Blog Sixty-five
Good Monday Morning/Afternoon
A thought to start the week; “No horse can go as fast as the money you bet on him!”
Derby Day
I keep reminding myself ‘ Don’t forget to smell the roses along the way ‘ . It’s no good having success in life without happiness with family and your occupation .
On the face of it Alpine Springs run at Yarmouth on Thursday may appear disappointing. With my ‘glass half full ‘ hat on there are positives from her effort . She behaved impeccably & showed enough to suggest she’ll be in the money before long if dropped in trip . There’s a race at Yarmouth on the 15th June which fits the bill , a 0-50 event over 6f .
From midweek it’s been a case of counting the days until Silver Sword ran in the Lester Piggott Handicap on Derby Day . Oaks Day was a distraction of sorts with The Gosden Team winning both Group 1 events namely the Coronation Cup and Oaks with high class fillies Emily Upjohn and Soul Sister . Emily’s victory in some way compensated for her defeat in the Oaks last season after a nightmare run ; whilst Soul Sister showed a sharp turn of foot to beat another top class filly Savethelastdance . Frankie steered both fillies to victory to add to his CV on his farewell tour . The Gosden Team /Dettori marriage went through a rocky period this time last year but they are back on track now - the loyalty shown to Frankie is being rewarded in spades . Such loyalty is becoming rarer in sport and I’m grateful to our owners for their support as our stable continues to grow in both numbers and quality.
Derby Day arrives & I had to stay in the yard but had full confidence that John, Luiz and Jordan would ensure Silver would leave the paddock ready to run the race of his life( to date! ) & entertain our owners .
Well Silver let nobody down and showed he is on a steep upward curve form wise with an excellent second behind yet another winner from The Gosden Team Tortito . Torito looks like the proverbial Group horse in a handicap & will surely be contesting Black Type races before the season is out -the sooner the better ! Torito was beautifully produced by Benoit de la Sayette who is not only a talented jockey but a polite young man who gives detailed feedback after a race - vital for trainers going forward . I was confident the unique Epsom track would not phase Silver & he would run a big race . He certainly didn’t let us down . Before he runs again he has to have a stalls test which we’ll probably do next week before going to Royal Ascot for The Golden Gates Handicap. We have other options as he showed so much speed but that was my gut feeling after the race . It was noticeable in the paddock that Silver was the weakest of the field; that he ran so well augurs well for the future - when he strengthens up they’ll be even more improvement to come. He’ll be an exciting horse next season for sure mark my words. We paid 11,000 Guineas for him as a yearling -he was up against expensive purchases in an impeccably bred field at Epsom ; credit to Luiz who sourced Silver using his expert pedigree knowledge gained over a lifetime of studying the thoroughbred .
First things first though and we’ve 3 runners this week - all in with a shout . We’ve two runners at Wolves today ; Gold Medal runs in the 6f sprint with Kevin Stott in the plate . Kevin rode a brilliant race in the Derby on the big well made colt King Of Steel who looked like the winner until Auguste Rodin under a perfectly timed run from Ryan Moore collared him close home on the Aidan O’Brien trained Deep Impact colt . We’re drawn in the car park but with Kevin in the form of his life up he’ll go close given a clear run . Ex Champion jockey Oisin Murphy rides our other runner , All About Alice and I’ll be disappointed if she’s not bang there at the finish .
On Friday we run our stable stalwart Mr Fayez . 6f , Brighton , fast ground - absolutely perfect and he’ll run a big race I’m sure . He’s still a maiden after 24 starts but really deserves to lose that tag and let’s hope it’s this week !
Finally there’s no ‘ I ‘in ‘ TEAM ‘and it’s our team working together that helps us succeed in this ultra competitive game here in the U.K.
The yard is flying and building up nicely and our two syndicates Catch Us If You Can Racing and Quest Thoroughbreds have shares available in the really nice Australia colt and Eqtidaar filly. Get in touch and join the fun and the big days ahead.
To close today and send you into the week with a thought; “If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs..”
Stay updated daily following our social media and check back next Monday for another blog.