Our
season has drawn to a close early as we don’t have any horses that would
appreciate summer jumping so we
won’t be having any runners until the Autumn.
This season was always going to be tough as we lost four of our best
horses of which thankfully one, Money Maid, is going to return next
season. Sadly losing two wonderfully
gifted horses from injuries in one year was pretty gutting to say the least but
we have a lot of positives to take away as well as memories.
Our
horses this past season were mostly youngsters gaining experience for next
season and I have been pleased with their progress. Running through each horse:
Daliance: is with
his owners on rest and recuperation before shortly coming to the yard. He was bought last year by his owners, EPDS
Racing, as a long term project. He won
last time out over fences for his previous trainer (even with the hand-brake
on) and is rated 74 on the flat, 102 over hurdles and 107 over fences. At only 6 he has already run 27 times so this
break will do him no end of good. We are
very much looking forward to him coming to the yard and are hoping he can
improve.
Get Back To Me: was
3 weeks off a run and just wasn’t right behind after work one day. He was only 1/5ths lame but we called in
Buffy, our vet, and she diagnosed a stress fracture of his tibia so he is out
now until next season. This is very
frustrating as he was a winner waiting to happen. We will just have to wait now. Stress fractures always sound scary but if
they are dealt with properly then the prognosis is very good.
Get Back To Me (right) walking down the grass gallops with Gustav
Gustav: is a lovely, big horse who whilst is 5 on paper,
he isn’t 5 until June so is still only 4.
I felt he wasn’t going as well as I know he should at home and we
eventually found that he had a billowing soft pallet so he needs to have a wind
operation this summer. This was an
unusual case as he never made a noise at home.
It is best that this op is done now whilst he is young and we will have
a nice horse to look forward to next season.
Gustav looking powerful at the bottom of the grass gallops
Headly’s Bridge: is currently being let down slowly and
will be getting turned out shortly as the soft ground has now gone for
him. He has done very well for Mrs
Bridel winning nearly £40,000 in prize money.
The spring grass is looking fantastic and will do the horses no world of
good – we call it Dr Green! Headly won a £15,000 chase first time out under top
weight at Exeter which was fantastic. We then stepped him up in class to class
2 & class 1 races. At Chepstow he
wasn’t quite right and at Newbury in the Greatwood Gold Cup he just didn’t get
his ground, he ideally needs heavy ground.
After winning at Exeter he went up to a handicap rating of 135 and has
now dropped to 130 so is back on a decent mark for next season. I am sure he is good enough to win a big
handicap when the conditions are right for him.
Headly's Bridge (above & below) on his way to winning first time out at Exeter under top weight with Paddy Brennan on board
Kavanaghs Corner:
was in the process of running on and finishing 4th at Newton
Abbot over a trip too short and then something stopped him. We have since found that he needs to have a wind
operation this summer. This is in some
ways good as we know that it can be sorted and we should have a very well
handicapped horse for next season. He is
a lovely looking horse who is a future 3 mile chaser in soft ground, and I
expect him to do very well over hurdles beforehand.
Kavanagh's Corner (above) in the pre-parade ring at Kempton
Kavanagh's Corner at Newton Abbot with Andrew Thornton on board
Money Maid: has been the perfect of patients as she
recovers from a tendon injury. She has
been on the walker up to 2hrs a day and is now turned out for the best of the
spring grass. She is another well
handicapped horse that we will look forward to running next season.
The beautiful Money Maid above
Water Rail: I am
happy with him. We probably should have
given him more time between his runs as he got a little light but I wanted to
get 3 runs into him before the ground dried out to try and get him
handicapped. The ground has now well and
truly dried out as I can’t see any rain and the temperatures seem to be
rising! The handicapper hasn’t given him
a mark so he is being let down and will be turned out on the Spring grass. It was clear that he wants a lot further than
the 2 miles he has been racing over and to be honest I thought he would be
pulled up with a circuit to go but he kept going (with his ears pricked all the
way!). We would expect to see plenty of
improvement next year. He is also a chaser
in the making and is for sale to stay within the yard.
Water Rail in the paddock at Newton Abbot
Zakatal: went back home to Yorkshire after his last run at
Wincanton where he ran very well to finish 3rd when the trip was too
short for him. He is a soft ground horse
and we were unlikely to get that. Zak
gets the best of everything with great treatments & grub from his caring
owners Gill & David Furman when at home so I am sure he is enjoying his
time off. Some stunning photographs below of him at Wincanton.
Zakatal on his way to the start at Wincanton with Alice Mills on board (and below)
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