Horses First Racing

- 12th January 2010

As promised yesterday i thought it was time to put my thoughts down on the year gone and the plans and aspirations for the year ahead.

At the start of the year we put forward a goal to achieve 30 winners and we fell one short of this mark so i can't be too unhappy though i was expecting to get far more after two thirds of the season gone. We had a very slow period late and early in the year which i think reduced the numbers from where i expected.

The lack of 2yo performers was my most frustrating record of last year. I will not harp on the difficulties but we couldn't get started with them until late leading to a delay early season.

I had planned to have most of them run by the end of the year but a hiccup with some minor coughs prevented it. They are ready to go when the freeze ends. This has actually proved a blessing in disguise as some of these have matured into lovely horses.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the season was the efforts and consistency over a period of time of horses such as STREET POWER and MEDICEAN MAN. I think there is more to come from both these horses. NEW LEYF will be one to follow having been gelded now and the first up run recently put the writing on the wall. SUTTON VENY is still on the improve and the consistent performers CHIEF EXEC and IVORY SILK gave their owners plenty of good moments, albeit a little frustrating at times.

The past year saw us introduce a number of new owners to the yard, an important part of our company going forward. I genuinely believe owners are very well looked after and Eamonn has been both innovative and generous in trying to get new people involved in the yard. As Eamonn's partner in Horses First Racing, Tony Bloom has got behind the yard and injected some high quality horses into the fold, providing a good springboard into 2010.

The building work is all but completed and this will provide some much needed stablility to the daily running of the yard. We are developing a good core staff group and are always looking to recruit quality members to the team. The facilities here are first class and the horses want for nothing (except maybe some warmer weather). I do think there has been more achieved by way of development of staff and infrastructure than was achieved on the racecourse. 2010 will be the year to consolidate and use those assets to produce the results on the track, where it all matters.

2009 was a step in the right direction but by know means satisfactory for me. I/we will not be satisfied until we are competing in the better races and my goals for this year are to produce Group Winners. In tandem the aim is to train 50 winners. Yes it is a lofty expectation but it is one i believe is achievable and i expect to produce the results. I expect us to travel more to achieve the best result for any given horse. One of our main aims is to try and have a runner at the Melbourne Cup this year, it's a tough brief but one i would relish for obvious reasons.

We will be in a position to push harder this year on the track. The horses were very lightly raced last season for reasons i don't need to go into but this year i will want to see more racing out of the team. This however will not come at a price regarding soundness or longevity, we can achieve both with attention to detail.

Above all, i want to see a consistent season without the dips and spikes of last year. We go into the new season armed with a considerably higher average rating than last year having cleaned out a number of the lower class horses, a must in order to move forward.

2010 will be a very exciting and important year for us all at The Beeches and i am looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead.

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