Blog Seventy
Good Monday Evening
To belatedly start the week off on this Monday night; “You can’t make the right decisions all the time, but you can learn from the wrong decisions every time..”
Proud as Punch
It was a great start to the week for the Cunha family. Our son Ayrton won two races at his schools sports day, he gave his all and if racehorses had Ayrton’s heart & commitment our job training horses would be a piece of cake.
Aryton did the family proud and I was more than hopeful we’d follow Aryton’s example and have a double on the racecourse. I fully expected both our runners on Thursday evening to go close. Gold Medal was first up at Newbury with Kyle Strydom riding. Kyle has been working hard in the gym and he was so nearly rewarded for his efforts earlier on the Newbury card when he was second on 20/1 shot Al Hujaija trained by his Boss Roger Varian. Gold Medal was squeezed up coming out of the stalls and with the morning favourite Secret Moment a non runner there was no pace on the far side and Gold Medal ended up away from the main action which was down the stands side. He was travelling well enough 2 out and I expected him to pick up and be competitive but he faded tamely away and was a well beaten 6th of 7 at at the line 7 lengths behind the winner. We didn’t learn much from the run - his first for us on turf. He’s still off a winnable mark and will win more races for Quest. It’s too early to come to any conclusions regarding his ability on turf. I learnt many moons ago when with Robert Armstrong not to ‘pigeon hole’ horses preferances on the back of one poor run.
Not long after Gold Medal had failed to put his best foot forward Confederation ran at Kempton. He’d not run since Mid May but was fit enough and ready to do himself justice for Catch Us If You Can Racing. The writing was soon on the wall as he was bumped shortly after the stalls opened which lit him up and he failed to settle .He was never in contention and finished 9th of the 12 runners beaten over 5 lengths. I’m sure he will have his day when things go right for him.
So Thursday wasn’t the best day at the office but that’s racing. If you have a 20%winning strike rate you are absolutely flying but that does mean you are losing 80% of the time! I like to think I take the rough with the smooth equally well and always make the most of the good days, it is essential in this game to stay level headed.
We are officially still running at a healthy 22% win strike rate for the year, which is impressive with a handful of horses running. We are literally squeezing the lemon dry so to speak. I am proud of the team and the effort they are putting into our horses. We are playing in the premier league on a super limited budget!
On Wednesday run Battleofbaltimore @ Lingfield over 6f. It’s a Band D Restricted Novice on the turf course. He is showing a lot of pace in his work since he made his debut at Brighton.
On Thursday we have Faro de San Juan entered at Epsom over 6. Faro is versatile when it comes to which courses to run him on - he’s ran cracking races on a straight course such as Doncaster and handled the tight turns of Chester well so Epsom will hold no fears for him. (Faro’s also in at Ascot on Friday and I’ll have a chat with John & Jordan to decide which race we go for). Faro could well win a big pot for Quest if he puts it all in but consistency is not his strong point. Jordan is not scared about putting him in at the deep end. Earlier on the Thursday afternoon, we may run Makuri in the Fillies Maiden over 6f at Newmarket - the first day of the July festival Meeting. There’s a fillies maiden over 7f on the Saturday again at Newmarket as an alternative, we’ll have a look & go for the easier option.
Silver Sword also has two options at HQ. He’s in the bet 365 Heritage Handicap over 10 furlongs on the Friday. I’m also seriously considering the mile handicap for 3yo’s the following day. Silver’s jockey Greg Cheyne and I will make a final decision shortly. It’s a great “problem’ to have, he’ll go well wherever we put him. We have entered him in both races as insurance - not that we’d avoid taking on anything but if there was a lot of rain about we’d run him on the best ground. Silver has improved again since winning at Ponte; he’s thriving with his racing and has pleased me with his work recently. Whichever race we choose, the field will be deep but I’ll be disappointed if we’re not shouting him home. If he runs as well as I expect then I’m resigned to the fact this could well be his last run for us. Id love to keep him as I think he will develop into a Group horse next year. He’s a horse I’ll never forget as there were times when I wondered if I would ever get him to the racecourse let alone fulfill his undoubted potential. I have no desire whatsoever to be seen as a trainer who sells his best horses and I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep him in our yard as I know he’ll be even better as a 4yo and he’ll take us to all the big meetings here in the UK or abroad if we so wish. It’s a sad state of affairs that when you’re winning decent races, the owners aren’t calling to send horses, but the phone doesn’t stop with people trying to buy them. That’s a serious worry going forward for British racing, but only prize money can fix that!!!!
I had a couple of days in Dublin this week with Taryn and our boys recharging my batteries. We all thoroughly enjoyed Ireland. I spent several hours going through this weeks Sales catalogue and if you fancy joining us then get in touch as I’ve earmarked several potential types having successfully spotted a diamond or two amongst the stones. Our sales team Luiz Cunha @pedigree_to_win and Jordan Hopkins Bloodstock will be there finding the value, so get in touch.
We are still growing the yard and actively looking for a sponsor for the yard to team up with us into the future as well as new owners to keep supporting us and grow the yard into the future. Make contact with me and join our ambitious and exciting team on the up.
To close tonight’s blog with a thought; “Bad Chapters can still create great stories. Wrong paths can still lead to right places. Failed dreams can still create successful people. Sometimes it takes losing yourself to find yourself!”
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