Blog Seventy Nine
Good Monday Morning
To start the week a thought as always; “FEAR has two meanings; Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours….”
I have to start this week congratulating and admiring Adian O’ Brien who trained his 4000th winner yesterday in a Group 1 as well. While he does have to stock, this is still a phenomenal achievement. He has to be the greatest trainer of all time. Unbelievable. Besides being a great trainer, he is also a great ambassador for the sport, always giving people his time and his interviews are always well looked forward to watching. Well done Team Ballydoyle.
Down to earth
I arrived back from Ireland on Sunday & had a look at a few yearlings that @pedigree_to_win had picked out for the sale on Tuesday.
Monday morning was a glorious sunrise over Warren Hill but, my mood swiftly changed as Freddy was unshipped by Thelastwinterarrow ( who is normally as quiet as a lamb ) & ended up flat on his back on the Moulton Road. The Heath Medics were in attendance within minutes & an ambulance was called & Freddy was taken to hospital to be checked over.. Thankfully it was nothing more than bruising & battered pride for Freddy. As for the filly thanks to James Fanshawe’s staff she was walked back to our yard unscathed. It just shows though the dangers of the job, from full control of your mount to on the deck in a split second. The afternoon was spent at Tattersalls with @pedigree_to_win looking at Luiz’s short list for the sale.
There was some lovely types there & if we’d had deeper pockets I could have taken home several sure fire winners for sure. As it was….
Tuesday was another glorious late summers day @ HQ. It was a long but rewarding day that started well before sunrise & ended well after sunset. I watched my string doing routine canters up Warren Hill. They look in rude health; especially Silver Sword who has come out of this race so well. I am delighted the way he is taking his races & getting stronger. He could well even be ready for a race like the Cambridgeshire which takes a battle hardened older handicapper to be competitive or a budding 3yo Group performer…. Very much a weather watch with Silver Sword as to where he runs next.
After 3rd lot @pedigree_to_win and I went to Tattersalls in the hope of buying a handful of yearlings to continue to strengthen our quality & build the yard up with Jordan Hopkins Bloodstock, John Nel from Quest and Andrew O’Fonnor from Catch Us all in tow. Several more of our owners were in attendance who were also looking to purchase yearlings.
I bought a Cable Bay filly for a thousand Guineas early doors. I just couldn’t say no. Sure she’s small but so was her close relation Belle Anglaise as a yearling & she ended up with Black type on her page. She’s a first foal & a late one at that so is entitled to be on the small side & we’ve hardly had a summer for yearling fillies to thrive - No, this girl will be fine given time. She’s a long term project so I’ll be keeping her for myself as I like my owners to see their horses run. When she’s won a couple of races I’ll either sell half a share or keep her to breed from.
Next @pedigree_to_win had the final say on a Lightning Spear chesnut filly out of a useful winning mare. She uses herself well in her walk & we were delighted to get her for 9,000 Gns. Jordan will be syndicating her for Quest.
We liked all of the Norris Bloodstock consignment & were delighted to sign for their chesnut Dandy Man colt for 23,000 Guineas. This lad will be our Brockelsby horse given a clear run at it. Have a look at the Quest website & U’ll see what I mean. Sure he’s up behind but he’ll have levelled off by Donny. If you are lucky there might be a small share or two left ( that’s thanks to Jordan’s efficiency - no sooner have we bought a horse then Jordan has the horse fully syndicated within days- mind you, this colt is an easy sell !) - if there is a share still out there tell the other half & it’s Christmas sorted! If he’s sold out by the time you read this then get in touch with Jordan or Andrew & they’ll keep you in mind as they syndicates grow through this busy Sales season. So as you see, it was a successful sale for us. Though of course there were several we’d have loved to take home if we’d had deeper pockets. For example the Culworth Grounds exceptional consignment had a Havana Grey filly that has Royal Ascot written all over her. Amo bought her for 140,000 Guineas- send her our way and u’ll see what we can do.
Looking ahead, several of our syndicate owners approached @pedigree_to_win with the intention of grouping together & buying at a higher level price wise. We are very aware of value for money but if we had more money in the purse, our results on the track would be even better. @pedigree_to_win, John & I have succeeded in South Africa & will make it here Big Time if we’re given the chance.
