Shes Done It Again
A day late this week – apologies, but I can assure you, this week’s update is well worth the wait! A special arrival on Monday, a glorious morning for a yard visit, a great days racing, one football match, and an evening of laughter! It’s all here – read on!
What a way to start the week – a message from Louise early Monday morning – 4 photos – a gorgeous colt foal. Savingforvegas had done it again! Late on Sunday night, she had safely delivered her 8th foal (7th Colt), by Nirvana du Berlais. Both Mum and Son doing fine – Louise describing the latest addition to the squad as a ‘Very good colt’. SFV is such a good mother, she adores having her babies – and will very much enjoy the next few months with her latest little lad!
Just the small matter of giving him a stable name – I hadn’t given it any thought if I’m honest – as always, we do like the stable name to begin with the same letter as the name of the sire – so I needed an ‘N’ – and I do like it to have a connection with either SFV or the sire – last years filly by Nirvana du Berlais was ‘Nancy’ – after Nancy Sinatra – continuing the Las Vegas theme – so it was time to get the thinking caps on and find a name beginning with ‘N’ that had Las Vegas connections – not as easy as you would think!
The arrival of the foal was perfect timing – as Monday saw the public launch of our new breeding syndicate. I had mentioned it on this page last week – but Monday it went out to a wider audience, and what better way to do it that lovely images of Savingforvegas and her newborn son.
This year’s syndicate will consist of 10 leased shares in SFV, who will be covered by Kingston Hill in a few weeks’ time. Kingston Hill is the sire of recent Cheltenham Festival winner, White Noise along with recent Pattern winners Kingston Queen and A Likeable Rogue, who were both winners on the same day. Kingston Queen winning the Grade 2, Jayne Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in Warwick, and A Likeable Rogue bolting up in the Listed Bumper in Newbury The foal SFV produces in 2027, will be wholly owned by the syndicate, and the lease in SFV will terminate when that foal is weaned. There are now only 3 shares remaining in the breeding syndicate – have a click on the link below – and be part of something special – breeding your own racehorse. You are involved from the very start – it is a pleasure and privilege to be a part of! All for just £150 all inclusive monthly fee!
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8316/breeding-syndicate
Later on Monday word reached us that Brian Hughes had suffered a broken leg in Newcastle on Saturday. He had been operated on, and was expected to be out for 3 months, which Brian is already saying is too long – and that he intends to be back sooner than that! These lads are tough – and few are tougher than Brian. We wish him a speedy mend!
It took all day to think of a foal name beginning with a ‘N’ with Las Vegas connections – no singers, performers or even boxers came to mind (or appeared in a Google search) in the end it boiled down to 2 – ‘Nugget’ after the Golden Nugget Casino, or simply ‘Nev’ – Nevada. In the end the team at the stud felt he suited being a Nev – so Nev it is!
Tuesday – and what a fantastic morning for a road trip! I headed north to Donald McCains. A beautiful sunny and warm morning – and all the horses looking fantastic. Our three at the yard are all back in work, Dino Bellagio after a winter break, and Ridin Solo and Old Blue Eyes after little setbacks.
Dino Bellagio is being aimed at the big meeting in Chester in early May – and will have a prep race next month. He is doing loads of work, and I got to see him do 4 and 4 on the deep sand gallop (4 circuits each way) and then one up the hill! He is in great terms with himself, and the team are enjoying having Dino back at Bankhouse.
Ridin Solo and Old Blue Eyes are both back in ridden work and building back up to full fitness. Donald and I chatted about plans for both.
Ridin Solo will have a summer campaign, having missed the winter months.
Old Blue Eyes will have one run before a summer break – as he is likely to have some very nice target races in the autumn.
Donald and the team were all in good spirits – the sunshine always makes life better and there was plenty of craic and banter on the yard!
Donald has been strategically purchasing a certain type of horse over the last couple of years and has a plan in place for them from the summer onwards. I am delighted to say that after discussions this week – we will be working closely with Donald on this project – so keep your eyes out for some very exciting news in the coming weeks.
Tuesday – handicap rating published – after two placed efforts in Junior National Hunt hurdles, Molly’s Lad would be given his opening mark – 105. Exactly where I thought he would be, and a nice place to start. Although he has his mark now and qualifies for handicaps, he will have one more run in a Junior National Hunt hurdle before the end of the season and then head off on a summers break. That way – win, lose or draw, he still qualifies for novice hurdles next season. he is sure to improve for a step up in trip, so an opening mark of 105 would suggest that he should have a very productive 2026/27 season!
