Recent runners: Kavanaghs Corner & Headly's Bridge

                It was great to have a couple of runners recently.  It started on Saturday at Bangor with Kavanaghs Corner and Andrew Thornton back in the saddle.  We dropped Kavanaghs Corner back in trip to 2m3f, still over hurdles, and with 9 runners he was able to drop out in last to settle which he did much better and then ran on to finish 3^rd which was a good step in the right direction.  The ground was very heavy and it would be nice to try him on ground a bit better.  He was only beaten 3 ¾ lengths.

                Headly’s Bridge then ran on Sunday at Wincanton in the feature race of the afternoon, a class 3 handicap steeple chase over 2m4f.  The ground was Good to Soft, Soft in places changing to Good to Soft and it just wasn’t deep enough for Headly.  He finished 6^th and is best seen on softer ground, especially heavy ground (although he has still run some super races on good to soft ground before). Headly never got into a position to be competitive whilst traveling very easily at the end of the back straight on the last circuit, still being on the bridle but he was too far behind.  He wasn’t really got after up the home straight and by that time the race was gone – at Wincanton you really need to be close up turning in, a very frustrating day for ourselves and owner, Penelope Bridel.  I can’t tell you how frustrating this is when it happens, with all the hard work that goes into it plus the owners’ expenses.  Luckily I can only count times like this on one hand!  There had been good market support for Headly beforehand and he was the most tipped outsider in The Racing Post! And the ‘Spotlight Verdict’ and the ‘Longshot’ in The Racing Post.

                Both horses came back fine and have come out of their races well.  It was great to be able to run both of them without shoes.  Their legs were great in the morning after their runs and both were turned out onto the spring grass.  Lovely to have them out in the paddocks.

Season update

This past season has been somewhat of a nightmare for a lot of jump trainers.  The vets say this is due to the mild, damp weather which is a breeding ground for moulds and spores.  These moulds and spores then affect the airways of the horses, producing excess mucus which restricts the breathing capacity of the horses when under pressure.  This definitely affects racehorses more than any other horse as they are using lung capacity to the full.  It has been a tricky thing to diagnose here at the yard as blood tests have always been normal, nothing has coughed and the tracheal washes aren’t showing any sign of infection but there has been more mucus, with them generally not finishing their work as I would wish and not performing on the racecourse.  Hopefully we have found the source and put pay to this problem.
                One of our vets said that about 20% of racehorses this season have been affected throughout the winter across most yards with the same problem as us and that it has just kept grumbling all the time from Autumn onwards.  Our whole yard has been disinfected twice this season and we’ve taken out all the bedding each time.  We have now changed our bedding to the more expensive, but tried and tested, Bedmax shavings: www.bedmaxshavings.com . Back along all the horses had a mini break of just trotting to give them time to get over it and they are all now back in full work.  Headly’s Bridge ran at Newbury over a week ago in a Class 2 0-150 handicap chase where he came 5^th (in ground not to his liking) so things are looking up.  We have been able to turn them all out to get their heads down, get some fresh air and this has definitely helped.
                Earlier in the season we bought a Haygain HG2000 hay steamer as it is very hard to find consistently clean hay without moulds, spores and dust particles.  We had our hay tested after steaming and the results were really interesting.  The good news was that the hay came out as clean as a whistle so we know it isn’t the forage causing problems.  We like to feed all our horses ad lib hay and they consume around 7-10kg of hay a day.  It is important to us for them to have forage 24 hours of the day and whilst haylage is generally cleaner (less dust etc.) than hay, it can cause other problems if fed ad lib.  The Haygain steamer, whilst an expensive addition to the yard has been truly beneficial and to read all the benefits please visit their website: www.haygain.co.uk . The horses have certainly enjoyed the warm hay on chilly mornings and evenings!

 Our Haygain HB2000 hay steamer in action