Horses for Sale

   Tuxedo Junction (GB) 


Exciting dual purpose prospect,
click here for details!

 

    Fighter Allen (FR)  


Exciting new horse with proven form, 
click here for details!

 

 

Our French trip has proved to be something of an eye-opener.  Yesterday we attended the reception at Deauville's Hotel Royal Barriere and before we even set foot inside the hotel, you could see what type of event it was going to be...parked outside was a brand new Ferrari, and what seemed like a fleet of Aston Martin's.  Inside there was a guest list that comprised just about anyone you could ever think of from the world of racing, including my great hero Lester Piggott.  This was of course a prelude to the Arqana August Yearling Sales, and I am sure that there is going to be some serious money changing hands over the coming days.

Simon Crockett was certainly enjoying the hospitality - I don't think I have ever seen anyone put away as many oysters as he did...I believe they are supposed to be an aphrodisiac - I must say, I did pity his poor wife Susie!

I also found some of the artwork in the hotel quite challenging - in particular one interesting statue.  At first glance it appeared to be a nude lady...until you got to waste level and realised that it had male genitalia!  It appeared to be quite an old statue, so maybe it was an early transvestite - as we were among the horsey set, the first thing that occurred to me was that it probably needed gelding!

Last night we went out for dinner and we were joined by one of our owner's Gino Paletta.  Gino is a real character and always looks after David and myself during our trip up to Aintree for the Grand National.  Anyway, he turned up with eight of his friends last night and they had obviously decided that Gino was the designated driver, indeed he turned up attired in a chaffeur's cap!

We have taken a look at the sales ring this morning and I have never seen anything like it - I have been to a few sales in my time, but this place is ultra modern and puts most of the other auctioneers to shame.

*****

Back to racing on the domestic front, we had one runner at Hereford yesterday evening, Ladyvie who finished second in the handicap chase.  I thought it was a reasonable enough debut in this country, especially as she was also making her debut over fences - she made one error five from home but other than that, she jumped well in the main.  I am sure that David will be placing her to win in the not too distant future.

*****

I was interested to see that Richard Hannon feels that the 2/1 about him to win the trainers championship again is on the short side owing to the ammunition that Sir Henry Cecil has at his disposal.  While it is true that Henry does have Frankel on his side, he will surely only race once more this season, while Richard Hannon has batallions of horses to run.  Indeed, as I write Richard Hannon has already had an incredible 738 more runners!  As much as I would love to see Sir Henry win another trainer's title, If Richard Hannon cannot produce enough winners to hold him at bay I would be amazed...2/1 looks a steal to me!