The Perfect Start
A week that heralded the start of a journey that we have all been looking forward to for a very long time. A stable visit – and more syndicate share sales and lots of interest.
Sunday – with William Butler overseeing the fine victory of Martinet in the 7 ½ furlong Listed event in Cologne last Sunday – I hadn’t expected the weekly Penselwood update until Monday – so it was a slight surprise to get a call later in the afternoon with all the news from Heath House. Penselwood in great form, with William very keen to run him in Southwell on Saturday evening – a 7f Novice Stakes that would be a good starting point for the big boy. Something to look forward to for the rest of the week. Nothing too grand is expected of his first few runs, as he is a big staying type – but his runs this autumn will lay the foundation for what we hope and expect to be a very fruitful campaign next summer. It will be great to see him on the track!
Monday – I try to leave Monday free if I can, especially during the NFL season, during which I stay up far too late on a Sunday night watching the games from the States. This has been a form of self-torture for me for a number of years as ‘my’ team – the Las Vegas Raiders have been nothing short of embarrassing – not this year – three games into the 2026 season – and they are undefeated! It is taking a bit of getting used to! Despite feeling a little jaded after a late night, there was the monthly admin to get done this week – so it was a day in the office for me! As William had outlined plans for Penselwood the day before, it was no surprise that he was not declared in Kempton on Wednesday – Southwell on Sunday the plan – on what would be a busy day for the yard, with two Group 1 runners in two different countries!
Tuesday – an early morning trip north to see the team at Donald McCains, Bankhouse Stables. Lovely to see a couple of members of the Bankhouse Thoroughbreds Syndicate who had taken the chance to drop in to see their new horse, the unnamed 3yr old by Pethers Moon stride on up the hill with a galloping companion. He would be working third lot – ahead of him, out second lot was Ridin Solo, who is right back to form after being struck into at Bangor last time out. As with the entirety of Donalds string, he looks fantastic, carrying plenty of condition and with a real shine to his coat. He came up the hill very well and is on course to be back on track in 7-10 days.
Third lot, and the Pethers Moon gelding, after warming up in the loop, did two up the hill, a nice swinging canter followed by a more serious piece of work. He is really coming together now, I have seen him a few times over the course of the last 5/6 weeks, and he improves every time I see him. At this stage he is simply ‘playing at the job’ and finds his work so easy that he doesn’t even realise he’s a racehorse at present. He worked really well here and came back in off of the gallop skipping and dancing having once again found it very easy and a lot of fun. He is a lovely looking horse, with a proper pedigree and at this stage there is no reason to believe that he isn’t going to be a very nice racehorse!
https://www.donaldmccain.co.uk/available-shares-/
Fourth lot, and the brothers were out – Dino Bellagio headed to the deep sand gallop for a routine canter. Back in work after having his wind tweaked last week, he is in good order and will hopefully be back on track very soon. It would be great to get to run him on some juicy turf this autumn.
It was great to see his half-brother, Old Blue Eyes back cantering again. It has been a frustrating year with him to say the least, with him suffering a couple of little setbacks at precisely the wrong times. Nothing major and he will be fine going forward, but enough to cause Donald to pull up stumps for a short while each time, undoing all the good work that had been done before. The vets have been very happy with him, and he did one routine canter up the carpet gallop. Nice and gently, and it was good to see him in such good form and enjoying himself – glad to be back going a stride quicker!
With Tuesday being a work morning at most yards, Alan King sent through a few videos – first lot was shrouded in mist – Nevada Samba working well upsides his usual galloping companion. The weather is not helping with plans - we had not intended to run NS much before November anyway – but the continued dry weather is not helping us to make a serious plan. With meetings as far forward as October 25th being abandoned and rescheduled, it makes life tricky – it is the same for everyone, and we will just have to ride it out like everyone else. The rain is sure to come! Isn’t it??
Uhtred Ragnarson worked in behind in a group of 4 and did it well – he will be back out again very soon.
The mist lifted for third lot, when I’d Go Maniac led a couple of 2yr olds in a nice piece of work. Alan has all the team in great order.
Although the plan is for Penselwood to make his debut in Southwell on Saturday evening, Sir Mark does like to make sure that all bases are covered and just in case he were to tread on a stone, or something equally as frustrating, he gave him a backup entry in Kempton next Monday. Sir Mark does not miss a beat and the one thing that has struck me in the 12 months that we have been associated with him and the team at Heath House is the attention to detail – no stone is left unturned, no opportunity missed and no contingency left uncovered – an amazing operation.
