for him to see both horses! Greyval looks very well and has summered great. Like all of Fergal’s string, she is scoped for ulcers every year, and those that are found to be suffering with ulcers receive the necessary treatment. Greyval usually scopes with a degree of ulceration, and over the course of the last 2 years we have developed a system that works well for her – they are treated now, in the summer – which fits in with her training and the drug withdrawal. That treatment will last her for the season. As the plan is to give her a spin on the flat in September as a prep for the valuable handicap hurdle in Chepstow in October – we needed to be on the ball and get her treatment started in good time – so that commenced last week – and all plans are in place for her. After a run on the flat she will head to Chepstow, after which she is very likely to switch to chasing for the rest of the season, and we will be eyeing up plenty of the valuable mares’ races for her in that sphere, both in the Uk and Ireland next spring. After seeing Greyval out at Ravenswell – Charlie headed to Ivy Lodge Farm to see Nevada Samba – once again Jason was full of praise for NS – explaining to Charlie just how good he felt he was and how good he hoped he could be – safe to say Charlie left Ivy Lodge Farm full of hope for the season ahead with both horses!
Greyval
Nevada Samba
Wednesday – HOT! Alan King got his horses out early and sent through a video of Rockola working that morning. Alan is delighted with Rockola who looks really well and is moving great. We would have loved to have run her in Uttoxeter a couple of weeks ago – but that race came just a little too soon for her, and sadly there are few options for her this month, it certainly looks like a run against her own sex is out of the question for quite a while!
As you can see from the video, Rockola worked in a pair on Wednesday morning, nothing unusual about that – but it does give me the opportunity to draw your attention to her work mate on the far side – as you can see, she is a gorgeous grey filly, that works very well – this would have been her first piece of proper work up the Sharpridge gallop, and she did it very easily – I can tell you that she schools every bit as well as she climbed those gallops too! She is a filly that you will be hearing a lot more about – watch this space!!!
Jason Maguire sent through a video of Nevada Samba on the deep sand gallop – he has slotted right back into work seamlessly!
Shortly after lunch I headed up to Wellingborough for a meeting with a couple of the team at Weatherbys, the racing bank. A very welcome sit down with some of the team there to discuss some changes that are upcoming for syndicates, partnerships and racing clubs in the future. Recently, Weatherbys introduced a raft of protocols for anyone setting up a syndicate and associated bank account, many of which were not received well by syndicate managers, some of whom were very vocal on social media and in the press. The facts are, Weatherbys had no choice but to implement these changes, as a bank, they had to adhere to new rules and regulations passed by Government to counter money laundering. The meeting I had with them on Wednesday was very informative, and a ‘new set of eyes’ on the way things were being done has led to some changes, many of which will ease the issues that were being flagged up late last year. Things should move more smoothly now. From my recent experience dealing with both Weatherbys and the BHA, it is a shame that the latter were not so proactive in adjusting their systems and charges, and meeting with industry participants! The meeting with Weatherbys was very useful and I think that both parties took away very valid points to act on in the future!
As I headed into the meeting at Weatherbys, one of the men in the meeting broke the news to me that he had just heard of the death of Jukebox Jury – I was stunned – a sire that we have always been huge fans of, ever since his racing days, and have followed his career even when he retired to stud in Germany. As you know we have brought a few of his sons and daughters, Rockola, and Cloud Dancer remain on the racing team with us – Off The Jury was sold as a store but has gone on to finish second in the Grade 3 EBF Final in Sandown in March. Jukebox Jury wasn’t the biggest of horses, but his stock are always tough and dependable, and a sire like him will be sadly missed to all NH breeders. Debbie got to see him when she was over in Ireland in January and got these fabulous pictures of him. He was just getting the recognition he deserves as a sire, and his death is a huge blow to Victor Connelly and his team at Burgage Stud.
From Wellingborough I headed over to a sweltering sale in Newmarket. Bloody hell it was hot! Good to catch up with plenty of people. Donald McCain was there buying again – he can’t help himself! We had a good chat about Dino’s options at the weekend. Charlie Maggs wouldn’t be passed fit to ride in Chester, and Paul Mulrennan felt that the track and surface in Southwell would not be an issue for Dino – so we decided that he would head to Southwell on Sunday. A ‘Sunday Series’ meeting – so incredible prizemoney on offer – Dino would be running in a 0-68 handicap for £22,000!! It was very interesting to chat to another northern trainer, with a predominantly jumps orientated yard later on in the afternoon in the cool of the bar, and to hear her say that she was in Newmarket looking to buy flat horses, so that she could run them in these valuable meetings they have on the level – she pointed out that there are simply no comparable races meetings in the National Hunt calendar – so she was switching focus slightly and targeting the bigger prizemoney on the flat! Such a shame, but I can see her reasoning – jumps racing, once again the poor relation! Dino would need to run in pattern company over hurdles to compete for £22k! On Sunday he will contest a 0-68 handicap!
I had a good catch up with Jamie Moore and filled him in on the details of Cloud Dancers recovery from injury. CD is a horse that Jamie has always liked from the first time he rode him, and we will take great care to get him back to Cisswood Stables in the best possible shape to resume his career. I don’t think this will be a quick process, and Jamie and I agreed that the horse should be given all the time he needs, he will be worth the wait. We both agreed that it was horrid luck for him to pick up the injury when he did as we both felt he would have been hard to beat in his target race in Haydock last April!
Good to see Aidan Coleman at the sales, he has moved camp up to Newmarket for the summer and is riding out for James Owen. He will be back at Ravenswell when they get busier down there in a few weeks time.
