Blog Eight - Monday 25/04/2022
This is the day we become respectable, but first we must do the dirty work - Thomas Shelby, Peaky Blinders... Well, we’ve done the dirty work over the past year and we are hoping this is the week we become respectable in British Racing, it’s been a long tough slog but here we are in the spring and finally ready.
We anticipate to have our first runner, all being well, at Chelmsford on Thursday. He is doing really well and shown good enough work and has done as much as you can do without having a actual race, considering he has been off for 260 days since we bought him. We expect a good run but he is short tempered, impatient and quite a handful, so his behaviour in the preliminaries will need to be watched closely and we will have our small great team there to try and keep him well behaved. Let’s hope for a good run!
It’s sales and Guineas week in Newmarket so the town is buzzing and the weather has been great. Every morning is a blessing up on Warren Hill and there is no better way to start your day. Join us for a visit if you’re free and even better, purchase a share and come and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful Newmarket gallops and see your horse being put through its paces. We will be at the sales all week as usual, looking for value! As per my last blog, in the 2000 Guineas, I’m a huge Native Trail fan and really want him to win and go on to be the next champion, I love him. The 1000 Guineas is really open and there are lots of whispers around as usual in the build up to the big race, and with fillies, it’s always tough. I’ll be looking for value here at a big price with Inspiral out.
Considering everyone is talking Cheltenham and 5 days, I’ll give my 2p.. there is so much wrong in racing that can be fixed right now and needs focusing on, why waste time and energy on the one thing that isn’t broken, Cheltenham? It’s the greatest festival in racing, most popular with the public, owners, jockeys and trainers, don’t change a thing, it’s working! There are loads of other problems, like the small fields which will result in lower turn overs and less interest from fans, especially punters that need more attention. It’s actually quite an easy problem to fix, but takes a bit of taking control and doing…in my airline days, we had a saying when sitting in the cruise and everything was going well and you had time to sit and look out the window “fiddle fiddle F@&k.. anyway, that’s enough from me, and maybe 10p worth…
The “white trainers or as we say in South Africa “tekkies” at Sandown saga, is another own goal for racing and Matt Chapmans entry into the studio on Sunday morning was classic. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you can find it on social media.
South African horseman are scattered all over the world and it’s been nice to see ex South African Champion Jockey Lyle Hewitson riding winners in Hong Kong. He seems to have really found his way there now and had a classy double on Sunday. Lyle Hewitson, Luke Ferraris, Dougie Whyte and Tony Millard are in Hong Kong. Let’s not forget what Basil Marcus did in Hong Kong. Mike de Kock’s son Mathew is making headlines down under in Australia along with Dean and Gary Alexander, as well as the legend David Payne has been winning Gr1’s in Aus for many years now in the training ranks and then riding there, you have Chad Schofield, Glyn Schofield (who rode me a Gr1 winner), Keagan Latham, Brandon Lerena, Barend Voster, Callum Murray, Karl Zechner and I’m sure many more applications in for AUS. In Dubai Ernest Oertel has just won his third Trainers Championship and in Singapore Ricardo Le Grange is doing really well and a Gr1 winning trainer. There are loads more but we come from a international standard in South Africa and all we need is a chance in our new countries or homes. It’s not easy being a ex-pat and it’s been a huge challenge setting up here in the UK, and we of course need support to keep it going like any other yard or business.
My closing quote today comes from the man I’m named after, Bob Dylan; “and if you don’t underestimate me, I won’t underestimate you!”
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