Tuesday was a busy day around the yards. Alan King has his string in fine fettle, and he sent through a clip of Alan King Racing Club’s, Uhtred Ragnarson back cantering up Sharpridge, he would step his work up later in the week. UR will relish the better ground in the summer, and we are set for a fun few months with him!
Another yard that has been firing winners in left right and centre all season is that of Olly Murphy, and he sent through a video of Jimmy Gatz schooling. JG has done plenty of schooling, even as a 2yr old – and he has always been an absolute natural – he is very good – and more importantly – absolutely loves it! He will also have a run in a Junior National Hunt hurdle before the end of the season ground permitting. I would be seeing Olly at the weekend and would discuss plans for him then.
Wednesday – divide and conquer! I made the most of the sunshine and headed over to The Elms to see Nev for the first time. He is an absolute cracker and the whole team are delighted with him. As ever ‘Vegas’ is proving to be the most wonderful Mum, she absolutely dotes on her foals and does such a good job of raising them!
While I was at the Stud – I saw ‘Nancy’ the yearling full sister to little Nev – who has really done well over the winter. She is a tall, racy filly, but is very good looking and looks very inch a racehorse at this stage. Delighted with her progress!
While I was cooing over a foal at The Elms, Debbie was down at Jason Maguires, getting some photos and videos of ‘Floyd’ the 4yr old homebred. He has developed into a fine looking boy and was gleaming in the spring sunshine! He has completed his spring term and will now head off for the summer to fill his frame and come back to prepare for a winter campaign a far stronger horse. He has just been a bit weak this spring – and the extra time will do him the world of good.
Debbie isn’t one to waste an opportunity – or some wonderful sunshine – so while she was in at Ivy Lodge Farm, she also got a couple of clips of the 2yr old Penselwood, who looks fantastic. He will return to Sir Mark Prescott’s, Heath House Stables in three months and be prepared for the late summer/autumn, when he will have a few educational runs. His future is all about next year, when, judging by his physical make-up and his pedigree, he will really come into his own. He is a gorgeous looking horse, with a fantastic lose, athletic walk – and as Sir Mark Prescott says –
‘He was very well bought!’ He has done everything you could ask of him up to this point including passing all of his tests when he spent a couple of months in Newmarket and looks ideal for the plan that we have in place for him!
Two shares remain! Hit the link and bag yourself a share – no monthly fees to pay until he returns to pretraining in May!
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8274/penselwood
Debbie also saw Cloud Dancer who is continuing his rehab from a tendon injury. He has a full programme mapped out for him – and is doing plenty of cantering now. He is scheduled to do a couple of swinging bits of work at Tom Georges and then have a summers break before resuming pre-training in July ahead of a return to full training in early August.
A warm welcome to NBR to Perry, who has taken a share in Dino Bellagio, Perry was introduced to us by Liam, and we wish him the best of luck with Dino this summer – his first venture into racehorse ownership!
Alan sent through a clip AKRC’s, Uhtred Ragnarson doing a swinging piece in behind – he looks in great order, and it will not be long before we see him back on the track. The deep ground over the course of the first months of 2026 would definitely not have suited him – he is far better on good quick ground.
Thursday - It was great to Nevada Samba back cantering on the Sharpridge hill. Alan reports that he has come out of his debut bumper win in great order, and it was lovely to see him moving really well in behind recent Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 4th, Baron Noir.
Friday – the last share in Dino Bellagio taken by another new member – again – we wish Joe the very best with his new horse!
Car in dry dock for the day – so it was a chance to take advantage of the weather and get out in the garden with the pressure washer, and quite literally blast anything that didn’t move, and some of the things that did! Nice to get the garden looking a bit better for the summer!
Saturday – and we headed down to Newbury for the worlds richest bumper sponsored by Goffs. Atacanter who I work with on the Horsebox sales, have a fantastic working relationship with Goffs. We are at all of their sales in Doncaster, and as part of the tie up between the two companies, Atacanter present the trainer of the winner of the bumper with a brand-new horse box to use throughout the 2026/27 NH season. It is always a fantastic day – a good opportunity to see plenty of clients and enjoy and afternoon at the sports. It is a day I look forward to every year.
Alan King on the score sheet with Charisma Cat winning the mares handicap hurdle, trainer in great form – and it was good to see Tom Bellamy in the bar after racing and congratulate him on his Festival winner!
Alan was in great form, and we chatted about the horses we have at Barbury Castle. I’d Go Maniac had worked very well that morning and he will head to Lingfield next week.
