Hot Division
Welcome! Feast upon the Yuletide (B)Log! This week was less about the ‘Three Kings’ – more ‘King Three Times’ – two runners for the Alan King Racing Club, and a visit to Barbury Castle!
Sunday – after last week’s incoherent waffle was published, Sir Mark Prescott’s business partner and assistant, William Butler, called with an update on our 2 yr old colt. When the conversation starts with William saying, ‘We have had a very, very good week with your horse.’ You know it is an update that he is delighted to give and that I am all too willing to receive! It’s a good start! The Heath House yearlings have now moved on to doing two canters up Warren Hill, and even at this very early stage, William says ‘it is evident that your lad does it very easily.’ Now, this is no sure sign that he is going to win The Derby, but it is an indication that the horse does possess a degree of athletic ability. You may not be able to guage how much, but he is an athlete, as at this point in the process you can certainly start to spot the ones that are not. Sir Mark and the team are delighted with his progress, and at this early stage everything seems to be going in the right direction! It looks sure to be a fun and interesting time with this beautifully bred colt, one that I am really looking forward to! So much so – I have decided to keep a share in him myself – which means there is just a single share remaining! Click the link and bag yourself the last 10%!
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8274/penselwood
For those that are more ‘jumps orientated’ – this horse was purchased with a slightly unorthodox plan in mind. He was selected with an eye on a 3yr old hurdling career – he will run on the flat for Sir Mark Prescott until the autumn of 2028, when, if his form is very good and the market dictates, he will be offered at the Tattersall’s Horses in Training Sales in Newmarket and the syndicate will benefit from a substantial ‘pay day’, or he will transfer to one of the jumps trainers on our roster for a juvenile hurdling career. Sir Mark has had some fantastic hurdlers start their racing careers at Heath House – with the likes of Inglis Drever, No Refuge and Tarxien. Sir Mark is known for his ability to prepare horses, so they sell well at the sales, as jumping trainers value that his horses are typically sound and not "jarred up" from excessive racing on the flat. So even if you favour the jumps over the flat (me too), this is an opportunity to be part of a small, select syndicate, with the one and only Sir Mark Prescott, at the most beautiful and historic yard in Newmarket – and either pocket a nice profit at the end of it, or go hurdling!
Monday – first things first, get the vets report from Nevada Samba’s visit to a specialist out to his owners. This was received over the weekend, and the news is positive, although we are not to the bottom of the issue just yet. The good news is that nothing showed up on CT scans or xrays, that would indicate a very serious issue – they did identify a small problem that could be the cause – and that would be treated as an outpatient later in the week. A small step, but one in the right direction.
And She Was is ready to run – and she got a couple of entries at the weekend – two 0-100 handicaps – Saturday in Hereford, Sunday in Fakenham (mares). She starts her hurdling career off of a mark of 96, which looks like a nice place to begin. She is a much more mature filly this term, both physically and mentally, and should give her syndicate a heap of fun over the coming months!
Another one to get an entry was I’d Go Maniac for the Alan King Racing Club. A winner in Wolverhampton last time out, he gets to run in exactly the same grade of race once again, a 56-75 1m4f handicap. Although he won there the last day – the track and trip are not ideal for him, but with a dearth of more suitable races in the short term, and him being in rude health, it looks like the right race for him at this stage.
One that would be running for the Alan King Racing Club before the weekend was Ghost Dancing who Alan declared for a National Hunt Junior Hurdle in Ludlow on Wednesday. She had a ‘baptism of fire’ on debut, taking on far more experienced fillies in Hereford, but she ran with enormous credit to finish fourth, and had learned plenty for the experience. The form of that race looks quite good for the grade, with the second filly going on to be placed in a Listed hurdle, so with that run under her belt, we were very much looking forward to seeing GD on the track again!
Tuesday – Greyval race report typed up and sent out to her owners. It was a huge ask for her to tackle a big field of handicappers on just her second start over fences, but it was clear that she didn’t enjoy it, and she will revert to hurdles for the remainder of the season. She has come out of her race fine, and we will head down a similar path to the one she took last term, with a crack at the Mares’ Challenger Series Final in Cheltenham in April, a race she won, very much in the agenda. I have been mulling over a couple of interesting little ripples in this plan, which could be fun – these will be decided upon in the new year when I have spoken to her owners.
Ridin Solo did a lovely piece of work in the morning, and Donald spied a suitable race with only a few entries in Musselburgh on Monday 22nd – so he popped him in. We would track declarations on Saturday and if the race cut up to a handful of runners, he could travel up and take his chance – you have to be in it to win it!
Good news for the members of the Dino Bellagio syndicate – it is prize money dividend time – our flat syndicates are settled in December, the jumps syndicates in July. A nice Christmas bonus for his loyal and patient syndicate, just short of £1,000 heading to each of them! Thanks to everyone who kept the faith – he has rewarded you handsomely! Dino meanwhile is loving life – and enjoying his holiday at Ivy Lodge Farm – he will be back to work in early January, before returning to Donald a couple of weeks later! There is still a single share available in him – he will resume on the flat around the start of April, with his first big target race coming at Chester’s big May meeting! 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com
Having sent out the lists of names suggested by the members of the syndicates that own both the 3yr old gelding by The Grey Gatsby, in training with Olly Murphy and the 2yr old colt with Sir Mark Prescott on Monday – Tuesday was decision day – with each member voting for their preferred choice but obviously not their own nominated name. There were some very good and very clever names put forward – but I have to say, I was really disappointed by the number of votes cast in the end. Sadly, very few votes were actually cast in the end – so this may be something we do a little differently from now. It didn’t take long to tally up the results – and the 3 yr old by The Grey Gatsby has now been named JIMMY GATZ and the 2yr old Colt – PENSELWOOD.
Ludlow now facing a precautionary inspection on Wednesday morning, due to the forecast of overnight frost – we have been here before – remember the same happened when And She Was was due to make her debut there – the precautionary inspection resulted in the meeting being abandoned ½ an hour after the scheduled off time for the opener as the ground was still frozen – all this despite passing the precautionary inspection at 6.30am!! Debbie was on duty that day – as I was in a foggy Wincanton – and when I informed her of the planned inspection on Wednesday morning, she said ‘I may make the 6 O’Clock News if it gets cancelled when I am parking….’
Wednesday – Ludlow on! But as I have said – we have been here before! Alan sent through a video of I’d Go Maniac working well form the previous day – he’s in great nick. One that isn’t is And She Was, who worked fine on Tuesday, but a routine scope after work showed her to be suffering with a low-grade respiratory infection and she would not be running at the weekend. Shame – we were hoping to get the ‘Turkey Money’
Having confirmed that the meeting was still scheduled to take place I set off for Ludlow. A decent trip over, although it would have been preferable if any of the stewards I passed as I drove across the course to get to the O&T car park had informed me that it was full, rather than letting me cross over the track, only to be turned back – by which time the runners were heading down to post for the second, and the road was closed for 15 minutes! That aside it was a fun day – good to see a good group of the Alan King Racing Club in attendance, including one of the directors of the racecourse! A great lunch as always – and a massive crowd meant a fantastic pre-Christmas atmosphere.
Ghost Dancing was having her second start, and having experienced the racecourse once, she was very excited to be doing it all again. She looked fantastic in the paddock and her jockey, yard conditional, Philip Armson was very much looking forward to riding her. He would settle her just off the pace and let her see her hurdles. He would go wide around the far bend and make his challenge wide in the home straight – having definitely improved for her debut, he hoped he would be there abouts at the finish. GD a big price, but the market only seemed to feature one horse – trained by Nicky Henderson – she had been backed in from odds against to long odds on overnight – clearly. they liked what they had been seeing at home! The race pretty much went to plan – and Philip delivered the filly perfectly between the last two flights to challenge. Sadly, the eventual winner was able to quicken again after the last in the style of a nice filly, and GD was nudged out in a tight battle for second. This was a lovely step forward for Ghost Dancing, and there will be races to be won with her going forward for sure. She is very capable of ensuring that all three of the horses in the Alan King Racing Club will be winners in the first season!
While in Ludlow I got to catch up with Fergal O’Brien. Greyval fine after her run, and we will head back over hurdles with her, with Cheltenham in April the target. Ferg is very happy with Molly’s Lad. ML finds life very easy – and we all know how quick he is – as a result he tends to be looking about him in his work – so on Tuesday Fergal said he had galloped him in between two very good workhorses to get him to buckle down and concentrate – despite working with two very good yardsticks he was still gawping about – but he will have learned a lot form it. He is going to be in a big field of young horses when he heads to Cheltenham on New Years Day and working this way will serve him well – I can’t wait to see him coming up that hill!!
