Blog Sixty-seven
Good Monday Morning
Health Is Wealth
To start the week off; “Thinking will not overcome fear but action will and happiness is the highest form of health!”
Battleofbaltimore ( nicknamed “Star” by his owners) made a promising start to his racing career on Tuesday at a sun-baked Brighton track. The sea breeze was welcomed by racegoers and horses alike and Star’s owners Catch Us If You Can Racing were out in force eagerly awaiting his debut. First time out is a steep learning curve, the journey to Brighton wasn’t ideal with diversions prolonging the time Star spent in the horse box; he’s not the best of travellers . Star behaved well enough in the preliminaries ; he’d obviously learnt from his stalls test at Newmarket when he spent time in both the pre-parade and paddock . He went down well under Billy Loughnane but was reluctant to load and thankfully the expert stall handlers soon had his measure. In the race itself he jumped well enough and ran freely in a slow early pace. Billy quite rightly tried to settle him to help educate him - to no avail; Star won that battle. He was green as grass and looked unsightly with his awkward head carriage ; it was pure ability that kept him in with a shout until he weakened close home finishing third beaten just over 4 lengths at the line. Our Lad will have learnt a lot from his first day at school and I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t win for his enthusiastic bunch of owners. We had a great day at Brighton and Catch Us Manager Andrew is already looking forward to Star’s next run . We were left wondering if Star is the type of horse who would travel well in a better quality race ; I’d actually seriously considered the Woodcote for him at Epsom on Oaks Day but because I couldn’t get a run into him and my race planner twisted my arm and persuaded me it was too big an ask on debut. I’m not so sure now and given a similar situation next season I’ll go with my gut feeling and run at Epsom even on debut. One things for sure this is yet another shrewd purchase by Luiz who snapped him up for 3,000 Guineas. Luiz proved his worth time and time again when I trained in South Africa now he’s proving it in the UK as well . Silver Sword cost 11,000 Guineas and Expressionless 5,000 Guineas . Silver was 2nd on Derby Day in the Lester Piggott Handicap and Expressionless has won 2 races already this season. Get in touch with Luiz and he’ll do the same for you. Where does Star go next ? There’s a couple of Band D’s that fit the bill -a maiden at Nottingham towards the end of the month and/or a novice event at Lingfield the second week of July. One thing we pride ourselves on in our yard is we don’t do things by half; for example all our horses when travelling are fully kitted out with travelling boots, knee caps, hock boots and wrap our horses hooves in a wide black tape ( theory being if a horse was to tread on a hoof he wouldn’t pull a shoe off causing unknown damage but simply slip off the tape). Our good practice was rewarded with Star as he kicked out at the loading ramp wall but there was no serious damage thanks to his protective gear.
On Wednesday my Dad ,Luiz and I travelled to Yarmouth for a stalls test with Silver. Everything was going well until we were on the Acle Straight ( the single carriageway approach to Yarmouth) when I received a call from an unknown number. I answered and was told by the caller that Taryn my wife had been involved in a car accident near Peterborough. I wouldn’t wish that call on my worst enemy , its as if the world stops spinning and to use a racing term your mind becomes totally blinkered & all that mattered to me was Taryn. Even if that meant missing the stalls test and therefore The Golden Gates at Royal Ascot. The human brain is an amazing organ and your mind in such situations soon computes the variations & you actually visualise them. Very fortunately the accident was not serious regarding human injuries ( Taryn’s car was a right off and she had to be cut out of it) Taryn’s injuries were thankfully limited to a bump on her head and a bad back. Hopefully she’ll be fit enough to see Silver run at Ascot with me as he passed his stalls test with flying colours. The title of this Blog is “ Health Is Wealth “ for obvious reasons.
