Blog Twenty-Two - 01/08/2022
Good Monday Morning Lions & Lioness’s
Keep your face always towards the sunshine and the shadow will fall behind you..
I have to start with not cricket, but, football this week. Whilst South Africa tied up a lovely little series against England last night in the cricket, it was the Lioness’s who were magnificent. Fast furious, great football to watch and a huge congratulations to them. It finally came home! Well done ladies. I wasn’t sure what to expect when tuning in, but sat glued to the telly all through it. Great victory and it took the ladies to finally bring it home!
The cries and debates continue to keep British racing on top and the best in the world. It can’t bleed the best horses and now horseman and keep going. Increased prize money, reducing owners costs, and all the debate is great as long as some action is taken. One great thing about being in England is, English people moan a lot, weather, NHS, politics etc etc but it’s great, that’s why the country is great and first world, people keep it that way and hold leaders to accountability, a lot more than where I’m from, hence it’s a great country and I have no doubt that racing will fight back and remain the greatest in the world. The history, festivals and great races among the widest variety of tracks, this sport has so much to offer in the UK.
An interesting thing about British racing from my experience is, that the big meetings are great but the everyday racing is below average from a owners perspective. The catering is generally poor and facilities for owners, what I could only describe as sub standard at most courses. As a owner previously in South Africa, I find it hard to believe that these facilities are even acceptable. Again, I’m not sure where the ROA is on behalf of the owners. I have been racing in South Africa, The USA, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius etc and the facilities for owners in the UK and what’s on offer is by far the worst I’ve experienced. This must be said, that is for everyday racing, however the rest of the world are light years ahead when it comes to entertaining those that fund the horses that race. Racing needs owners, it’s expensive to keep a horse and the experience needs to be enhanced. The big festivals are great and that’s what makes British racing the best in the world but, change with the times is much needed here to keep the whole product attractive and moving forward and growing to the wider public therefore streaming greater revenue.
Goodwood was great to watch last week and notably had a smaller crowd than usual which is a continued trend and worry. Baeed proved he is the best around and I really hope he wins the Juddmonte. It would be amazing to see him go for an Arc but it seems he is heading to Ascot instead. Stradivarius gave the whole world a thrill on day one, and while Kyprios looks the next staying star, what a run and race Stradivarius gave us all. For me, race of the week.
We could possibly have 3 runners this week. Silver Sword is our first 2 year old runner and if he behaves should run well. He is a lovely horse and will learn a lot from Tuesday. Grace Mc Entee rides. He has a tendency to sometimes put the brakes on and stop in his tracks while cantering, so hopefully he doesn’t try any of that on Tuesday and should run well then. Moliwood runs on Shergar Cup day this Saturday at Ascot and we hope to draw a top jockey and run a big race. He is a lovely big horse who has done so well at home since joining us. We are excited to have a horse like him. Expressionless, another 2 year old is in to run Friday at Newmarket or Sunday at Leicester but, we still may wait another week or two. He is a nice type but still needs a bit of education so we will take it day by day and decide. Mighty Mind was due to run this week at Yarmouth but got stung by a wasp so had to be treated and he is fine and well and I’ll look for a race the week after for him. He has also done really well since joining us and seems to be a nice type who if everything goes well can win off his lower mark. Mr Fayez is enjoying a good rest. He came back a little sore and flat after that last firm ground run and will be back later this year.
Seeing James Tuite giving up his trainers license and Charlie Fellows talking about how difficult things are with 60 horses makes you really think how tough it is for us setting up here in the UK with Rands (£1 = R20) and only 5 horses. It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever attempted and I’ve never worked harder. We need more horses and more support to survive and build up our yard. Sadly South Africa is gone for us and thankfully we were able to set up in the UK. A lot of racing people from South Africa are now in Australia, Hong Kong and the UK making new lives due to the situation in South Africa. Anyone who watched the cricket yesterday, would have noticed a trend in the crowd from the SA supporters, the parents were wearing South African shirts and their kids/babies had England shirts on. That is where we are, our kids are in school here and growing up British and full on support England and could possibly play for them one day. This is our new life and we need local support. We have given everything we have to set up here but, as a football team needs to buy players, we need to buy horses for our team. We have space, we are open, knowledgeable, hard working, already Gr1 winning proven and ready to welcome you to our yard. Join us now.
To close today; if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
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