The PAs at Betfair had an evening out at Windsor races on Monday night, and they had a £50 kitty for betting on the horses. Chantelle, my PA, was responsible for investing the kitty, and she decided as follows; £20 win Hip Hip Hooray, £10 E/W Acclaimed, £10 win Right Stuff. They won at 14/1, 9/2 and 16/1.
I went to watch Swindon play QPR last night – I took Mick and his daughter, both staunch QPR supporters. We were 2-1 up at half time but lost 3-2 – it was an extremely entertaining game and we lost nothing in defeat.
Mick tells me that the QPR message boards were full of compliments for the Swindon team this morning, which is unusual. I’m very positive about the season ahead and I felt proud to be associated with a club that is playing such attractive football.
The wet weather is continuing to disrupt my racing plans. I very much doubt we’ll get a run into Winker this week now, which is a shame. We may find a race for Lilac Moon, but she wouldn’t want it too soft either. Marine Boy, who is down to run next week, will be very happy on soft ground.
I’ve been doing a little research into owners, concentrating on breeders – I think it helps to understand the landscape here a little better. Some interesting stats;
Cheveley Park had 45 wins from 170 runs over the last 5 years for horses aged 4yo+. This is a 26% hit rate and returned an SP profit of £54. It isn’t surprising that a stud would have a high hit rate at 4yo+ – at the end of their third year horses are generally either sold or put into production, and will only be kept in training if it is believed that the best is yet to come.
Ballymacoll, Khalid Abdulla, Saeed Suhail and Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Makhtoum are also worth following in the 4yo+ age group, presumably for similar reasons. Godolphin and Ahmed Al Makhtoum give a small loss, but this could be worked with.
The US breeders are very interesting to follow, but probably for different reasons. The horses that they send to the UK are carefully selected types that will thrive in UK conditions. They are typically campaigned carefully and not overraced – no doubt the owners rarely attend the racecourse. They also often go off at surprisingly long prices, no doubt because they are unhyped and unbacked by their owners. Check out George Strawbridge, L Neil Jones and my personal favourite, Stonerside Stables.
Other breeder/owners worth looking at: Bjorn Nielsen, Renata Jacobs, Tom (T G) