Back At It!
A week largely spent in the grip of winters’ icy claw. No jumps racing for the first half of the week – and only a partial programme for the remainder. Despite the cancellation of meetings the horses still have to be exercised and cared for, and the weather over the last seven days will have made a hard job even harder for the staff at all yards – their skill and dedication should never be overlooked, and we are very grateful to each and every one of them for looking after all of the horses that we have – those in training, the ones resting and out of training and the youngsters and broodmares.
After the news was published last week, William Butler called with his weekly update on PENSELWOOD, the 2 yr old we have with Sir Mark Prescott in Newmarket. Sir Mark and William are delighted with him, he is doing two canters up Warren Hill and doing them very easily. His has progressed through all the phases of his first spell at Heath House without hitch, and he is ready to head back to Ivy Lodge Farm for a well-earned spell of R&R. It has been a busy time for such a young horse, from his sales prep, then his week at the yearling sales, to being broken in with Jason Maguire, and then heading back to Newmarket – he has been through an awful lot for such a young animal – and he will now have a nice bit of down time to take it all in, let his system reset and grown into his frame. His pedigree (by Saxon Warrior out of a Dalakhani mare), and his size and scope all point to him being a horse for the second half of the year, not a small, early precocious type, so he will have a couple of months off now, and head back into work in the spring.
Monday morning, we awoke to a dusting of snow, and a fairly hard frost. The outlook for jumps racing over the next few days looked bleak. No racing in the UK at all today. A chance to catch up with some office work! The outlook for the weekend looked slightly better, with higher temperatures forecast, and the hope was that Warwick would beat the weather and go ahead on Saturday. UHTRED RAGNARSON had won there on his seasonal reappearance in November, and after working well two days previously, Alan King gave him an entry there in a £20,000 handicap hurdle. After that win, UR had finished a close third on his next start, but Alan felt that he had not been quite right on the run up to that outing, and his recent homework would suggest that he was back to his best once again.
The first Monday of 2026 also meant that it was time to get a couple of the ‘holiday makers’ back into work. DINO BELLAGIO and INTREPIDE SUD would have both been grateful to leave a frosty field and head into a warm stable.
Both will have a few days on the walker, have a set of shoes on, and start work once again. Dino will have a couple of weeks with Jason and then head back up to Donald McCain. We have had a plan in mind for him for a very long time, and he will be trained for a target race at Chester’s May meeting. He will have a prep run on the flat in April and then it will be all systems go for a big day out at the premiere flat fixture in the north-west. Donald and I have discussed a return to hurdles for DB, as he has to be well handicapped in that sphere, but we both feel that the right path to take with him would be to continue with a flat campaign for at least the first part of the summer, with the option to switch back to hurdles later in the year. It looks sure to be another fun summer with Dino – and you can join us on the journey! A 4% share is available in his syndicate – no capital outlay – and one simple all inclusive monthly fee of £132. Last season Dino won the thick end of £1,000 for each of his syndicate members – and with some valuable handicaps on his ‘dance card’ this summer, you stand a good chance of having him cover the vast majority of your expenses! Call/message me on 07909 518902 or email nickbrownracing@gmail.com to get involved.
INTREPIDE SUD has had a good break after picking up a little niggle in the summer. He seems to be over that now and he will be pre-trained for a few weeks with Jason at Ivy Lodge Farm before heading back into training with Fergal O’Brien. He was just getting to grips with chasing when we last saw him, and we all believe that there is more to come from him over fences this year.
Tuesday – a cold one! Alan King sent through a video of AND SHE WAS working very nicely up Sharpridge. ASW had been ready to run before Christmas but had been found to be suffering with a respiratory infection ahead of declarations and was unable to run. A few easier days and a course of antibiotics saw her back to full health, and she has been working her way back up to full fitness. Judging by this piece of work she is getting very close to having another entry!
Jason called with an update and to confirm plans for a few. Dino Bellagio would be clipped, shod and got cracking. Intrepide Sud would be eased into work at a slightly slower pace as he is coming back off an injury layoff. He will start off on the walker for a few days and then return to ridden work. Jason also had news of CLOUD DANCER, who has been recovering from a tendon injury at Timmy Murphys for the past few months. The plan had always been to scan CD at the start of 2026, with a view to him starting the next phase of his recuperation. That scan was carried out on Tuesday morning, and the vet was very happy with the results. Everything is healing really well. As with all tendon injuries, time is key, but along with being patient and giving the injury time to heal, the horse has a very rigid programme of controlled exercise to try and ensure that the injury heals as well as possible, limiting the likelihood of a reoccurrence. CD had a very strict regime after he suffered the injury last spring, with carefully manged sessions of spa treatment, walking in hand, and then spells on the horse walker, before being deemed recovered enough to be turned out. Having spent the rest of 2025 at Timmy’s this scan shows that he can now return to Ivy Lodge Farm and resume a rehab programme. This will involve a lot of slow and steady work for the next couple of months – with one month on the walker followed by a month of walking and trotting. He will then be scanned again to confirm that everything is still healing as it should, before he starts back cantering. He will then be brought up to around 85-90% full fitness and have a couple of swinging bits of work at Tom George’s and if all is well after that, he will have a couple of months off to let the site of his injury settle down again before returning to training. CD remains a horse with huge potential, he was being set up for a crack at a valuable handicap when he suffered his injury, as we believe that there is a fair bit more to come from him. Brian Hughes who rode him that day, also confirmed that he would be even better suited to fences, so with that in mind, we will do everything we can to get him back to the track and keep him sound – there are lots of big days to be had with him!