On Wednesday we had Clipsham Gold running at Southwell over the mile. Kyle settled her beautifully - he’s such good hands & she ran a decent race in 6th. More pace would have suited her better. Still a good first run for us & we’ll look at a race at Kempton over the mile on the 18th. Other options for Clipsham include stepping her up - there’s a race at Lingfield we’ll look at on the 26th. You may have noticed Kyle had his first ride in a Group Race on Saturday- the September Stakes won by Sir Michael Stoute’s well made high class performer Bay Bridge. Kyle saved every inch of ground and ran on in 4th on Belloccio trained by David Menuisier. He’s not phased by the big occasion this lad - it’s in his genes as Kyle is the 3rd generation of Strydom’s to be a jockey - his father Jacques trains at Fairview & his Uncle Piere is a Legend winning close to 150 Black type events world wide & well over 5500 winners at an incredible strike rate of 20%. Kyle has won Black type events back home & will do here given the chance . Like us though he can’t do it without the Amo.
Confederation ran within the hour at Bath & the race looked set up for him. He just missed the break & then didn’t hit the front when there was a gap early in. From there we knew our fate & he was never dangerous. I was really disappointed as we thought it was Gus’s Day at last. He’ll miss his intended engagements this week as he was a bit jarred up - he will most likely go for a race at Brighton next Monday.
Havana Smoke was our last runner of the week @ Ascot. The 1 draw was not ideal for such an inexperienced horse. I love Ascot - got to be in top half dozen tracks here in the U.K. but much like the saying ‘ Eclipse first, the rest nowhere ‘ when it comes to racecourses York is in a league of its own for me. Beauty of the racing here in the U.K. is the variation of the tracks. There’s something for everyone & every horse ( thanks to the All Weather circuit .) I’d much rather be at the meetings such as Ascot but realise that AW racing is a necessity for the game to continue with the present population of thoroughbreds not to mention keeping the Levy ticking over.
Havana Smoke took the preliminaries well but once the stalls opened he was in trouble. He jumped a little too well to get cover & was wanting to go right into the open acres of Ascot. He ran OK if U R feeling generous, finishing a well beaten 8th. He did suffer slight heat exhaustion after. Greys suffer more in the heat due to their pigmentation or I should say lack of it. We could well geld him before getting another run into him at the back end. Talking of gelding Battleofbaltimore was gelded midweek ; that’ll bring him on & he’ll be back on Warren Hill tomorrow ( Monday ).
Unfortunately we couldn’t run All About Alice in her intended engagements as she had a few niggles. It’s one of those things but infuriating nonetheless as she’d have had no penalty & the handicapper has put her up 5 pounds for when she next faces the starter. Harsh :-( it’s particularly galling as she’d have been in with a favourites chance of following up & we’re dry on runners this week. Alice will be back on the track in early October.
The next Seven weeks is going to be heaven for rugby Union fans -the World Cup is up & running. There’s no rivalry in rugby that matches my home nation South Africa & The All Blacks, a comparison in cricket would be The Ashes & we could well meet at the quarter final stage in Paris on October 14th - it’s in my diary already & anyone with spare tickets you’ve got our number! The draw has been kind to England & they are certainties to reach the Quarters & would have a good chance of reaching the semis. That’s where it we’ll end though as you’ll meet one of the big guns. Plenty fancy Ireland, the World Number One’s first 15 is strong but they lack the strength in depth required for this marathon. Jordan won’t speak to me if I don’t mention Wales. Luckily they’re in a soft Group as well & should qualify behind a youthful Australian side with Fiji as their main stumbling block. Wales will then play England in the quarters - one average side will make the semi where they’ll meet home Nation France. So it’s a French Final against the winner of the ‘real’ final when we play the All Blacks on October 14 …..
Mad Rugby fan David from Scotland will not be a happy bunny as I’ve not mentioned Scotland. It’s a tough draw isn’t it David? South Africa battered the poor Scott’s yesterday in what was a physical performance of the highest calibre. Be an achievement to reach the quarters for the boys in blue and I’m sure a few sore bodies this morning.
One of our owners, Jack Thomas, took part in a boxing match for charity. Jack is a big lad and trained really hard for this, so it was rewarding to get the phone call that he had won his fight. All in good spirit, Jack sounded a little sore but not much the worse for wear when I spoke to him the next morning. Well done Jack, we were all extremely happy for you at the yard.
I rode Mr Fayez on Sunday after a good 5 week break. I took him to the Heath and let him pick some grass and then back home. He’s still fresh as ever and enjoyed himself and I really enjoyed being on him again. I’ll do that once a week on a Sunday for a few weeks when the Heath is quiet to try and settle him before he resumes baby leading duties. He’s really happy and enjoying life. A well deserved retirement full of love.
Its sales time, we will be at Goffs in Ireland 26-29 September and at Tattersalls all October for Book 1,2,3 & the Horses In Training Sale. Get in touch with us and join the fun and excitement. Be part of our team.
To close todays blog; “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person that walked in. That is what the storm is all about!”
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