I had a good chat with Jason Maguire later in the day – our unnamed 3yr old Blue Bresil gelding is back cantering and moving really well. He has grown and strengthened for a short summer break and is a fine big horse now – he will continue to pretrain at Ivy Lodge Farm before heading to Alan King around the turn of the year.
Jason is really pleased with Cloud Dancer who continues to build back up to full fitness before a return to training. He is doing loads of cantering and slowly shifting the weight he put on over the summer. It is always better to get the weight off slowly before asking him to do any faster work – and once again – doing it the right way gives him a better chance of a successful return to the track.
Our homebred 4yr old, Floyd is also going really well – I am as excited to see what he turns out to be as any of the team, as it has been a different route with him. He has taken plenty of time, but by the looks of it our patience has paid off!
Wednesday – Penselwood got a further entry in Southwell on Tuesday – again just in case!
Jason sent through a video of the Blue Bresil gelding cantering on his deep sand gallop. He is a very fluid mover, something that those that train them have said about his half-brothers. He looks great value – click the link and read all about him!
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8342/jason-maguire-syndicate
The Alan King Racing Club has been a huge success, and plenty of its members are folks that have had horses in training with both Alan and his old boss, David Nicholson over the years. On Wednesday it was lovely to get to chat with a lady who owned some of the best chasers in the country in the 1980’s and 90’s. These horses were household names, and she is very keen to join a few of her friends and family in the AKRC. It was a pleasure to chat to her about her and her late husband’s horses – and I hope to meet her in person very soon to continue our chat!
Thursday – Alan sent through a clip of Ghost Dancing having her first skip over hurdles up the schooling strip this season. She is ever so nimble and quick, and he was very pleased with her.
It will be a week or two before stable jockey, Tom Bellamy is back in at Barbury schooling – he is still recovering from the horror fall he took in Worcester a few weeks ago – not helped by contracting an infection that saw him back hospitalised for a week and on a drip. He’s back home now – and we wish him all the best.
With the NH season drawing ever closer there has been an ever-increasing interest in shares over the course of the last few weeks. This week it was the Pethers Moon gelding in with Donald McCain who was very popular. A couple more shares sold and more enquires to follow up. Syndication is not easy – and in these times of economic uncertainty it is even harder, but it is good to see that there is still plenty of interest in the sport, and from folks who would like to join the ownership ranks via syndicate membership.
As planned Penselwood was declared in Southwell on Saturday. With stable jockey Luke Morris over in Longchamp to ride Consent in her Group 1, riding duties would fall to his understudy, Jack Gilligan. 10 runners and drawn 1 – which would be ideal under normal circumstances, but on debut – this inside pitch would likely work against us.
Friday – work morning at Barbury – Nevada Samba worked upsides in a group of 4. Quickening up again – the workload is slowly starting to ramp up – hopefully the rain arrives soon – although the forecast doesn’t suggest it is on its way in any volume!
Uhtred Ragnarson doesn’t need the rain – and he worked well in behind NS in the second pair.
John Harrison had a gentle canter up the hill. All fine with him after a forgettable run from an horrendous draw last time out in Wolverhampton. That was a non-event, but he was dropped a further 1lb for it – every little helps.
Good to check in with Fergal O’Brien in the afternoon. He was grateful of the break as he was wrestling foals at the time. They were weaning a few, and it was proving harder than he had hoped!
He is really happy with the two horses at Ravenswell. Molly’s Lad is working very nicely on the hill. With the lack of rain, he is a little bit behind where Fergal had planned to be with him, as he has been on tick over for a couple of weeks. He has a new work rider at home – a new girl to the yard who has come from Paul Nicholls’, who has really taken a shine to ML and adores him – Fergal tells me she even enjoys his antics on the way to the gallop!
He is also very pleased with Vegas Gold who has progressed to the hill gallop, and earlier that morning had swung up it very easily with a workmate. Fergal has loved Vegas Gold since the minute he arrived at the yard, and he assures me his opinion of him hasn’t changed from day 1! He is going very nicely, and at this stage – the plan for him to make his debut in Aintree next month is still very much in place.
In the evening, Olly Murphy sent through one of his video updates on Jimmy Gatz. He is another one who wants nice juicy ground (not the heavy ground he got in Ffos Las) so he is very much taking his time with him. He is doing plenty of cantering and will soon start schooling again. He will start off in novice hurdles next month ground permitting. It has to rain – doesn’t it??