Alan is thrilled with Nevada Samba who he intends to run once more this season (ground permitting) we had toyed with taking him to Punchestown, but I soon rowed back from that idea, and Alan and I both agree (as did Tom Bellamy later) that he should have another low key start next time – there was plenty he needed to learn judged on his debut and we all feel it is better to do that in calmer waters than at a big meeting.
One man that will be joining us when he runs is Rupert, who has agreed to purchase the final 10% share in Nevada Samba. Rupert is an existing owner with Alan who has followed NS closely this season. He has seen what he does at home and then saw him produce it on the track and felt that he was a horse he just had to be involved in – why wouldn’t you – shares in horses like him are rare indeed!
Alan is kicking himself for running Ghost Dancing in Fakenham – he says he should have withdrawn her after they got the overnight rain – she came home with a few scrapes and bangs but is otherwise ok and will be out again in a few weeks – and only on genuinely good, fast ground. Put a line through that run – she is better than that!
And She Was had been due to return to Barbury Castle last week, but that was delayed due to Jamie Magee being stuck in foreign parts! He is home now – and Alan is due to see him, and And She Was this week. Alan says she will not take too long to get back up to full fitness and will be back on track before we know it!
The bumper, restricted to 4 and 5 yr olds purchased at the Goffs UK Spring Store Sales in May was won by 4 yr old Lady Hope, trained by Hughie Morrison. In what looked like decent heat – Lady Hope swooped late and wide under Johnny Burke to take the spoils. She looks like a lovely filly for the future.
The eyecatcher of the race was Irish Goodbye, who looked all over the winner for much of the last 3 furlongs as he made his way to the front in an absolute canter. His run petered out near the line, and he lost two places in the final yards to finish third, but it was an excellent run. Irish Goodbye had won the bumper in Carlisle that Jimmy Gatz was fourth in on debut – at the time connections of the first four in Carlisle all felt that it had been a decent race, and that we all had nice horses. The run by Irish Goodbye on Saturday, in a race that last year threw up a Grade 1 winner in Talk The Talk and a Grade 2 winner in Klub du Reve gives the Carlisle bumper a really solid look and goes to prove that Jimmy Gatz has a lovely future. Having spoken to Olly at length about JG – he is kicking himself for running him in desperate ground in Ffos Las – he really felt that he was heading down to Wales to win – but feels that he simply ran him back too soon after his debut and on ground that was simply far too deep for him. Jimmy Gatz is a horse he likes, and he is very much looking forward to getting going with him over hurdles.
There are a couple of shares remaining in this stunning grey – who’s form looks pretty good now!
Click the link!
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8143/jimmy-gatz
Always good when one of your trainers buys the first drink of the day – Fergal on hand to get them in – he reported Greyval to be back in good order after soft ground and an infection in a hind leg meant she missed her scheduled run in Chepstow. She will now head straight to Cheltenham in April.
Dinner in the evening at Mia Fiore in Newbury – very good – we went there last year too – it is excellent!
Sunday – having stayed down in Newbury – it was an early breakfast (for a Sunday) and an early start to get back home. It was going to be a full-on day. Paul picking me up, and we were heading up to Villa Park as guests of Olly Murphy to see Aston Villa play West Ham. As a West Ham fan, it is a fixture that Olly has kindly invited us to for a number of years – despite Paul supporting Leeds! At the last-minute Olly was called into action in the Betano Box (Betano are his yard sponsors as well as Aston Villa) so we didn’t see him for lunch or during the game, but he did pop down at half time for a quick chat. It is always a good day – but the least said about the result this year the better! West Ham were awful!
That was not the end of the fun and games. Paul kindly dropping me off in Northampton where I grabbed a quick glass of wine in a pub and watched the last few minutes of the league Cup Final before meeting up with Cheryl and heading to the Royal and Derngate to see actor/comedian Tom Davies. We really like big Tom D and once again he put on a great show! His tales of a visit to Wimbledon were very very funny!
Really good to bump into Matt, Sarah, Nicki and Suzanne – who by the coincidences of all coincidences ended up just two rows in front of us in the stalls!
Safe to say I was glad to be home, and it didn’t take me long to get to bed!
So, there we have it – quite the week – new foal – an exciting venture to come with Donald McCain – horses in good order, and a fabulous weekend!! That’s why there was no time to (slowly) type 3000 words and get them published on Sunday as usual.
As far as I can tell at this stage – normal service will be resumed next week, and we should be back to our usual Sunday slot!
Until then!
