I
will start the update with Saturday’s runners at Wincanton and Zakatal. We ran Zak at Huntingdon 9 days earlier where
he finished 5th which was an improvement on his previous run at
Exeter back in November. It was clear at
Huntingdon that he was struggling with his breathing late on in the race due to
his awkward head carriage. He was fresh
as paint after the race so something was stopping him. So it was decided that we would run him at
Wincanton on Saturday with a tongue strap on but over a trip that was too short
for him (2m 6f) as it was the only race close to home and we thought it was
worth a try. The handicapper had also
dropped him 5lbs for his Huntingdon run.
He was ridden very well by Alice Mills and he ran on late to finish 3rd
of 17. A few people backed him each way
and gladly they were rewarded. Zak was
so pleased with himself afterwards and let’s hope that this good run gives him
some confidence. It was especially good
as both his owners, David Furman & John Sugarman had managed to make the
long journey from Yorkshire. I hope the
better run from Zak meant that the journey back home was a little more
pleasant!
As well as Zakatal running at Wincanton on Saturday we also ran our own homebred, Water Rail, in a novice hurdle over 2m. He has never been anywhere other than here at home in his life so he coped with the entire preliminaries very well. He ran very green in the race and for the first few hurdles he was looking at the crowd by the obstacles. He too was given a lovely introduction to racing by Alice Mills who wasn’t hard on him. He ran on nicely from the back and The Racing Post said “Water Rail got well behind at one stage, and had plenty on after three out, but was noted keeping on from two out”. Alice mentioned that the more he did the more the penny dropped which is an excellent sign. This 6 yr old is for sale to stay in the yard and we have given him plenty of time as he is a big, scopey horse. He should do nothing but improve and if you are interested in learning more then do please contact me.
As well as Zakatal running at Wincanton on Saturday we also ran our own homebred, Water Rail, in a novice hurdle over 2m. He has never been anywhere other than here at home in his life so he coped with the entire preliminaries very well. He ran very green in the race and for the first few hurdles he was looking at the crowd by the obstacles. He too was given a lovely introduction to racing by Alice Mills who wasn’t hard on him. He ran on nicely from the back and The Racing Post said “Water Rail got well behind at one stage, and had plenty on after three out, but was noted keeping on from two out”. Alice mentioned that the more he did the more the penny dropped which is an excellent sign. This 6 yr old is for sale to stay in the yard and we have given him plenty of time as he is a big, scopey horse. He should do nothing but improve and if you are interested in learning more then do please contact me.
It is fantastic having runners
locally at Wincanton (where as a child with The Pony Club of the South &
West Wilts I used to camp for a week) which is only half an hour away from the
yard. Wincanton is a great West Country
course with a very knowledgeable crowd that always has competitive racing. We were fortunate to have friends and family
join us for the day. It was also great
to meet up with some owners that I used to ride for many years ago called James
& Olivia Scott. They used to own a
good horse called Judges Fancy that ran in the top staying hurdles. James & Olivia were taking their
grand-daughter racing for the first time; let’s hope she enjoyed it and becomes
involved in this wonderful sport in years to come. She certainly had a good intro from her
grandparents.