Blog Seventy-four
Good Monday Morning
To start todays blog; “If you are more fortunate than others, build a longer table, not a longer fence!”
My personal feeling is that we are a little out of form as are many Newmarket yards. We don’t have the numbers to keep it all going all season, and hopefully we get more support at the yearling sales coming up, but having spoken to my vets, it’s common knowledge that a lot of Newmarket yards are struggling with a bug this year, which seems hard to get rid of. Nonetheless, we are putting in overtime and every effort to get things back on track. With that in mind, into this weeks blog….
Decisions, Decisions
The whole yard ’s main topic of conversation was the weather. Watching the latest forecasts and trying to find a weather app with favourable forecast for Goodwood. We didn’t find one and the ground on the Wednesday was officially soft. Luiz and I travelled down to Goodwood on the Wednesday to see for ourselves and we decided to take the decision to run Silver Sword on the Thursday after speaking with Gavin Howes his work rider at home and Greg Cheyne his jockey and his new owners Martians Racing. Underfoot conditions were far from ideal but I felt we had to get him on the track sooner rather than later. Even in the deep field that opposed him I”d have been very confident on fast ground; the conditions he faced dampened that confidence and I wasn’t sure what to expect. As Greg said “we don’t know that he doesn’t go on it” so we rolled the dice. It was wonderful to see Greg in Secretariat’s silks on Silver Sword. You may well ask why didn’t we know if he’d go on the soft ground before we ran him; we just don’t get to work horses on soft ground here at HQ as the gallops are closed for obvious reasons in such conditions. My main doubts were the ground would blunt his speed and his action is of a fast ground horse against that his pedigree suggested he may act on it though to be fair his pedigree favours faster ground. As with everything in life such decisions are easy with the benefit of hindsight but we’d given a lot of thought to this decision ( as with every runner we have) and I felt before the race whatever the outcome, we’d taken the best route for Silver.
Silver left the yard at 0430 on Thursday and was as good as gold in the box. At Goodwood itself he behaved impeccably saving all his energy for the race. So far so good and the adrenaline was certainly pumping in Silver’s trainer! Silver travelled beautifully in the race after taking a keen hold early on. Silver finished in 7th - No harm done and we’ve learnt he doesn’t go on soft going at the moment over the distance. I say ‘at the moment’ as he could well cope with a bit of give later in his career as he strengthens up and over a mile. He was travelling as well as anything bar the winner until 2 out. As I say he’s got loads of speed and we can look at good races over 8 and 10f with him on better ground. Sure we were beat over 12 lengths but we’ve lost no faith in this horse at all. There’s a nagging doubt at the back my mind over the form of the yard but then I counter that thought with the knowledge that the bloods & scopes are spot on. Silver will go to York now; I’ve a few races in mind and will make the decision nearer the time on which race to target after talking with Gavin and Greg and Martians Racing.
Confederation ran at Bath on Friday night & ran what I consider to be his career personal best. What A Shout! If you’ve not seen the race then have a watch of it- he looked all over the winner until the line.( I’m told he traded just over even money on the exchanges ) You can hear on the TV the urgings of his enthuiastic owners ( Andrew with his Catch Us If You Can syndicate )trying to lift him home. We’ve options at Beverley and back at Bath in mind for him. Kieran O’Neill gave him a forceful ride from the gate and we’ll be looking for races where he’ll be able to follow the same tactics . He’ll win one soon as long as we pick the right race.
Faro de San Juan ran at Haydock yesterday in the Sky Bet series. Not for the first time he disappointed us. He had his ground and had a lead yet failed to pick up. He backed up today and ran the same sort of race. He earned decent prize money for the two runs and will be stepping up in distance with a much needed rating drop next month, so follow him.
Military Micki will go to Pontefract on Wednesday for the 6f maiden. There’s some decent maidens in the entries, but he is ready for another race and is the type to improve with experience.
I’m expecting a big run from Mr Fayez at Brighton on Friday. He’s a few pounds to find on form but he’s ran some cracking races at Brighton and knows how to win now. I wouldn’t put you off having a ‘Few Bob ‘ on him. Fayez is a great barometer for the form of our yard - the rare occasions he’s ran below expectations then I know there’s probably something amiss with the yard.
I’ll end on a positive note , Firstly as an Arsenal fan I was delighted see The Gunners beat City ( fair enough City dominated and we won on penalties but who cares? ), and secondly Silver has come out of his race well and I can’t wait to get him on some decent summer ground . The Dream lives on - keep him in your tracker for sure. He’s a ‘proper horse ‘ and will show it given the chance.
We have Catch Us If You Can Racing 1 year breakfast rolls and Prosecco on the gallops morning on the 19th. Be sure to attend. The same syndicate also still has a few shares left in Wannabeawallaby. Get in touch with Andrew.
We have had a lot of rain and a cold summer but with a bit of sun on the horses backs again, look for our yard to get back into form and follow our runners coming up over the next month or two.
To close todays blog; “I am thankful for my struggle, because without it, I wouldn’t have found my strength.”
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