- Saturday, 12 July 2014 06:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Today we have six metings all on the flat at Newmarket, Ascot, York, Chester, Salisbury and Hamilton. I know I keep mentioning prize money but Hamilton get away with £30,000 for their seven race card today. There is a good card at Newmarket. The ground looked soft yesterday and found out quite a few fancied horses. Sky Lantern was not given a hard race by Richard Hughes once he realised she was not handling the soft ground. Earlier in the day, Ryan Moore rode French jockey Maxine Guyon to sleep in the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge stakes. Talking of Ryan Moore, he has hit out at fixture congestion. We have all these good flat cards today and yet tomorrow there are no flat meetings but we have three jumps cards at Stratford, Southwell and Perth. I keep saying this as well but I don't thing the fixtures organisers have got a clue about the difference between flat and jumps racing! They also need a map of the UK! It all makes me think that if you are a jockey you should be able to ride onthe flat or over jumps! Richard Hughes flys from Newmarket to Salisbury to ride Mister Loso in the 6.55pm race so he must be expecting this one to win!
- Friday, 11 July 2014 06:41
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There is some cracking action taking place on these shores today with the second day of the July Cup from Newmarket being the obvious highlight. It is supported by cards from York, Ascot, Chester and Chepstow. There are Group One and Two races taking place at Headquarters this afternoon although the fields are threatening to be decimated following 27mm of overnight rain which has left the ground officially described as soft. It will certainly be testing for these flat horses and it is sure to throw up some strange results.
- Thursday, 10 July 2014 06:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
This afternoon there are five meetings taking place on the flat from Newmarket, Doncaster, Nottingham, Epsom and Bath. Bath most definitely win the award for worst prize money today with a paltry £27,000 up for grabs across their seven race card - I don't know how they get away with it, but if owners continue to run their horse, I guess the courses will continue trying to push their luck. It is the start of Newmarket's July Cup meeting today and there is some cracking good action from the headquarters of British flat racing and what is more, Channel 4 cover the first four races on the card.
- Wednesday, 09 July 2014 06:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Today we have five meetings taking place, four on the flat at Yarmouth, Catterick, Lingfield and Kempton as well as a jumps card from Worcester. There were plenty of non-runners at Pontefract yesterday after the ground had changed from good/firm in places to soft after just the second race - I am not sure how much rain they had, although it must have been quite a downpour to change to those extremes in such a short period of time. The weather (and therefore the ground) looks a lot more stable today, but as you know as soon as the going changes, so do the results.
- Tuesday, 08 July 2014 06:42
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
We were all extremely saddened to hear of the passing of the great Michael Scudamore Senior (pictured above right) at the age of 81 yesterday. When Peter Scu was riding for Martin I would often speak with Michael - he was a true gentleman and I am told that he was a top hard jockey. He won the Grand National aboard Oxo and the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Linwell. Our thoughts and sincerest best wishes are with the entire Scudamore family.
- Monday, 07 July 2014 06:46
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was a good day for the stable yesterday with all three of our runners performing creditably at Market Rasen, including fences debutant Ainsi Fideles (pictured above) who bolted up in the beginners' chase, scoring by an impressive 23 lengths. To my eye it looked as though he should little trouble following-up in this sphere. Although this was his first success in Britain, he had hinted at a good deal of ability several times over hurdles and the switch to fences clearly bought that talent to the fore. Meanwhile His Excellency ran well on his first attempt at 2m6f, finishing runner-up to The Nephew to whom he was trying to concede 15lbs. Weather Babe also finished runner-up in the conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle so all in all it was a productive day for the yard.
- Sunday, 06 July 2014 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Today there are just two meetings taking place - one on the flat at Ayr, while there is a National Hunt meeting at Market Rasen. The stable sends two runners to the jumps fixture; His Excellency who carries top weight in the 2m6f handicap chase and Weather Babe (picture above) who competes in the 2m5f handicap hurdle. Former amateur jockey turned conditional Michael Heard takes the ride aboard the latter and claims a handy 8lbs allowance from our mare's back. With 11-2 to carry I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her run a big race. Meanwhile His Excellency has the talent to run well and it will be interesting to see how he gets on over this longer trip.
