Gustav

                Earlier in the summer we had another new arrival to the yard in 4 yr old Gustav.  He was purchased for The Plum Merchants to replace the retired Red Not Blue.  He was bought from Timmy Hyde in Ireland who is a pin hooker who mostly buys expensive flat bred foals and sells them as yearlings.  He would also buy a few 3 yr olds to run in point to points as four year olds and then sell on.  No horse stays with him for more than a year and it is key to his business that he sells on horses that do well for their new owners and plenty have.

                Gus ran in one maiden point to point in May where he finished 3^rd (beaten 9 lengths) and looking at the video I thought he might have won if he had jumped better, but then his price would have been considerably more considering what a good looking horse he is.  His mother ran in France and won as a 4 yr old and is a half sister to top class jumpers in France with black type winning and placed form.  He is by Mahler who is having a good start with his early jumps progeny and Gus is a very good looking horse with enormous ears!

                Gustav lost a fair bit of weight coming over from Ireland back in the summer so we gave him a minimum of a month being turned out before we got going with him as he is a big horse and is only 4 years old.  We then had a few minor niggles with him when getting going but he is now cantering and the plan will be to run him end of January/February time if all goes to plan.

                Every horse I’ve had for The Plum Merchants has won and The Plums have been great supporters of the yard over the years.  They have been in the winners’ enclosure at Cheltenham (but in 2^nd place) and the aim is to rise to the No 1 spot and of course at The Festival. 

                We have taken our time so far with Gustav to do what is right for the horse and then hopefully we will see him repay us with good results when he runs.  Patience, let the horse come to himself and then he (hopefully) will repay you!

Gustav

New horse - Kavanaghs Corner arrives to the yard

                We were delighted to go to The Brightwells sales at Cheltenham racecourse in November to secure the purchase of Kavanaghs Corner (stable name Casey).  Casey is a cracking 5 yr old by Coroner and has been purchased for Bridget O’Flynn and Norman Cahill.  Bridget and Norman are past owners with the yard and owned the lovely Outside The Box with us a few years ago.  It is great to welcome them back as owners.

                Kavanaghs Corner came 2^nd in his latest point to point in Ireland on 8^th November and was beaten only a neck by the winner, Stiletto.  Incidentally Stiletto was also at the sales and was the top lot of the day going for a whopping £130,000 so we think Kavanaghs Corner was relatively good value!  Casey was flying after the last and in another few strides he would have won the race as Stiletto was tiring.  Sometimes the winner of these point to points isn’t necessarily the best horse in the race and we obviously hope this is the case here.  Casey jumped like a buck and put his head down and battled which showed he tries very hard.  Talent is a waste if that person or animal doesn’t try.  His battling spirit is something that really caught our eye.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmRPZw2-hyc

                Norman & Bridget gave us a very simple order….a future 3 mile chaser who goes in the soft and can go on to win the Gold Cup followed by The Grand National – no pressure then!  What we do know is that he should be a future 3 mile chaser and that he definitely likes it soft as is was soft to heavy when he ran in Ireland.

                He is taking his time to settle into his new environment and has now finished his quarantine and is in the main yard.  He is the type of horse that once he has done something once or twice he then trusts the situation and starts to settle.  Physically he is one of the strongest horses I have ever sat on which is fantastic.  He is a powerhouse in everything he does; even walking around the walker he shows great power.  We are hoping that he will run January/February time. 

                I have been looking for quite a long time for the right horse and have visited Ireland twice and seen over 25 horses but nothing really grabbed my eye and the one that did had a price tag of £100,000!  I gave Norman & Bridget a list of 10 horses at the sales that I liked from looking at their point to point videos and form.  Out of those 10, they actually picked out Kavanaghs Corner beforehand.  We took our friends, Tor & Roly Rickcord to the sales and Tor is a good judge of a horse as she produces young ponies, breeds a bit and has also competed eventing and she took herself off to have a look at a few horses.  Lot 49 caught her eye from a distance and she went over and had a good look at him without knowing that he was on our shortlist.  She came back and begged me to go and look at lot 49 (he was the last on my list to look at) and we loved what we saw.  Buffy, our vet, was at the sales and vetted a few for us and it has to be one of the first times that she has said there was nothing wrong with Casey and that we would want to get him so there was quite a bit of fate surrounding his purchase!  To be honest we never thought we would get him as there were so many trainers and buyers pulling him out.  He hardly ever stood in his box! 

Kavanaghs Corner was sold at Brightwells by Aidan Fitzgerald from his Cobajay Stables in Carlow, Ireland.  There was an excellent article on Aidan in the Irish Point to Point Weekly about how he takes his time with his youngsters and that patience and a good feeding regime works well for him.  He has sold some excellent youngsters to top trainers (Bordini who won his bumper and is in training with Willie Mullins, Thomas Edison – winner of the Galway hurdle this year, Glencove Marina, Roberto Goldback, Vic Venturi, Last Instalment, Hidden Cyclone etc) and his approach to his horses is something that stands Casey in even better stead.  Hopefully Casey will be lucky for everyone and especially his owners Bridget & Norman.  It is a pleasure to have him in the yard.

