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More facilities, more new horses
06th November 2007
The steady influx of new horses is ongoing at Horses First Racing but before I introduce you to the latest arrivals I'd like to show you the wonderful new facilities we have just put in to accommodate them. This week we converted our third barn into a top-class stabling facility, adding 12 new boxes to our capacity. We had horses ready to move into it straight away and the stabling allows us to have our colts more safely stabled. The boxes are very light and spacious and really do look very smart.
When we said we had a lot of construction work going on at the moment we weren't exaggerating. At the same time as the gallops were being resurfaced, self-filling water troughs were being put in the fields and the stables were being constructed, we also had a team of dedicated workmen turning another barn into a nice wash-down area for the horses when they come back from exercise. The days of washing horses down one by one are happily over as we now have 5 smart wash-down boxes each supplied with its own warm water hose. Not only does this make morning exercise more efficient, it is also lovely for the horses to have a warm power-hose after work rather than a cold hose or a warm sponge.
So now on to the new horses that have arrived at just the right time to take advantage of the new facilities. I will introduce you to 2 this week, both high-class animals who have come from top yards. El Diego is an ex-Aiden O'Brien horse who came to us from the Horses in Training Sales. He is a lovely-looking horse by Sadler's Wells and has been steadily improving in his three races so far. After his last run the Racing Post commented: 'El Diego has shown a good deal of promise. He has a nice bit of ability and should have little trouble winning a race'. The colt (pictured below) is currently on our walkers and we look forward to having some fun with him.
Arriving with El Diego was Count Trevisio, a very smart ex-Godolphin horse who already has multiple wins to his name. He won his debut by 3.5 lengths and also racked up a 1st and 2nd in Dubai earlier this year. The colt is by Danehill, a sire whose offspring have won £24,128,530 in prize money on the flat alone. His dam is Stylish, which makes him a full brother to Due Respect who was rated 100 on the flat and won nearly £70,000. It also makes him a half brother to Solent who is rated 108 and has won over £80,000. Like El Diego, Count Trevisio (pictured below) is currently on our walkers and we look forward to commencing ridden work with him soon.
Our only runner last week was Mowadeh who attracted a lot of positive comments in the paddock but then absolutely hated the kickback from the surface at Wolverhampton and didn't really run a race. He will now have a short break to freshen him up. Saucy Night (pictured below schooling recently) unfortunately missed out on a race at Plumpton last Monday due to the unseasonable hard ground. He holds an entry at Fontwell this Friday and the race would be lovely for him as he is a course and distance winner, however it is highly unlikely that we will get the rain that he needs to run an effective and, most importantly, safe race. The horse is fit and ready to go and as soon as the weather breaks he will be back on the track. Nobelix is also entered at Wolverhampton on Thursday but it is doubtful whether or not he will run.
This week's quote dates back from 1853:
"There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse."
Robert Smith