Another message followed – this one a voice-note from Sir Mark Prescott, outlining his thoughts on what he hoped for and expected from Penselwood on debut tomorrow. So very kind of him to take the time to share his thoughts with P’s owners – it makes such a difference when the thoughts come directly from Sir Mark, rather than the syndicate having to listen to me all the time!
Saturday – and a busy day – first stop Olly Murphys. Warren Chase Stables – his annual season opener – and a chance for him to parade a few horses for potential clients. A glorious morning, and so good to catch up with friends before the start of the season proper. Luke Harvey on hand to compere proccedings, and Olly full of hope and expectations for the months ahead. He has a fine team of horses, and I really hope he can achieve his goal of being the second quickest to 1000 winners by the end of the season!
Jimmy Gatz - Unimpressed that the crowd kept him from his morning nap!
When we got home it was lovely to receive a video from Longchamp – Debbie had hunted down William Butler who had kindly filmed a message for Penselwoods owners ahead of his debut in a few hours. Really kind of Debbie and William to do this on what was a very busy day for both over in Paris! Once again, we are so lucky to have Debbie on the team!
William sends the team a quick message from the Longchamp stables
The first of the Group 1 runners from Heath House had run with credit in the weekend feature in Newmarket, the Sun Chariot Stakes, finishing 3 ½ lengths behind the hugely impressive Blue Bolt.
The second, Consent, over in Longchamp to defend her crown in the Prix de Royallieu also ran with huge credit, finishing fourth beaten just 2 ¼ lengths after travelling like the wrath of God up to the final stages. I really did think that she was going to win quite easily at one stage, but in the end, she was swamped by closers – still running with huge credit.
It was time to hit the road to Southwell to see Penselwood. Sir Mark and William had both been very honest in terms of expectations. This was very much the first step on a very long and hopefully successful journey with this big horse. This debut was all about him learning what the job was all about and all they wanted to see from him was for him to behave himself pre-race, go in and come out of the stalls in good order, run his race and come back in having enjoyed himself and having run with credit staying on nicely in the closing stages. Penselwood was purchased with half an eye on a juvenile hurdling career, and the 7 furlongs would be far too short for him, but it is better to start them off over a trip that they can get, rather than see them getting tired on debut and not having a nice experience.
Everything went exactly as Sir Mark had foreseen. Penselwood behaved impeccably in the prelims – a little on his toes on his first trip around the pre parade ring, but after that he dropped his head and strode round like he had done it all his life. A good start. Jack Gilligan came out into the paddock and told us his plans, to break as smartly as he could, but on debut, he was not expecting him to ping the gates and be in the lead – he would likely be a little slow away and be in rear. From there he just wanted Penselwood to learn his trade and stay on nicely up the home straight.
They went to post quietly, and loaded well into the stalls, the meticulous homework had paid off. As expected, he was slowly away, and for a 7f novice around Southwell they went very hard early. Penselwood, in rear, was green and nudged along to keep in touch. As they came into the bend Jack just gave him a flick down the shoulder, and it was great to see P go straight into the bridle and get on an even keel. For a big lad he took the bend well, and although last of the 10 turning for home, he was still in touch. This is when the speedier types quickened and it was good to see Penselwood go with them initially although he was soon outpaced over this inadequate trip, but when the penny dropped in the closing stages he stayed on nicely and hit the line strong.
He came back in off of the track jig jogging having clearly enjoyed his first day at the races, and Jack was very pleased with how things had gone – very much to plan, with the result we had expected. All in all, a very good introduction!
Sunday – William called to say that Penselwood had eaten well on his return home and jogged up sound. He will have an easy week – and then they hope to get another run into him in the next 2-3 weeks. William, Sir Mark and the whole team are very happy with his debut and are very optimistic about his future when he has filled his massive frame over the winter and steps up in trip in the spring. There is going to be lots of fun to be had with him – and I for one will be ticking off the days ahead of his reappearance in 2027!
No racing next week – I will head over to the Tattersalls Book 1 yearling sales to see some of the finest bloodstock in the world go under the hammer and catch up with friends and clients. I hope to make it to see some of our squad as well.
Hopefully I can get together with Chris and Rachel who were due to pop into Ivy Lodge Farm on Saturday to see the Blue Bresil but ended up getting stranded in Italy and having to drink more red wine as a result of Mount Etna erupting forcing the cancellation of their flight – the first time I have had a meeting cancelled due to a volcanic eruption!
Log in next week to see if they A. Got even more pissed and B. Got home!
