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Vamos debuts at Great Leighs
02nd September 2008
Vamos literally means 'Let's go!' in Spanish and that's what we will be shouting as Vamos, our two year old colt (pictured below), makes his debut at Great Leighs on Thursday. For those of you that follow our sporting bets you will know we were big on Nadal to win Wimbledon and after securing match point they cut to his uncle pumping the air and shouting "Vamos!". The name was secured the very next morning. We are hoping the son of Royal Applause is aptly named as he lines up over five furlongs in the EBF Maiden Stakes. The colt has had a racecourse gallop at Kempton and has been going nicely enough at home. We're hoping he'll enjoy the run on Thursday in what looks to be a very competitive maiden and build from there.
Jeremy had another Australian visitor this week when Mike Abdallah, one of his old owners, was over in the UK on business. Jeremy picked him up from the races at Sandown on Saturday and brought him back to Wiltshire to have a look around the farm. Mike used to have over ten horses at Jeremy's yard in South Australia. Among them was Reshuffles, a multiple Stakes winner (pictured below), and Gold Member, the Cheltenham 1200m record holder. Jeremy bought a few horses for Mike before he came to England and they've been doing very well. Jeremy and Mike are great friends and it was good to spend time with them and to discuss our Anglo-Australian plans in more detail.
Eleanor Eloise may be another runner for us this week as she holds an entry at Chepstow on Friday. The filly missed out on a run last week and is ready to go although she does have some nice alternative options next week at Newcastle and Kempton. Yanza is likely to run in a maiden on Monday at either Bath or Newcastle and after her excellent second will probably start as one of the favourites. Street Power may run at Newcastle over a mile in a Maiden and he'll look to show some of the form he showed on his debut run last year. We have plenty more horses who will be ready to run in the next 2/3 weeks and most of them will be making their debut for the yard. Ouninpohja is one that fits into that category and he is working nicely and looking well (see photo below). Others are Taine, Hanta Yo, Remember Ramon, Django Reinhardt and Jung, to name just a few. It should be an exciting month.
No bets this week as we keep our powder dry for the mighty Septimus in the Irish St Ledger on September 13th. This weekend saw our Newcastle Portsmouth match bet get firmly back on track after a less than glorious couple of weeks. Newcastle were beaten 3-0 and Portsmouth won 3-0 away at Everton. I'm tempted to take the 5/6 on Europe in the Ryder Cup against a Tigerless USA but not enough to make them a recommended bet yet. I did have a bet myself this week on Barrack Obama after watching his speech at the Democratic Convention. I've been a fan from day one and see him as a leader that would be terrific for everyone in the world. He's around 8/13 and it was more "I hope you win" bet than a value bet but I do think he'll win.
2nd place for Yanza
26th August 2008
Last Friday saw us back at Bath with Yanza, our Bahamian Bounty two year old, who was lining up for her second start. She ran in the E.B.F. Maiden Fillies' Stakes over five furlongs and turned in a very good performance under a nice ride from David Probert to come second out of a field of 16. The racing Post commented “[Yanza] showed good tactical pace against the inside rail from a decent draw and stepped up considerably on her debut form. She should be able to win a similar event”. The filly (pictured working at home) has again come out of her race well and should be back out in the next couple of weeks when we hope she will continue to improve and hopefully go one better.
The next of our two year olds to make their track debut will probably be Vamos, a colt by Royal Applause, who looks like he will be most effective over five furlongs. He holds entries at Great Leighs and Sandown for the week after next and we are looking forward to his run. This week our most likely runner is Eleanor Eloise (pictured below) who holds an entry at Wolverhampton on Friday. The race is a six furlong handicap but there are 60 entries in it and, although we probably won't get balloted out, we may wait until the following week with the filly. Gaborone is also entered at Wolverhampton, as well as Bath on Saturday, however she could be another one we decide get another gallop or two into and could also wait for another week.
Last Wednesday we took another four horses to Kempton for a racecourse gallop. Vamos, Coeur Brule, Yvonne Evelyn and our Barathea gelding all had a good workout at the track and, as they are all unraced, it also provided them with a good education. Vamos is pictured below leading Couer Brule at home. Kempton is a nice fairly local track for us and, as well as providing an excellent track to work on, being able to use the stabling and parade facilities is very beneficial for giving young horses a trip out before they experience the hustle and bustle of a race day.
Sadly the weather won the battle with York's Ebor meeting and the entire festival was lost. Septimus missed his run entirely while Marine Boy became our first losing selection in the rearranged Gimcrack (I'm not going to claim that moving the race to Newbury made any difference as I still backed him). So we'll keep our powder dry this week and hope that Septimus (pictured) still goes for the Melbourne Cup. We had heard that was the plan with him all along and with luck last week's cancelled race isn't going to cause his plans to be changed.
