New Recruit

I claimed a filly called Shepherd’s Warning from Thirsk on Saturday night – the first time I have ever claimed a 2yo. She will be trained by Nicky Vaughan, who is training at Michael Owen’s yard – they will have their first runner in the next few weeks. Nicky reports her to be “sweet and good natured, but very light”. She’ll have a bit of a rest now – I’ll own her jointly with Tony Calvin who is a Betfair spokesman.

Shawhill runs tonight at Windsor and I give her a decent chance. The one I most feared, Coyote Creek, is a non-runner. Sir Mark runs the likely favourite, Red Petal, who is the only other filly in the race. There are a whole host of unexposed types who could be very well in, although none hold any revealing entries. Shawhill has put on quite a lot of weight during the short time she has been at Tom’s, and he says she is still as fit as she can be – she may have progressed a fair bit. We don’t know but we think she’ll prefer the softer ground to the G/F she’s been running on recently. All in all I’m pretty hopeful.

I’ve had a look at the remainder of today’s racing, and there is nothing I would want to have a bet on.