An update on Get Back To Me after his run at Wincanton

We were very pleased with Get Back To Me’s run at Wincanton last week.  He ran in the 0-115 NH Nov handicap hurdle over a longer trip of 2m6f and came 5^th under a ride by Paddy Brennan.  He hasn’t had his ground so far this season and he wants good or genuine good to soft ground.  This was his first run in a handicap and over the longer trip.  He stayed on very nicely after relaxing out the back and showing us there is more to come. 

We had Buffy Shirley-Beavan, our vet, at the yard prior to his race and she had a look at his larynx and it was confirmed that he needs to have a wind op so considering this, he ran really well.  We would have to think that the operation will improve him significantly and he was booked in sharpish to Langford at the University of Bristol under the care of Geoff Lane and was operated on successfully on Tuesday and was picked up yesterday.  He will not now be running until the spring on better ground.  I really think he is a very decent horse that when he is able to run to his full potential will be winning races.  His full brother is the 4yr old Champagne Present currently in training with Jonjo O’Neill that was bought for 210,000gns!

Headly's Bridge wins at Exeter over fences first time out this season

We were all absolutely thrilled with the impressive win by Headly’s Bridge on Sunday at Exeter.  Headly ran in the 0-130 handicap chase over 2m 1f carrying top weight of 11st 12 in heavy ground.  Exeter is one of the stiffest tracks in the country plus it being heavy ground it was sure to be a true test for him first time out.  When I used to ride at Exeter I loved dropping horses in and taking my time around there as the last mile is up hill to the winning post, so the less you can do for the first half of the race the better.  So we told Paddy Brennan to do exactly that.  Subsequently Headly arrived between the last two fences still on the bridle and full of energy. A good jump at the last sealed it and he won by 2 ¼ lengths.  Sometimes you beat horses you shouldn’t when you ride a track like that.

Headly looked plenty burly enough in the paddock before the race and I would hope that there would be plenty of improvement to come.  He has come out of his race fine and we hope to step up in grade and either go to Cheltenham in December or Ascot.

It is of course very pleasing for Penelope Bridel, his owner, who has been immensely loyal to the yard and had horses with us for a long time now.  She is a very supportive owner who lives locally to the yard so is able to visit Headly often.  She deserves to have such a nice horse. 

Thank you to everyone for all the messages of congratulations. The Racing Post said ‘Headly put up a useful effort under top weight, travelling well under a confident ride from Paddy Brennan and asserting quite readily when asked. He’s earned a crack at something a bit better now’.  Headly has been ultra consistent and is a pleasure to train (although when he first came you couldn’t get near him in the stable and he would pull hard cantering and hang right and when you got on him he was so uncomfortable he would nearly get you off) however with his problems fixed now, he has never stopped improving. He was such a fast & low jumper over hurdles that he used to always take the hair off his hind legs when he ran so I was very worried when Alice Mills first schooled him over fences but after a lot of grid work over parallels, the very first time I saw him jump a fence I knew we were in business.

In his last 9 runs he has been in the first four and he has now won 3 chases and come 3^rd in a Class 2 chase and if the ground had been heavy/soft that day at Ayr I think he would have won.  He started with an official rating over hurdles of 115 when he arrived and improved to a rating of 122 and over fences he started with a mark of 120 and has improved to a current mark of 130 which is only going to be raised next Tuesday!  His strike rate for us over hurdles is: 17 runs with 1 win and 9 places in the first 4 – 59% in the money.  Over fences his strike rate is 4 runs, 3 wins and one 3^rd – 100% in the money.  You couldn’t ask for any better.  I would be lying if there haven’t been issues with his training as there always are and he spent some time off the track from his arriving in late 2010 and his first run in Jan 2012 and I can only thank Penelope for her patience with her horse, absolutely key in the early days. 

It is of course great to have a winner especially after what has been a difficult year with losing two wonderful horses.  An update to follow shortly on the other horses in the yard.

Visit and article by Linda Chamberlain - 'Trainer with a difference..'

Back in September I welcomed Linda Chamberlain to the yard.  Linda writes a blog on barefoot horses and she wanted to visit so she could interview me for an article.  She also keeps her horses barefoot and has been a journalist for a number of years and is bringing out a novel very soon campaigning the work of Bracy Clark. 

I spent a lovely couple of hours with her showing her around, explaining my methods and taking her out to the paddocks to meet the horses.  To read her blog, please click on the following link: http://nakedhorse.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/trainer-with-a-difference/

Reporting the loss of Shanaderry Kin – a very sad time for all connected

                We are very sad to report that Shanaderry Kin (Derek) had to be put to sleep yesterday at just 5 yrs old.  We feel for our owner John Powell and the team at EPDS and everyone who knew him.  He was such a lovely, young horse with enormous potential. 

