Headly's Bridge wins at Towcester

                Headly’s Bridge won at Towcester last Thursday by a nose – he was given a fantastic ride by Gerard Tumelty to get up on the line.  It was Gerard who persuaded us to run, as he was running off his old handicap mark and in future races would be carrying 6lbs more.

                He was running only 6 days after his good 2^nd at Wincanton.  I am not a huge fan of running horses so quick, especially over jumps, as it can be deceptive as to how well they are after their previous race.  But the thing I find most important is to look at the horse immediately after their race and Headly’s head was up, he was bright and alert and recovered really quickly.  In fact he had stopped blowing soon after getting back to the racecourse stables.  He also hadn’t had far to travel being only half an hour down the road.   You will see as happens every year horses will run well below form at Aintree after winning or running well at Cheltenham only a few weeks previously.  They appear well at home but this can be deceptive as it is the race that has given them a ‘buzz’.

                It is worth mentioning (as the racing press don’t seem to notice anymore!) that Headly ran without shoes again and I can’t tell you what a difference this makes.  We currently only have one horse in the yard with shoes and he will go barefoot when he has a break.  It was a great result for owner Penelope Bridel who has been a star owner and she deserves many more wins, which I think will come, as I believe this is the start of things to come with this horse!

Headly's Bridge - 2nd @ Wincanton

                Last week ended particularly well with Headly’s Bridge finishing 2^nd at Wincanton (at 40-1!), to show huge improvement.  We noticed when he last ran that something might have been bothering him and that he may not have been totally comfortable in himself, so we asked Buffy Shirley-Beaven to come in and she has sorted him out.  Whilst it is always a number of things that improves a horse, certainly what Buffy did helped enormously.  He, once again, ran without shoes and the jockey, Gerard Tumelty, said he felt so much better moving to the start and was more fluid in his action.

                The race wasn’t run to suit him and Gerard said if they had gone quicker early on he would have won.  They were all together round the home turn and Headly and the winner sprinted up the straight finishing 11 lengths clear of the rest.  We feel that he will improve more and that this is only the start of things to come. 

                It was such a good day as Headly’s owner, Mrs Penelope Bridel, was there with her daughters – Jo and Lizzie - and cousin David Bridel.  It was so satisfying at last to have a nice horse run a good race for her.  There is no one who deserves it more and she has been very patient with Headly.  I’ve said it before - if you are patient and do what’s best for the horse then eventually they will repay you!

 Headly's Bridge

Headly's Bridge

Outside The Box

                It was great to see Outside The Box run a good race again to finish 2^nd at Folkestone last Wednesday.  He is settling in his races much better and didn’t put a foot wrong over the hurdles.  This season has been all about teaching him to settle, to run without hanging or jumping to the right, all of which he used to do in the past.  We are aiming to get this right over hurdles this season before progressing to fences next year.  Whilst two 2^nd places aren’t like two 1^st places, having a horse run consistently is key.  We think he will be much better next season when he runs in 3-mile chases!

                I apologise for the lapse in the diary and we have lots to update you on and I hope to get more diary entries up in the coming weeks.