Following up from the Open Day we would like to say a big thank you for everybody who came along. It was really good to see so many of you there and hopefully you did not all get to wet! The horses were really well behaved and we personally think they all looked really well, we hope you agree! We hope to post some Open Day photographs onto the website as soon as we can.
We have a quiet week race wise coming up with just Satin Princess having any entry at Kempton on Saturday although I think she will struggle to get into the race, apart from that a normal week, whatever normal is!
Satin Princess made the long trip down to Folkestone and as soon as she got there the heavens opened and we unfortunately had to pull her out. We know she does not handle soft ground so it was not worth wasting a run. She now makes another trip down the M25 Car Park to Brighton on Friday. At the moment it is good ground down there and with the sun out we are hoping it will quicken up a bit.
Southandwest goes to Wolverhampton on Saturday evening. He is in good form and is dropped down in class so we are hopeful of a good run.
Thank goodness the sun has come out this week. It looked like Autumn had come early last week and we thought we were in real trouble as far as the Open Day was concerned but it has cheered up this week and if it can last until Sunday evening that would be fantastic. The Marquee went up yesterday and looks very smart out in the paddock. The horses will all be having a practice fly by this just so they will be used to it on Sunday and there are no disasters. The staff have been working very hard making sure everything is as it should be. The horses have been having manes pulled and tails trimmed and having extra special grooming. So far so good and all on course for Sunday.
Today Colonel Alf came back. He is a lovely horse by Alflora who is owned by David Stoddart. We had him in at the back end of last season but we ran out of time and ground. He looks really well for his summer break and will be aimed at the Autumn bumpers.
Another new arrival today is an un-named gelding owned by Tony and Dee Lousada by Grape Tree Road out of their mare The Lady Scores who did very well for them when she was on the racetrack. It is always exciting to have new horses in and we are looking forward to seeing how this gelding progresses and if he is our next super star.
Look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.
We received two new recruits this week, both from Andrew Cohen who is a great Owner and owns Superior Wisdom and Sound Accord. Wee Ginge has had one run over hurdles and Jelyvator has had one run on the flat. We are going to give them a months work and see how they are coming along.
We thought the evening meetings were nearly over but tonight we head down to Salisbury, in the last again, with Blinka Me. There has been quite a lot of rain down there so hopefully that should suit him better than last time. He has also taken a lot of work so we think he should run quite nicely. Hayley Turner rides so you can guarantee she will give 100%.
On Sunday Satin Princess goes to Folkestone. It is still good to firm down there and they are predicting temperatures in the mid 70's today so hopefully the going will remain the same for Sunday.
Only two weeks to go until the Open Day. All at the moment going according to plan. Still doing a Sun Dance!
Southandwest ran at Doncaster on Saturday. We were hopeful of a good run but the race did not pan out the way we wanted it to and disappointingly he finished down the field.
Yesterday was Philippa's first birthday. It is incredible that it is a year ago that she made her first appearance in this world. We can't imagine life without her now. She was a very lucky little girl and received some lovely presents. One in particular was a ball pit. This entails a pit full of balls as it may sound. The main aim it seems is to take all of the balls out of the pit and throw them around the room. Complete havoc! The Whippets have not yet found the ball pit as I fear they may enjoy it as much as Philippa.
We received another new recruit yesterday, Darn Hot! We have met her before when Roseneath just beat her at Huntingdon. She belongs to the No illusions Partnership and she looks like a very progressive mare so something to look forward to. There is 50% of her available for lease for the coming season, so if anybody is interested please contact us. If you look at her form you will see how consistant she is.
We are quite quiet this week but Blinka me does have entries at the end of the week.
Its an early start tomorrow morning as we are taking a couple galloping to Wolverhampton Racecourse. It is well worth taking the time to do these gallops and it is something we intend to more of as the season progresses.
We took Nautical up to the sales on Tuesday. The market was not great and he did not make very much so we ended up bringing him home. Not a good price for the Owners but we felt that we could not let him go for peanuts so we bought him back ourselves. He is one of those horses that has always been knocking at the door and never quite got there and we were loathed to see him go and win for somebody else. Lets hope we are proved correct.
Alex as not going to go back up yesterday but decide to as the market was not brilliant. He ended up buying Superior Wisdom's half sister. If she turns out to be as good as her brother then it won't be to bad.
Tomorrow we run The Lollygagger at Worcester. It is his first run run for us so it will be interesting to see how he goes.
We took Nautical up to the sales on Tuesday. The market was not great and he did not make very much so we ended up bringing him home. Not a good price for the Owners but we felt that we could not let him go for peanuts so we bought him back ourselves. He is one of those horses that has always been knocking at the door and never quite got there and we were loathed to see him go and win for somebody else. Lets hope we are proved correct.
