Catching Up

A week away and a lot to report. Effingham came nowhere – the vet has found a small fracture which could be the problem.  He’ll be gelded now – should be ok next season. We’ve had a decent offer for Lord Peter Flint which is subject to a vet’s exam – if he passes he’ll be sold.  I’ll update later. …

Effingham at Windsor

A good day Saturday.  Not so good on Sunday – I’m sad that Authorized’s racing career ended on a low note. Effingham goes today in the first at Windsor.  I had a good chat to Barry this morning – having originally thought him to be a sprint type (on the basis of appearance) he now thinks he is more of a …

All guns blazing

Winker made the front page of the Racing Post today as Jeremy went public with our ambitious plans.  Winker is extremely well and we think he’s the best 2yo out there – we’re going to try to win both the Middle Park and the Dewhurst to prove our point, and we’re hoping we can persuade Jim Bolger to run New Approach against …

Ary goes for a big prize

The boss had a late one last night after the Betfair Pro-Am Golf Tournament so I’ll fill in for now. Bert has Prince Ary running at Market Rasen (3.45) today in a valuable handicap hurdle with £30,000+ to the winner. He was touched off by a short head on his only previous visit to the track in a similarly competitive …

Runners This Week

As noted by Bert below, I€™m going to be contributing to the blog from time to time to help keep things up to date and maybe prompt further thoughts and discussion. Comments are very welcome. Shepherds Warning runs in the 2.50 at Pontefract to-morrow €“ a Nursery Handicap for fillies run over a mile. She has been raised 17 pounds …

York Day 2

Authorized did fantastically and I’m thrilled for Pete.  I backed him but I was a bit cowardly and I should have had more on.  It was nearly a very good day as Oasis Wind came close – the unlucky horse in that race was Hitchens, who ran behind Effingham and backs up that form.  Day 2 of York brings the …

Effing disaster

A very disappointing run from Effingham, who never got into the race and finished down the field at Ponty.  The ground, which was good to firm in the morning, was changed to firm with G/F patches immediately after the race.  Michael Hills reported that the horse wasn’t enjoying the ground at all. I guess it wasn’t a surprise given he …

Boogie blues

On the face of it Bouguereau ran pretty disappointingly – seventh out of 18 is nothing special and given the form of his trainer and my general expectation it was a poor result.  He did show a lot of promise though, taking the long way round and moving up pretty smoothly before coming to a halt.  Michael Hills said that …

Jockey trouble

Following my good day yesterday I’ll be coming back for more today, and the race I like is the King George Stakes.  I’ve been planning to back Wi Dud all day.  Our lawyer at Betfair knows some of the owners (similar connections to Amadeus Wolf) – the horse is apparently very well and the conditions look ideal for him to …

A strong debut from Effingham

A fantastic result at Sandown today with Effingham coming second in his maiden.  I’m extremely positive, for a number of reasons; He clearly needed the run and will come on a lot for it He ran green, missing the break a little and he lost ground jumping the walkway Sandown maidens are generally pretty good (although I’m not so sure about …