The other one that headed back to a warm stable last week was ‘FLOYD’ the 4yr old by Falco out of Savingforvegas. Jason will crack on with him now – and he will be prepared for a run in the spring. Having posted a video of him in last weeks bulletin, it was nice to hear from a couple of existing clients to say that they would be interested in having a share in him. He’s a lovely horse, one that I have always liked a lot – and I can’t wait to get cracking with him!
With no jumps racing, it was all-weather action for the afternoon and evening. Very interesting to see I’D GO MANIAC’S form franked. IGM had finished fourth on his last start in Wolverhampton before Christmas, but he had run into a very well handicapped horse of Sir Mark Prescott’s that day, and in trying to put it up to that one had cost himself second. Since then both the second and third have won next time out, so it looks as though the form is working out very well. We know that IGM will be suited by a step up in trip and a more galloping track – so the hope is that there is more to come from him, and that he is still on a workable handicap mark.
Wednesday, and the cold spell had really taken hold – once again, a limited offering in the afternoon – just a couple of all weather meetings. It is surprising how quickly I can run out of things to do – and by the afternoon I was getting a hint of ‘Cabin Fever’! Thankfully, it looked like there would be a slight rise in temperatures over the following 24 hours and we might just get some jumps racing on – although with a storm forecast for Friday – there looked to be more snow on the way for some! Alan King sent through a video of UHTRED RAGNARSON working. He is in great order and is ready to run again for sure – but the forecast for rain and snow meant that him being declared in Warwick on Saturday, even if the meeting escaped the weather, was far from certain.
Thursday – and after 3 days couped up indoors – I really needed to get out – so I was very thankful that Olly Murphy had scheduled and away day gallop for JIMMY GATZ in Lambourn. The weather relented, and Olly was able to take JG and five others down to work them on the Kingsdown Gallop. I would meet the lorry and jockeys in Lambourn at 10.00am, and as I knew the trip down would be in the heaviest of the morning traffic, I set off extra early – almost not early enough as I only just made it to the rendezvous before the horses – and they were 10 minutes late!
On the way down to Lambourn, Alan King called to say that he would not be declaring Uhtred Ragnarson in Warwick on Saturday. There had to be a doubt that the meeting would even go ahead, and if it did, after the recent frost, and given the forecast snow and rain, the ground would be atrocious – and Alan was unwilling to run UR in such testing conditions. Instead, he entered him in a Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle in Newbury next Wednesday.
JIMMY GATZ is really coming together now – he is a ‘bull’ of a horse, and Olly has been mindful to bring him on slowly – this piece of work was designed to show Olly where he was with him and allow him to get a better idea as to when he may be able to get him to his debut bumper. JG had worked really nicely on an away day in December, and this work morning would be the next step in his prep. Thankfully the mist and fig that had shrouded me for most of the journey down, had lifted in Lambourn and we were able to get a good view of his work. Two of the six would do twice up the full gallop, the other four, including JG would pull up after 5 furlongs first time before doing a full and proper piece of work next time up. JIMMY GATZ was paired with another unraced 4 yr old and ridden by Dave England, he pulled right away from that one in his work and went really well, closing down two older horses (both winners) who were working ahead of him. Dave was delighted with him after the work, and Olly’s assistant, Ger Tumelty, on duty as Olly is in Dubai, was very pleased with it all, suggesting that one more piece of work away from home should see JG ready to make his debut, and a run in a 4yr only bumper was not too far off!
As you can see from the video, JIMMY GATZ goes very nicely, and the team are confident that he will run well when he gets to go - you can be there – have a look at his details on the FOR SALE page and get in touch – if all goes to plan he should be running in about a month – there are just 2 shares remaining in this striking son of The Grey Gatsby – who looks to have a very nice future ahead of him judging on how he worked on Thursday.
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8143/jimmy-gatz
The trip home was a lot easier, but despite the early morning traffic, it had been so good to get out of the house and see some horses!
Olly called from Dubai as I arrived home to let me know that he had seen the video of the work and was very happy – Dave England had sent him a voice note to say how pleased he was with the way JG had gone, so all in all a very successful morning!
Friday – you know that you are getting close to an entry when Racing Secretaries start to call. Teresa from Olly Murphys on to confirm that JIMMY GATZ would be running in our Red, Black and White colours. She would be confirming with the BHA later in the morning.
