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 2nd 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!
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