School Holidays
The last month has been busy and I have bought a few new horses for owners for the coming season. I am delighted with them and am really looking forwards to finally having horses that haven't been ruined and are sound, its nice also to be able to spend some money on them - although if I could buy a few more Marmonts for £600 I would be delighted!
Oscars leader, who we bought in June has started to shape up nicely - he is cantering everyday slowly and seems to be thriving on the work, he has grown a fair bit and just needs to bulk out to match the height!
I bought a lovely horse for John Marriot from Ascot, he is called Touchy Subject and has finished 2nd in a point to point, unfortunately he was shod very close to the white line (imagine cutting your nail down to the sensitive and then putting nails into it...) which has caused a nasty abscess to form. However in the grand scheme of things that is really not a problem, once the puss is out and the shoe back on, he will be good as new. The few days we did ride him out before the abscess, he reminded me in a lot of ways of Meehan, a horse that I used to train for John that won 3 over fences before he injured his leg. A lovely willing and honest horse.
I bought He's a Toff for my lovely ladies, Toffee is a 3 year old who, on paper looks as if he should only be a sprinter - however I never let that worry me, look at Mr Fitzroy! Toffee's dam is bred to stay and he certainly goes like a stayer, in fact I am shocked that he has managed to run and get placed over a mile. To say he is laid back would be an understatement, but he is slowly getting confidence and I have him leading everywhere now; gradually he is starting to enjoy it - and we are starting to see some competitive spirit. He is loving his jumping and is proving to be a natural, I am hoping to run him in a juvenile at the end of August at Worcester, a galloping track will suit him.
Ken's Well came from Ireland for Patricia Brown after winning a maiden hurdle for Eddie Linehan, Kenny is a super horse with a brilliant attitude. Eddie has done a great job with him and we are all in besotted with the horse, he just loves life and is as bold as brass, with a massive galloping stride. i think we will school him over fences next week and then make a plan to go novice chasing with him - he stands at least 17.2hh, so I would hope a fence is really not a problem!
Starfoot and Free one ran at Market Rasen a couple of weeks ago and both ran lovely races, Free one finished a fast finishing 3rd in a novice and has come out of the race like a fresh horse, in fact I am going to think about running him again soon, he actually thinks he is gods gift to horses at the mo, such a pleasure to see him with so much confidence.
Star ran in the listed hurdle and although the racing post would have you believe that he was outclassed, he ran a nice race - he can be a lazy monkey and make you think he is flat out then when Sean Bowen got after him 3 out he suddenly picked the bridle up and had nowhere to go, he then ran round the outside and finished a staying on 5th. To be fair I didn't really want to run him at Market Rasen the first time he won, if it hadn't been for John then I would have not bothered - I thought it was too sharp for him - just shows how they can make fools of you...However I think we will step him up and try over 2m 4 next time. Again he has come out of the race without leaving a nut of his food and is bucking and kicking, mad fresh.
On Monday we ran Still WIlliam and Marmont. Bill was very disappointing and got the thumps again after his race which I think is stopping him from letting himself go through with his run - understandable as the thumps is terrifying. This has prompted me to say to Patricia that we should not bother racing him again, he is a lovely horse and can do other jobs so there is no need to ruin him. He is now going to go to Bernice Cuthbert's who has all of Patricia's show jumpers, to try a career in show jumping, which I think he will be very good at.
Marms ran a brilliant race with Dicky Johnson up, he gave him a super ride and I was delighted to be able to use Dicky, I think Marmi is very like Passato whom DIcky got on really well with and it was nice to have a jockey who throws himself before the horse, giving the horse the confidence to give everything - guaranteed if Dicky hadn't been on him there is no way he would have finished 3rd. This is absolutely no criticism of any other jockeys, Dicky is champion jockey for a reason and that will to win on every horse is something I rarely see. Mamrs will have a nice break now and we will bring him back for the winter on the soft ground, he has shown enough that he is going to be a really fun horse for us.
We have Heroes or Ghosts running tomorrow and again we have Dicky riding, I know we won't be able to use him during the season but as the lads who own the horse said, you pay the same for Dicky as you do for everyone else and why not use the best. I know Floyd has numerous problems but he is thriving at the mo, although he has loads of ability we are fully aware of his issues and really I have no idea of how it will pan out, he could win or he could down tools and tail off...
The school holidays are in full swing and trying to juggle being a trainer and a mother has its moments...Especially trying to get to pony club camp every day for 4 days, however we did it and Ella loved it, a big thank you to the Craven pony club for being so welcoming and doing such a good job with all of the kids.
Ella is now riding out with us and hopefully soon she will be going up the gallop behind us, Bucket is a star but can be a typical naughty pony, Ella has to learn to ride him properly and he does put the odd buck in, if I said I was a nervous mother I think I would be the understatement of the century...
