Jumping Returns & News

Leoncavallo Enjoying some Grass After Exercise

This morning we made our first jumps declarations since March!  It will be nice to have some jumping action back and my first runner will be Jasmin Des Bordes.  Jasmin runs in the concluding race on Southwell’s Wednesday card, a three mile handicap hurdle 0-120.  He has some form that makes him of interest in this race but he is not one to rely on heavily.  He certainly has more than enough ability from a rating of 120 but he is a quirky character who does have his own ideas about things.  He is not an easy ride at home and Ali Galliers-Pratt does a great job at home with him. 

Our six year old is lightly raced and from five starts for the yard he has a second, two thirds, a fourth and a sixth placing to his name so hasn't done too badly.  He has undergone wind surgery since his last run, is in good form at home and I am hopeful but you would have to ask him how he is going to run before being very confident ahead of his comeback!  Tom Scu rides and if he puts his best foot forwards he should not be too far away.  He schooled and jumped well the other day and will be going over fences sooner rather than later.  I was hoping to run new recruit to the yard Le Grand Rocher on Wednesday as well but unfortunately he was balloted out of the novices hurdle.  There was a big entry for the race and even though it divided, there are two divisions of the race with twelve runners in each and we just missed the cut.

The Week Ahead

Nabvutika is my first runner of the week at Leicester on Tuesday evening.  She is only rated 46 and should have a chance in this low grade event.  

That is then it for runners from the stable this week but we will look forward to the next jumping action at Uttoxeter on Monday 6^th and Newton Abbot on Tuesday 7^th July so keep checking the website for more news of the stable runners.

Plenty Going On

As in recent weeks, Tom Scu and David Noonan were both in riding out on Monday morning and we now have about 35 horses back on the gallops while there are several doing walking and trotting exercise as well that will be back on the gallops very soon.  Another three staff returned to work this week and we will continue to bring a few more horses in from the fields in the coming days.  While it has been a difficult time for all, I feel it is now an exciting time as we can all look forward to the build up to the big jumps racing returning in the autumn although a jumps fixture list for August has just been released.  While we won’t have a big team to run at this time it would be really nice to get a few winners on the boards in the next few months.   We are looking to build on a better season for the stable last year and we have some lovely new young recruits to look forward to.  We are looking like being up on numbers from recent seasons and there is a lot to look forward to.

Good Return but More to Do

I think the BHA and everyone involved in bringing racing back since lock down have done a very good job and if the return of jumps racing goes as well as the return on the flat, then fingers crossed things will be back to looking something like normal in no time.  I see they are working on allowing owners to get back on the racecourse soon to watch their horses run and I think that is an important next big step.  Every trainer could not to what they do without their owners.  I can only speak for myself but my owners have been brilliant during this difficult time and been very supportive of me, my staff and the horses.  At the end of the day, without owners there would be no racing.  I again think we have to be careful and have to get everything right with the relevant measures in place for the sport so that we are perceived to be doing the right thing by the outside world.  Obviously we don’t know, but I do hope we might have attracted a few new supporters to the game over the last month since we have returned and we don’t want to do anything that will undo any of the good we have already achieved going forwards but I feel the time is now right for owners to be allowed to go racing.

Sad News

I was desperately sad to hear of two tragic deaths in the racing world last week.  We lost former Grand National winning jockey Liam Treadwell at the age of 34.  Although I personally did not know Liam, he was a talented jockey who was popular in the weighing room and it is a tragic loss not that long after racing already lost former jockey James Banks also earlier this year.  

It was also terribly sad to hear of the passing of Aintree Chairman Rose Paterson as well at the age of 63.  She had been in that role since 2014 when taking over from Lord Daresbury and she was extremely respected in a professional capacity for the work she had done in racing and was an extremely well liked person as well. On a personal level she had a way of making you feel very welcome and always included everyone.

Mental health is in the news a lot at the moment and while I think racing does well as whole in this area, we can always do better and it is extremely important we need to look out for one another and encourage people to reach out and seek help when needed.

Nasty Surprise

French jockey Mickael Barzalona got a nasty surprise when taking part in a pre-race work out on Earthlight at Saint Cloud yesterday.  He was on board the dual Group 1 winner when his work companion took a vicious bite out of his left leg, forcing him to part company with his horse.  From French Equidia pictures he looked in extreme pain hobbling away but he did manage to keep hold of his horse.  He did ride later in the day but had to give up his last five rides so it will be interesting to see when his is back in action – I bet he has some bruise!

Watch the nasty incident here: https://twitter.com/equidia/status/1277206985000222722

Future Jumps Stallion

Santiago was a nice winner of the Irish Derby on Saturday leading home an Aidan O’Brien 1-2-3-4.  This colt won the Queens Vase at Royal Ascot before this and being by Authorized he looks to me like he could be Coolmore’s next big National Hunt sire.  Watch this space!!