Good luck with your blog Andrew.
please can you add my link Thank you.

http://ash-hight-punter.blogspot.com/
25 January 2007 08:42

Hi Bert,
Just recently started my own horse racing blog, hopefully if profits permit, I’d like to buy a few flat horses myself, look forward to reading your blog. Would appreciate the add too.

johnsdreamon.blogspot.com
23 January 2007 14:28

We moved Captain Hurricane because he was clearly not doing it at Pete’s and a change of environment can work the oracle. As an owner it’s hard to know exactly what is making a horse unhappy. The Captain is not the friendliest horse around - he’s been pretty vicious in the past and has bitten a fair few people. I don’t think the stable staff at Pete’s liked him very much - apparently he is a lot more relaxed now at Brians, although we have had him gelded which may have made a difference. He should be out fairly soon.

I can only think of two reasons why a trainer will do well at a certain course. Firstly they might just understand a certain course well, and use it for horses of a certain type. Prince Ary won at Fakenham - a flattish track and an easy 2 miles probably suited him, and Pipe will no doubt use this track selectively for horses that that only just get the trip. Secondly a lot of horses don’t travel that well, and will perform best at the nearest course to the stable etc.
23 January 2007 09:45

As we’re on the subject, why is it that trainers prefer particular courses over others. They seem to have a lot more winners at these preferred courses than they do at others?

In deciding which trainer to choose for one’s charge it’s worth bearing in mind the success rates at different tracks, e.g., one might be a galloping track or another might put a premium on jumping or require a stiff test etc.

Just knowing this one fact can improve one’s chances of success both as an owner and a punter.
23 January 2007 03:32

I see from your list of horses that Captain Hurricane is now with Brian Meehan ? Is this an error, or if not, why has he moved from Peter Chapple-Hyam ? Presumably it can be awkward moving horses from one trainer to another ?
22 January 2007 12:35

That’s an impressively long list of bloodstock running for you. I wonder if you could design the dream season for yourself which races you’d ultimately like to win?

In my case, having had a few slow boats running round the jumping gaff tracks, I always dreamed of winning a race at Hexham, my local track. Eventually I did it and it felt fantastic. Mind you, just as well that was the limit of my equine ambitions as the horse that won was never rated higher than 100!

I wish you luck with your ’string’, think you’ll struggle to win too many races with Prince Ary as, in my view, he only just gets two miles over hurldes, but look forward to following him and the rest through the blog.
19 January 2007 09:38

That’s a good point regarding NTD’s ‘retirement’. On the one hand he may have lost some of the passion, and on the other he may have come back precisely because he still has the passion. But I’m sure the real reasons, whatever they may be, are ones that I’m unlikely to discover for certain.

Over the past few months I’ve been evaluating exactly what I want in terms of ownership. The family have been owners for generations but solely in the jumps arena, and whilst I do enjoy the jumps the flat is my real passion, specifically the turf flat. When I go ahead with a jumps horse it will be solely to provide some interest over the winter months. What I’d really love to do is get a couple of sprinters in training with Mick Channon but as stated earlier, I don’t know if going with my ‘favourite’ is necessarily the right thing to do (funnily enough as I write this Mick has just come good in Dubai with Obe Brave).

I feel that these days there is more viable choice in terms of deciding upon a yard and I suppose, to use that old football cliche, it’s a nice problem to have.
18 January 2007 08:15

Having purchased an Irish sports horse from Inverness, I would say: speak to the person who cares on a day-to-day basis for the intended purchase. See also the horse in its base at the yard. BTW I haven’t bought an athlete!
18 January 2007 07:10

Someone asked me about Hurricane Spirit the other day - he’s a very interesting prospect but hard to put a value on. Twiston Davies is class - I think I would prefer him as a trainer of chasers to hurdlers as I think he is a long termer. My one concern about him would be that he tried to retire a couple of years ago, which makes me wonder if he is still in love with the game.
18 January 2007 05:05

Interesting entry and one I shall have to take heed of as I should be investing in a couple of horses of my own this year. My initial reaction would naturally have been to just pick my favourite trainer and go from there but this is no doubt the wrong way to approach matters. I’ve had some discussions with one of the owners of Hurricane Spirit and particularly like what John Best has done with him. I will continue to note with interest the form of Invinsible Spirit progeny on the all-weather. As for the jumps side of affairs, I’m located very close to the Twiston-Davies yard and have met Nigel on a number of occassions. Having seen how things are run at Naunton I’d have no qualms about having a horse in training there.
18 January 2007 04:43