Sweltering Sales
Thursday – a wonderful start to the day – Olly Murphy sent through some lovely photos of Max Murphy who arrived overnight – weighing in at 7lb 9oz! Both Max and Mum, Camilla are doing great – huge congratulations to them both! Life will be a little different at Warren Chase from now on!
Helo Max Murphy!
The first day of the Lords Test, England need to sharpen up a touch after a lacklustre display in Birmingham! Alan King called – while on his way to Lords – the lucky bugger! We chatted about plans for Rockola – or lack of them – no suitable races for at least a fortnight! We arranged for Nevada Samba to return to Barbury next week – and I was able to give him a positive update on a project that Debbie and I are working on at the moment. More on that in the coming weeks!
Friday – HOTTER STILL! Up early to get a bit of work done before it got too hot! The BBAG Sales catalogue to go through. Just over 200 flat bred yearlings on offer at the BBAG Yearling sale in Baden Baden in early September. This is a catalogue I have always studied in the search for potential national hunt horses, this year it is different, as we hope to be at the sale on the hunt for a suitable yearling for a project that we will be launching later this year! Once again, some lovely German pedigrees on offer – I have long been a fan of German pedigrees, and with the continued success of horses out of this particular sale – there is sure to be plenty of demand when we get there. The hope is that we can get a nice horse at the right price to launch a very exciting and exclusive syndicate in the autumn.
From 8.00am my attention was drawn to declarations tracking – Dino Bellagio would be declared in Southwell – now what would the opposition look like! A full field, 14 runners as you would expect for this sort of prizemoney – it just goes to show – if you put the right race on for good money you will always get runners! The hope is that Dino is starting his flat handicap career from a decent mark – on Sunday we would find out – if this were run on juicy turf I would be very confident, the unknown factor is the surface, which Paul Mulrennan seems to think will be fine. These hot temperatures are sure to see the surface ride sticky which should be in Dino’s favour – fingers crossed it is!
Jason Maguire called to finalise plans for Nevada Samba and Finbar – both of whom have had a couple of weeks ridden work at Ivy Lodge Farm before heading off to their trainers. Nevada Samba heads off to Alan King, he spent a few months there last season and showed everyone what he was capable of – we are very much looking forward to seeing him this winter when the plan would be to stick to bumpers all season. Finbar will have his first taste of ‘Big School’ when he arrives at Ravenswell – he has gone through our system, and done everything, schooled over hurdles, swung along upsides and been away for a couple of bits of work. The foundations are laid – now Fergal has to build upon them. Finbar is a cracking horse, tough and talented, and will be aimed at a junior bumper in October. The plan is to be in Cheltenham with him in January should all go to plan! Both Nevada Samba and Finbar will head to their respective trainers on Tuesday. That will mean a couple of empty stables at Ivy Lodge Farm – so the perfect time for ‘George; our Golden Horn 2 yr old to start on the road to being a racehorse. After Maggie Jones has dropped Nevada Samba off at Barbury Castle, she will head up to The Elms to collect George and take him down to Maguires. This youngster is very exciting – and I can’t wait to see what he is like to break in- and what Jason thinks of him!
Friday evening we headed over to Milton Keynes - pre theatre dinner at Fourteen - a restaurant on the 14th floor of a hotel with amazing views - a pity the steak wasn't nearly as good as the vista! Everything was good apart from the meat - which seemed like it had been frozen - very aneamic and tasteless. The staff were great and the restaurant was lovely - they just need to get a better butcher!
After dinner we wandered over to the theatre to see The Last Laugh - a play written as a tribute to three of our greatest comdians - Bob Monkhouse, Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe. A really good show - first act was the play and after the interval - act 2 was a Q&A - so a bit different, but very entertaining. One thing I couldn't get out of my head though, was how much the Eric Morecambe charachter reminded me of a certain Alan King!! Once you've seen it!!
Saturday – simply hell on earth – the computer deciding it was time to die – well not entirely but just go on a go slow!! This meant that it came very close to its death as I almost launched it out of the window!! I tried everything to get it back up to speed – I did at least get it to charge again – otherwise this waffle would not have reached you! As it is – it is so slow I won’t be able to post as many pics and vids this week – sorry! A hot and frustrating day – wasted trying to sort out a computer – I was not in the best of moods!
Around the remainder – Old Blue Eyes and Ridin Solo are back in work – Ridin Solo is another one that will receive the ulcer treatment, starting next week – he was certainly suffering by the end of last season – which would explain his final start in Kelso – the treatment, if it has the same effect as it did with Blue Bikini when she started it – will turn this horse inside out – with a step up in trip and a switch to fences also seen as bringing out improvement in him – he should be lots of fun for The Red Sash Racing Club this winter!
Floyd, our 3yr old by Falco out of Savingforvegas will remain with Timmy Murphy for the rest of the summer before returning to Ivy Lodge Farm. He didn’t do too much in the spring as he wasn’t quite right, so he has been given time, and will be on the racing team in the spring. He is the spitting image of Nevada Samba – and from what we have seen he goes like him too!
Gatsby – 3 yr old by The Grey Gatsby is in full work again at Ivy Lodge Farm – we didn’t let him put on too much weight during his month off and he is going well – he will be pre trained at Jasons before switching to Olly Murphy in September.
And She Was is relaxing in the field at Barbury Castle – not sure that her mates in the same field are finding it relaxing – she’s the boss!
Intrepide Sud – back walking after a couple of weeks box rest – hopefully he will be passed fit to resume training in 10 days time.
Next week – hopefully the temperatures drop a little – and we get some rain – I hope to get to a yard this week – and Debbie and I will be getting more done on the projects that we have planned for next season. Please stay tuned for those, very exciting ownership opportunities, that will be a must for anyone interested in ownership!