I had intended to stay down near Barbury Castle overnight, but with plenty to get done before the Christmas break, I headed home for a couple of hours in the office to make sure that it all got done. Thursday – an early start – down to Barbury Castle where I would be hosting a morning at the yard for a few members of the Racing Club. With Debbie not able to be there, it was down to me to get some photos and videos – a bit like asking me to take over from stable jockey Tom Bellamy and ride in the novice hurdle in Ascot at the weekend – I was never going to be as good – but hopefully I would ‘get round’. Heavy rain forecast – but still dry for first lot. Great to see Nevada Samba before he headed off to the vets for his treatment – he is a happy horse – and we will do everything we can to get him right.
Second lot – and Club members arrived, a quick coffee and then out to see the horses – Uhtred Ragnarson and I’d Go Maniac would canter – Ghost Dancing would be having a day off, we would see her later. Both UR and IGM are in good order – IGM declared in Wolverhampton on Saturday evening. The race would split into two divisions of 10 – IGM would be in the stronger heat.
Having seen them canter, along with And She Was who had a few quieter days to get over her infection. We headed back to the yard for a few glasses for fizz. Ghost Dancing came out to see everyone, and apart from a couple of speedy cuts behind, she is fine. Alan has decided to give her a short break – missing the worst of the ground in January and February, returning in the spring and running her on through the summer. It was a fun morning – great to get together before Christmas – it has been a superb start for the Alan King Racing Club, and we are very much looking forward to the remainder of the season with all three horses. Even better to have escaped the rain – we managed to get back in just before it started!
Fergal sent through a video of Molly’s Lad schooling over hurdles – he loves it – and I love seeing him doing it!
Friday – with very few free days on the run up to Christmas – it was time to get the monthly admin done. Bills to pay! Dino Bellagio syndicate members received their dividend – Happy Christmas to them! Lovely to hear from Louise Kemble at The Elms Stud – it has been ages since I have been able to get over to see Savingforvegas and ‘Nancy’, but Louise reports them both to be in good order, and she is really happy with Nancy – I hope to get to see them both early in the New Year.
I had a call with Olly Murphy in the afternoon – his team remain in great order. Olly is delighted with Jimmy Gatz – he had intended to get him down to Lambourn for another away day before Christmas, but that may have to wait until after the break. One thing is for sure; he has sharpened up for his recent trip away – and is still eating, drinking and going to work – hopefully it will not be long before he is making his debut!
Saturday – office work first thing, Ghost Dancing’s written race report typed and emailed to Club members.
Donald McCain called to say he would not be declaring Ridin Solo in Musselburgh – the race was not going to cut up – he had worked great on Friday morning and will run as soon as there is a suitable race. Doanld very happy to have Old Blue Eyes back in light work – he is very fresh – but moving really well!
Out for a spot of brunch in St Neots. Bohemia – very good – you can’t book, so expect a little wait for a table - it is a very popular spot! Back in time to catch a few races on the TV before setting off early for Wolverhampton. Over brunch, I had a sudden thought – Dunstall Park is very close to Molineaux, Wolves’ ground – if they were at home the area would be chaos around 5.00pm when we intended to get to the races. Wolves at home to Brentford – we would get there at 4.30pm – the way Wolves are playing there could be plenty of people leaving early!
A decent crowd
Not many Club members out on a Saturday before Christmas – fair play to Mark for being there, and nice to be able to give Paul a badge too.
I’d Go Maniac looked great in the paddock. Luke Catton, on board for his win last time out, in the plate again.
The plan to ride him like he had last time – in behind the leaders and kick off the home turn. This was definitely the stronger of the two divisions, with a Sir Mark Prescott horse turning out quickly after winning in Kempton on Wednesday. That one looked hard to beat – and so it proved. Luke Morris blowing the race apart at halfway – IGM trying to challenge off the home turn, but in the end. he had been flat out for too long and he couldn’t maintain his challenge, eventually fading into fourth. It was a decent run – this division, 2.7 seconds faster than the first. When I got home I ran both races side by side, and as you can see, as IGM passes the post (left) the winner on the first division has yet to reach the winning line (right) - had he been the only one of the first four in his heat to be on the other side of the divide he would have won again. Still plenty to take out of the race. We know that he would be better on a more galloping track, and over a longer trip – so there is definitely still more to come from him.
Mark and IGM
That just leaves it for me to wish you a very Happy Christmas – and we will catch up next weekend!
ps - This tickled me!!
