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News Archive - January 2008
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Fun with the fillies
29th January 2008
It has been a relatively quiet week in the yard as far as runners go. Cheonmado ran at Lingfield on Wednesday and on face value I was disappointed, although as the roughie of the field he wasn't expected to perform by most. 'Che' jumped from the stalls well and was asked to go forward, possibly proving his undoing as he then over-raced setting up a cracking pace which saw him drop out straightening for home. With some thought with regard to gear changes, I expect good improvement next time out.
Eleanor Eloise runs 2nd
22nd January 2008
With Eamonn and Oriana away I have finally been given my orders to get my act together and contribute to the site! Eleanor Eloise welcomed the new season when, as the yard's first runner of 2008, she ran a decent race to finish 2nd behind an odds-on favourite at Lingfield last Wednesday. It was only the filly's 3rd run and she has been steadily progressing every time. Owner and breeder John Hawkins was delighted to see his mare finish off the race to grab second. 'Ellie' (pictured on the rail in 2nd place) will be back racing again soon and it wouldn't be an overly bold statement to say that she should find her way to the winner's enclosure before too long.
Eleanor Eloise races tomorrow
15th January 2008
We have two possible runners to look out for this week. Eleanor Eloise is all set to line up at Lingfield tomorrow in the Median Auction Maiden Stakes at 1.45. The race is run over 6 furlongs on the All Weather surface. Now she has turned 4, 'Ellie' (pictured in the school) will be carrying a bit more weight than on her previous 2 runs (an 11llb increase) but she will no doubt have learned a lot from her previous outings and we are hopeful she will run well. Liam Jones retains the ride on her. The other horse set for a race is Mutual Respect who holds an entry at Chepstow on Friday. The meeting is sadly a bit doubtful due to the large volume of rain that is apparently on the way but if it goes ahead the horse should run and go well.
The Babies Start Work
08th January 2008
Three of our 2 year olds came back from their pre-training yards yesterday to start full work in preparation for their racing campaigns. Hanta Yo (a colt by Alhaarth), our Acclamation filly and another colt by Tobougg were all ridden out this morning and, aside from the odd buck, went very well. They are all lovely-looking horses and we are excited to see how they will develop. We have seven more youngsters due to come back to us over the coming weeks, taking the number of horses we currently have in work close to the 40 mark. Pictured in the photo are Hanta Yo and the Tobougg colt.
Happy New Year
02nd January 2008
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed your New Year's celebrations. All the very best for 2008 from everyone here at Horses First Racing. If you took my advice and invested all your January sales money on Denman in the Lexus you never had a worry at any point. He jumped superbly, was in cruise control throughout the race and we cheered him on for all our worth. The festive period was a fairly hectic one for us with over 20 horses in work and runners up and down the country. The lorry racked up some impressive mileage heading to Huntingdon, Wetherby and Lingfield on consecutive days while horse transporter and good friend Wally Irvine took another runner to Chepstow for us. Northern Seren, who ran in a bumper at Huntingdon on Boxing Day, and Micky Cole, running the day after over hurdles at Wetherby, were both having their first runs back after a lay-off (Micky had been off for the best part of 2 years). They both ran as if they needed it, coming home safely under our conditional jockey Luke Kilgarriff (pictured on Micky) and no doubt improving for the outings. The Empty Tin, winner of 4 Irish point to points, jumped well and showed surprising early speed before plugging on in a 3 mile Beginners Chase at Chepstow on the 28th.