                Derek was recommended to us through a contact I have in Ireland after he had finished 2^nd in his point-to-point.  John and I travelled to Ireland to see him and were immediately impressed and John bought him.  He ran twice for us - after his last run over hurdles at Fontwell it was stated in The Racing Post that his run was ‘promising’.  Paddy Brennan who rode him that day said great things about him and said he reminded him of Tidal Bay!  He was such a kind and lovely horse and was so genuine with great presence for a young horse.  He was also an absolute gentleman and easy to do in every way.  I know that he would have done so very well for John and given him heaps of fun.  We were very much looking forward to his coming season.

                Derek had a wind op in the summer and whilst recovering somehow injured himself behind.  We do not know exactly how it happened but he was well and bright when I saw him that morning first thing to feed.  An hour later he was in a lot of agony with his bed all array.  My local vet, David Francis at Bellevue Veterinary Clinic and also Kevin Bishop from Summerhill were amazing that day.  It was suspected immediately that he had damaged himself behind and David worked with Kevin (who came from a call out in Birmingham) to see him rather than risk moving him to Langford.  It really was touch and go back then (2 months ago) and there were many sleepless nights spent up with him.  I would like to thank the vets in particular for the amazing care they gave him and relentless will to save his life.  Also thank you to my team here for caring for him and not giving up.  He did eventually turn a corner and as soon as he was fit and well enough he was travelled to Rossdales in Newmarket to see Marcus Head to understand the extent of his injuries.  Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done, his injuries were just too severe and he would never properly walk again.  It was heartbreaking to hear this as I never truly gave up hope of saving him.  Most importantly Derek was the bravest of horses through out.  He was such a fighter and when you looked at his head you wouldn’t have known there was anything wrong with him.  His eye was always bright.  Thank you too to John and Tracey at EPDS who forgo their pockets and whose ultimate aim was life (for any horse) even if he couldn’t make it as a racehorse.  It makes it an extremely sad outcome as they do anything to see a racehorse re-homed despite injury. 

                Below are some pictures of this beautiful horse and it breaks my heart to see them.  Rest in peace Derek.

Shanaderry Kin being ridden at home by Alice Mills

Shanaderry Kin enjoying coming back from his last race with Paddy Brennan

Red Not Blue retired

                It was a sad, as well as a happy day when we dropped off Red Not Blue to his new home.  We were sad to see him go but also happy to find such a good place for him with lovely people who really care for their horses.

                We are very proud of what he achieved considering he was on the verge of retirement when he came to us from his previous trainer unraced as a 6 yr old.  He ran in 36 races and was in the money 22 times and won 9 races.  He started with an official rating of 92 and improved 51 pounds to a rating high of 143.

                Whilst he was here, for over 5 years, he only had one set of shoes on for 4 weeks.  He always ran barefoot and never had an inkling of leg trouble and ran on all types of ground.  He ran in NH flat races, over hurdles and over fences and won in all disciplines barefoot.  After training Saucy Night as the first barefoot racehorse, Red Not Blue tops the bill as the most successful barefoot racehorse and gave his owners some fantastic days racing. 

I have always learnt something new from every horse I train and he certainly taught me a lot.  There is a lot of stress and strain on the horse’s body and mind to be a racehorse and we are constantly pushing them to the limit.  We did a lot of things individually for him to keep him going and trying to keep ahead of the game.  He didn’t have a lame day so it is great credit to everybody here and the team of practitioners that we have built up; in particular Anita Miles (physio) and of course Buffy Shirley-Beavan and her veterinary team who were always there if needed.  My view is that we did well with him but I will always think we could have done better and if we had him back again as a 6 yr old, from what I have learnt by him, I think we could have done even better.

                He is the most tough and genuine horse who is also the perfect gentleman.  You could leave a baby in his box with him and he would look after it – probably guard and lick it - which is how kind he is.  Our little girl, Mollie, often was in with him whilst Katie groomed and looked after him and he would check her out and leave her be.  He was also the first horse she sat on at 6 months old.  He is intelligent, cheeky with a great character and is a lot of fun to look after.  He never stopped loving his work making it a hard decision to retire him.  He was retired sound and happy.

                Red Not Blue has gone to Sarah and Michael Bell’s in Dorset where they all ride including their 3 daughters, Olivia, Rosanna and Sasha.  They have a fantastic place and it is certainly a five star home for him of which he greatly deserves.  Sarah keeps her horses barefoot and treats her horses very naturally which he will love.  We put him in a paddock there on his own when he arrived and one of the daughters Olivia went to get a companion for him and came back galloping bareback up the path with just a head collar on; it was wonderful to be able to see the great environment he is now in.  His companion, Tiger Lilly, fell in love with him immediately so he hasn’t lost any of his charm!  We hope to be seeing him from time to time as he is not too far away but for now we say thank you and good bye old friend.

On arrival at his new home:
from left to right - Sasha, Michael, RNB, Sarah, Rosanna & Olivia Bell

With his new chum, Tiger Lilly

Happy memories with connections, The Plum Merchants, on winning over fences at Worcester with AP McCoy on board

Enjoying a schooling session with Holly Brown riding

Licking his lips in anticipation of his Christmas stocking!

Enjoying life turned out in the paddocks

Giving Mollie her first taste of a ride at 6 months old!

With the boss, watching a schooling session