Ravenna to make debut
19th August 2008
Anyone living in, or visiting, the UK in August will have had reason to check that we have not flipped into the Southern Hemisphere and it is not in fact deep winter. Today the magnificent York fixture loses it's first day and the rest of the Ebor meeting hangs, or drowns, in the balance. This is not so much Global Warming as Global Raining and there is no end in sight as the week ahead is wet and windy.
Looking ahead the exciting Yanza holds an entry at Bath (there has to be a joke there somewhere ...) on Friday evening. But with more rain forecast we'll probably wait until the following week and let her run at Great Leighs on the All Weather. On Sunday the beautiful Ravenna (pictured below) makes her debut for us in a proper race, with a proper name - THE FEGENTRI WORLD CUP OF NATIONS STAKES (AMATEUR RIDERS HANDICAP) (IN MEMORY OF LATE JOHN CIECHANOWSKI). It's a great idea of giving Amateur riders from around the world a chance to race against each other and Goodwood have put up a pot of £10,000 so we'll take our chance. Ravenna is a trifle Rubenesque in appearance but that's just the way she is and having won 4 races already you can't doubt her heart and character. She'll need the run having been off for nearly a year but she goes into the race fit and ready.
Tomorrow we have 3 potential bets from two horses at York. But they may not get their chance, so we'll have to see. First up, Septimus has been the long term nap of the year and even in Heavy is picked to win the 2 mile Lonsdale Cup. He's also the selection at 10-1 to win the Melbourne Cup later this year. I think he's a special horse and the fact we have his half sister here (Escholida) hasn't influenced that. He'll be rated the best stayer in the world within 12 months. Yep, that good. Also tomorrow I like Marine Boy in the Gimcrack. Bertie Black's youngster looked a monster on his debut and I see him sluicing thru the mud if the race goes ahead.
An encouraging debut
12th August 2008
We have said in previous weeks how excited we are about our current crop of two year olds and last Thursday saw the first one making her racecourse debut. Yanza (Bahamian Bounty x Locharia) lined up over five and a half furlongs at Bath and despite being slow to break and very badly hampered, ran on bravely to finish 4th. Before the race we heard that both Via Mia (3rd) and Wake Me Now (2nd) were highly thought of by their trainers and Rioliina (1st) looked like a very nice animal from her previous run, so for us to get 4th after having such bad luck in running was very encouraging. The filly showed a lot of early speed and was going as well as anything bar the winner when she got squeezed right back into last place. At that point a lot of fillies on their debut would have called it a day but Yanza came again and showed good heart. There was a Stewards Enquiry into the interference but the placings were unchanged as it was considered to be accidental. Her jockey thought he'd have been second without the interference and we very much look forward to her next run, possibly back at Bath on the 22nd, as she has come out of the race in very good order (she is pictured galloping this morning).
We are planning on sending three horses out this week. The first will be Hopeful Purchase (pictured working) who runs over a mile one at Sandown on Thursday. It is the horse's first race back after a short break but he has had a couple of racecourse gallops and is in good order at home. Eleanor Eloise is scheduled to head to Nottingham on Friday where she will tackle 5 furlongs for the first time. 'Ellie' is lightly raced and came an encouraging 2nd at Lingfield back in January over 6 furlongs. It will be interesting to see how she handles the trip and we hope for a good run from her. Saturday night will probably see us back at Lingfield with Danetime Lord, running over 6 furlongs on turf. The horse's best form is on the all weather and so he also holds an entry for Monday, also at Lingfield but this time on the all weather, to give us some options, although Saturday would be the better race for him.
Around four years ago we found some human remains on top of our hill overlooking the farm. It turned out that they were from an elder from the Bronze Age (approx 4,000 years ago) who had been buried in what is known as a crouch position. He was considered of sufficient scientific interest to be claimed by Salisbury museum (it was from them we found out that he was unusually tall and had been nursed back from a significant injury). I have always wanted to erect a fitting memorial around where the remains were found but had not been able to find something appropriate until now. On a recent holiday to Cornwall I came across a huge 14 foot, 5 ton rock and immediately knew it was what we had been looking for. It is a remarkable piece of rock and is absolutely awe inspiring to be near. We had it transported to the farm this week and it is now erected near where the remains were found, standing by the hill gallops overlooking the valley (see picture below). It is humbling to know it will be there long after we are all gone.
On a more mundane level I have an absolute NAP football selection this week that I love. We have £3,000 winnings in the kitty and I'm recommending £1,100 at 8/11 on Portsmouth to finish above Newcastle in the Premiership. Portsmouth are a quality side, I like the new signing of Peter Crouch and can see them in the top 6. Newcastle United, however, look a side in jeopardy. Boardroom unrest, Keegan (pictured below) as volatile as ever, the disgraced Joey Barton, a leaky defense and uninspiring mid-field. It all spells trouble and I've even had a small bet on them being relegated (22-1) that's how poor I think they are. Even though they will probably survive they will not finish above Portsmouth - take the 8/11 and you'll be enjoying the weekend results during the coming season.