Quest’s Faro de San Juan returned to form at Chester winning for us over 6f. We now know he can handle a bend as well as straight courses which gives us more options going forward. Faro bought privately by our Bloodstock Agent Jordan Hopkins will continue to climb the handicap ranks if he keeps putting his best foot forward. Some ride as well wasn’t it from Greg Cheyne. Greg rode successfully for me in South Africa and is hugely experienced. The tight Chester didn’t phase Greg ( he was based in Hong Kong for 4 years & rode many winners at the tight Happy Valley) watch him in all his races here in the U.K.; he’s always in the correct position. His feed back is excellent and quickly assesses a horse’s ability. At Windsor we we were concerned about Faro been too free again and told Greg to bury him early doors; Greg said after the race next time he’d be more prominent & sure enough it worked! Greg hasn’t ridden nearly 2,400 winners worldwide by luck. He’s great in front of a camera as well. Greg is pupil assistant with William Haggas which says it all. The Haggas Team only employ the cream of the racing industry( Claire Greg’s wife also works at The Haggas yard.. They are excellent acquisitions to the team at Somerville Lodge as Claire has more equine qualifications than I’ve had hot dinners this year including a Diploma in Equine Physiotherapy and most recently on coming to the U.K. gained a Diploma at The National Stud on Stud Practice & Management. Impressive or what - that’s not a question but purely rhetorical!
I can’t leave Faro without saying what an incredible job Amedeo our Head Lad has done with him. Amedeo is the heart beat of our yard ; his work ethic is second to none - he even comes in when he’s on holiday !
On Thursday we hope to have 2 runnners at Lingfield Park . If Confederation gets in the Amateur event he’ll go very close. We’ve booked Fletcher Yarham to ride - watch his races back; this is one stylish jockey who has exceptional positional awareness & strong in a finish. He’s got a great future ahead of him in racing though he’s not perfect as he’s a mad keen Canaries Fan :-) Fletch is attached to Ed Dunlops yard - who continue to bang in the winners week in week out. We also run Mr Fayez & just hope his number comes up at last and he breaks his maiden. We could have run him at Brighton but given the cost of transportation we’ve put 2 in the box to Lingfield. Fingers crossed Gus gets a run.
Makuri has an entry at Newmarket on Friday evening. Nothing went her way on her debut at HQ and she’ll show us what she’s going to be capable of on Friday.
Silver Sword runs in the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot on Saturday; he’s not had the smoothest preparation but we’ve got him ready to run a big race ( Amedeo has spent hours daily expertly treating his troublesome feet). Royal Ascot is to many the Olympics of our sport and we’re in a chance of ‘medalling’ with Silver. These are the days that keep us going during the winter months. Silver worked on the Al Bahathri on Saturday morning and went like a dream . Expectations? I’m not taking anything for granted ; especially after him going lame on the morning of the London Gold Cup, but we’re expecting a huge run; he’ll be competitive for sure or we’ll be absolutely gutted. This is a proper horse; just think the days he’s given us already - Derby Day now Royal Ascot - who knows he may even take us to York’s Ebor Meeting one day - now that is a dream. Well Done Luiz - my Dad & a late Happy Fathers Day !
Our two syndicate dogs, Millbank Catchus and Catch My Tail both ran at Harlow on Sunday night. Millbank Catchus was having she first start and bolted up winning easily. She looks exciting. Catch My Tail ran a game 3rd after taking another bad bump. Lots of fun was had by and both dogs ran so well for us.
Catch Us If You Can Racing has shares available in Wannabeawallaby by Australia who has a 3rd in the Prix De Diane Gr1 on Saturday. Quest Thoroughbreds have shares available in a Eqtidaar filly who is really forward going. Both syndicates are well run and lots of fun and affordable. Get in touch and get your share now.
To close today’s blog; “Hate has 4 letters but so does love. Enemies have 7 letters but so does friends. Lying has 5 letters but so does truth. Cry has 3 letters but so does joy. Negativity has 10 letters but so does positivity. Life is 2 sided, choose the better side of it!”
Stay updated and in touch daily following our social media and check back next Monday for another blog.