Time seems to be flying by at the moment and on writing there is just one more sleep until Royal Ascot.  Sadly I do not have any runners there this week but Leanne and I our making our usual Tuesday trip to the Royal meeting.  It has been three years since we were last there so it will be good to be back and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can fit into my suit!

 

Review of the Week

 

It has been another great week for the yard on the racetrack with more winners and some nice placed efforts as well.  It was a relatively quiet start to the week with our first runners coming at Uttoxeter last Thursday evening.  Morgenstern backed up his Newton Abbot win the previous week with another good performance to finish second.  It was his first try over three miles and he saw the trip out well, galloping all the way to the line.  He also jumped better than sometimes he can because they were probably going half a stride slower than he is used to.  Now that we know he stays this distance it certainly opens up more opportunities for him and can hopefully bring about a bit more improvement as well.

 

There was extra drama in this race as well as Morgenstern’s rival Butler’s Brief, fell at the fourth last and then got into trouble while running loose and he managed to get stuck in the open ditch.  A lengthy delay to racing ensued while a large team of vets and staff had to carefully remove the horse from his predicament but thankfully they did this and the horse was completely fine after his misadventure!

 

What it did mean was that the last two races on the card had to be abandoned because we ran out of daylight.  They did thankfully run the 2m4f handicap chase which was won by our very own Al Roc.  This was our veteran’s third win of the season so far and he remains in tremendous heart.  He has now won eleven races in his career and over £400,000 in prize money.  He is a strong stayer over the 2m4f trip and you would have to say he looked to be the first one beaten as they turned for home but he galloped on powerfully and won easily in the end.  Hopefully the handicapper will not overreact and he can continue to give us a lot of fun in the coming months.

 

With the abandonment of the last two races at Uttoxeter it did mean that we did not get to run stable debutant, Tango Arumba in the bumper as intended.  However, the good thing was that because we wanted the ground to be safe for her we had also declared her to run at Newton Abbot the following evening.  She came back from her Thursday night outing well, ate up and went out in the paddock on Friday morning so we decided to let her run that evening.  It was a nice performance to win the bumper under David Noonan.  She led all the way and galloped on strongly to the line.  While her closest pursuer showed wayward tendencies inside the last couple of furlongs David Noonan was confident he would have won anyway.  She kept trying and picking up all the way to the line and he felt he did not have to get too serious with her.  She was purchased from the Cheltenham April sales and will now be on her summer holidays and we can look forward to going novice hurdling with her in the autumn.

 

On Friday Evening we actually had six runners across the two jumps meetings.  Dindin put up his best effort to date to finish third and Newton Abbot and is likely to run again at Ffos Las later this week.  At Aintree, Free Chakarte ran below her best and finished third.  In hindsight, the race probably came too quick for her after Hexham and she is better than this run.  Abaya Du Mathan ran a nice race to finish second behind the favourite in his race, Koi Dodville was a bit disappointing while Texard made a pleasing stable debut to be third.  A last fence error proving costly for him and it ended all chance of winning but there was plenty of encouragement to take from this going forwards.

 

Over the weekend we had a win and two seconds from three runners.  Kolisi was a fast finishing second at Worcester and would have won in another stride.  He runs again at Stratford on Tuesday.  D’jango recorded his first success since coming over from France in the 2m7f handicap hurdle with Philip Armson on board.  The handicapper had given him a chance and we discovered he had some ulcers after his last run which we have treated and I think this has really helped him as well.  He will be kept on the go and he should continue to give a good account of himself this summer.

 

Lady Reset ran her usual determined race back on the flat at Salisbury on Sunday.  She always tries her best and was beaten only a head over 1m2f in a 0-80 handicap.  They said on the TV afterwards that she must be a pleasure to own and she is definitely a pleasure to train as well.   She will continue to mix the flat and hurdle going forwards.

 

Red Hot Jockey

 

Stable conditional Philip Armson is in tremendous form, he has had seven winners from his last 18 rides at a strike rate of 39%!  It will be difficult to keep this going but he is riding well and long may it continue!

 

Looking Ahead

 

This week we have two runner at Stratford and Tuesday.  Kolisi makes a quick reappearance and Awesomedude is looking to follow up his Huntingdon success last time.  On Wednesday Flammarion runs on the flat at Nottingham while later in the week we are likely to have runners over jumps at Ffos Las and Market Rasen.  At the weekend we are unlikely to have runners on Saturday but will be racing at Worcester on Sunday.  Keep checking the daily blog for more news of the stable runners.

 

Busy at the Yard

 

This time of the year at the yard is usually a little quieter than at other times but this summer we seem to be very busy!  It is great that we have lots of horses in running and then there are lots enjoying their summer holidays as well.  The usual summer jobs, power washing and painting are being done and some horses that were out at grass are already back in!  It is exciting that Israel Champ and Sexy Lot who both missed last season have had their time out in the field but are now back in and being ridden.  They will do a lot of walking and trotting exercise before being allowed back on the gallops and fingers crossed we can have a trouble free run as they are both very much horses to look forward to.  Of the horses out in the field they come in every other week to be weighed – we want them to put on weight but not too much, it is a careful balance to strike!

 

New Recruit

 

I know the horses are in good form at the moment and long may it continue but when owner Fergus Wilson sent me a picture of wife, Judith’s latest acquisition I am a bit worried how it might get on – pictured below!  Very handsome but might be a bit slow!!