I was able to confirm the date and time for our visit to Heath House to see PENSELWOOD, Sir Mark, William and all the team. The visit has been organised for Tuesday 20th January at 9.45am. The plan - to meet up at the Heath Court Hotel at 9.15am – grab a quick coffee and then head next door to Heath House for 9.45am. PENSELWOOD, will canter in a group of 2 yr olds, and we will get to see him stride on for the first time.
If anyone would like to join us please let me know – this is not a big visit, it is just for a select few, and numbers are limited, but if you would like to come then please let men know – Heath House is the most beautiful yard in Newmarket, and you will get to meet the legend that is Sir Mark Prescott, who will show you around the yard, and entertain you with his knowledge of the history of the town and the people who have made it what it is! There will be a chance to spend time with Sir Mark, who I believe has something special planned for those that can make it. Don’t plan to leave Newmarket until at least early afternoon! It is an opportunity that is not to be missed, numbers are limited – let me know if you would like to come along! 07909 518902.
The Alan King Racing Club continues to go from strength to strength, with another member joining on Friday. Since we kicked off in August, we have had 2 winners and 3 places from 8 runs. Two of the three horses have won – and all three look likely to win or win again before the end of the term. Having one flat runner in I’D GO MANIAC and two jumpers in UHTRED RAGNARSON and GHOST DANCING has meant that members have been racing every month and will continue to do so right through to the end of the term in July as Alan could well give GHOST DANCING a couple of spins on the flat this summer too! As there are no ‘blank’ months and we get to go racing all year round – the Alan King Racing Club offers fantastic value – and is why it has proved to be so popular. There is now just a single share available in the Club – priced at just £1500 (one-off all- inclusive payment) which covers membership through to the end of the term on July 31st, 2026. Get in touch and join in the fun with this small and exclusive club that offers outstanding value for money!
Alan sent a clip through in the afternoon – NEVADA SAMBA cantering in the outdoor school. This clip showed that NS seems to be improving – he has always been 100% sound, he has just had an issue that has prevented Alan from training him – but as you can see from the clip he seems to be going the right way again now, and hopefully we can get a clear run with him and he can show everyone what we have seen him do at home!
His full brother OLD BLUE EYES is another one that has not got to run yet this season – he suffered a minor setback in the autumn, which meant he had to have a spell on the easy list – but he is back cantering away now, and is as fresh as can be and in great form! Donald sent a clip through on Friday – and OBE is clearly in great heart and moving great!
It has been a frustrating season with the pair of them – but that is just the way it goes sometimes – the one thing we do know is that the brothers are both well above average and we have a lot to look forward to when they do get that clear run and hit the track! As ever – patience is the key!
Saturday – AND SHE WAS is in great order and Alan gave her an entry in Market Rasen next Friday – a 2m conditional jockeys handicap hurdle – she will start life in handicaps off of 96, which is no ‘gimme’ – especially over the minimum trip, but she will have improved for her seasonal debut, when she could have been second, but needed the run – and we are looking forward to getting going with her in handicaps.
Alan sent through 2 work videos – UHTRED RAGNARSON working well with a smart bunch.
I’D GO MANIAC (far side, front) working really nicely too.
I settled in to watch a very good afternoons racing from Kempton – Alan with 4 runners, including the legend Edwardstone in the Garde 2 chase. His assistant Robin on duty to saddle the 4, as Alan, being the sensible man that he is – was catching a flight to The Maldives. Well, he missed all the fun – his four runners turned into 3 winners and a second! What an afternoon – crowned with the victory of Edwardstone! What a reception he received on his return to the winners’ enclosure – this horse is an absolute legend at Barbury Castle and is loved by the wider racing public. It was a fantastic afternoon for Alan and the team, and I’m sure it was an entertaining flight to The Maldives after that!!
Sunday – William has just called with his weekly PENSELWOOD update. All well, like the rest of the 2yr olds, P has enjoyed getting back into a routine and has been cantering away all week. He has gone upsides for the first time and took everything in his stride and did it easily! William is very much looking forward to showing him to his owners on the 20th, after which he will head off on his break with Jason.
Around the remainder of the team – GREYVAL is fine and tipping away – she will be out again in early Feb, and we have a plan in place for her for the remainder of the season. I have been putting a lot of thought into her future and will be in touch with her owners over the course of the next few days to set out options going forward. MOLLY’S LAD is fine after his run in Cheltenham. He will now switch to hurdles and make his hurdles debut later this month. RIDIN SOLO is on the easy list for another couple of weeks – but is behaving and all being well he should be back in the spring.
‘GEORGE’ our Golden Horn 3 yr old is tucked up warm in a barn at Timmy Murphys and will remain there until he starts his ‘secondary school’ at Ivy Lodge Farm in March. He is another quality homebred, who like Molly’s Lad this year - I have had pencilled in for the Listed bumper on New Years Day in Cheltenham in 2027! Can’t wait!
Next week – it looks like we could have a couple of runners, and I will get to at least 2 yards – I was trying to get to 3 but the third may be tricky given the race time on Friday. I will be on a nice tour of the country – and with a bit of luck will be staying in some familiar haunts! Should be a fun week!
Tune in next week for news of horses, hotels, food and wine!!