Alex as not going to go back up yesterday but decide to as the market was not brilliant. He ended up buying Superior Wisdom's half sister. If she turns out to be as good as her brother then it won't be to bad.
Tomorrow we run The Lollygagger at Worcester. It is his first run run for us so it will be interesting to see how he goes.
If you looked at the results of Blinka Me's race you would think we may be slightly disappointed but it was his first race for us and we learn't a huge amount from the run. He is a horse that takes a huge amount of work and he was just a bit short on Wednesday. He will come on for the race and we will also be giving him some racecourse gallops, the first of which he has done today along with the Lollygagger and Bold Warning. They all worked well and we are going to make racecourse gallops a regular event this season.
Satin Princess ran down at Bath on Friday night. A real late one which was held up even more by a loose horse. She ran her heart out as usual to finish 5th and is improving with every race. A lot of it seems to be a confidence thing and once she starts to settle at the beginning of the race I am sure she will be in the winners enclosure.
A quiet weekend. Yesterday family Hales went down to see family Vigors at Hillwood Stud in Aldbourne. Harry Vigors was born two weeks after Philippa. We have not seen them since before Christmas and it is amazing how much babies can change in 6 months. Harry is definitely winning on the hair stakes. He has got lovely blond hair which is on it's 4th cut, Philippa has not even had one trim yet. They had a great afternoon playing and both were exhausted by the end of the afternoon. It was really good to see Charlie and Tracey again, they have a fantastic stud and have done really well since they started about 5 years ago. They have mares to foal down, pre- training and horses at rest for trainers and have about 100 horses on the place at the moment. We think training is hard sometimes but when mares are foaling down in the middle of the night in January then I think we have got the softer option.
Nautical is off to Doncaster Sales tomorrow, we are really keen to keep him so we will have to see what the market is like. Apart from that a fairly quiet week with The Lollygagger having an entry at Worcester on Friday and Southandwest at Lingfield on Saturday.
We were really pleased with Weliketobouggie on Monday evening at Windsor. He had bottom weight and as he is quite a big horse he must have felt that he had a feather on his back with his jockey only carrying 7st 12lb. He finished 4th at 33-1 and afterwards the jockey said he definitely needed softer ground, needs a trip and will win a race. That's what we like to hear! It's really good news for the Owners who as I said before also own Southandwest. By the way if anybody is interested they have a few shares left in Southandwest going at a bargain price so give the office a call if you are interested.
Although Monday finished quite well it did not have the best start. The Patient Man who finished 2nd in a bumper at Towcester behind a horse who went on and ran very well in a Championship bumper broke his leg and had to be put down. It was really, really sad for everybody concerned. It definitely sends the whole place into depression especially when it is young horse with lots of potential and his whole career ahead of him!
On a cheerier note Blinka Me has his first run for us tonight in the last at Sandown. Evening meetings seem to be a regular occurance at the moment with Satin Princess also declared for Bath on Friday evening, in the last again! It will be really interesting to see how Blinka Me runs tonight. He is a stunning looking horse and we would be very hopeful he will be there or thereabouts. Fingers crossed.
The Lollygagger and Bold Warning have had their first sight of a racecourse today as they went galloping to Wolverhampton. Obviously not the surface they will be running on in the future but it is a superb experience for them. The both went well and will more than likely go again next week.
Philippa is not here today so I am taking the opportunity of a few quiet hours to draft the August Newsletter. It's something that takes a bit of concentration which is more than a little difficult when she goes from pulling the cables out of the lap top to emptying the contents of the litter bin all over the floor. She can now stand on her own but has not taken that first solo step yet although she is very good behind her walker. We have now come to the conclusion that nappies were not only invented for the obvious reason but also act as a cushion when she goes from standing to sitting in half a second flat.
Southandwest ran at Newmarket on Friday evening and though jumped out of the stalls really well he got a nasty bump and got shuffled back to mid division. It was quite disappointing as it was his first run for us and we hoped he would run well but got completely put off of his stride.
Weliketobouggie runs at Windsor tonight. He has got bottom weight so fingers crossed he runs a nice race.
Satin Princess ran yesterday at Bath and finished in the winners enclosure for the 1st time although in 4th place. It was her best run to date and we were really pleased with her. She always trys her hardest and we were chuffed for John and Nina Foxon who were getting to the point as to whether they should carry on with her or not. Sometimes she does not look like she finishes her races so we may just check her wind out to make sure there are no problems in that direction.
Tonight Southandwest runs at Newmarket in the 7.40pm. It is his first run for us and we are hoping a new yard may just freshen him up. He has all of the ability and is quite capable of winning so we will see what tonight brings. If not he can always stay and watch Razor Light perform!
Quiet weekend ahead. We have the annunal Gumbrills lunch on Sunday which is alway good fun. They are a great syndicate and know how to have a good time and it's a good way of getting everybody together and looking forward to the season ahead.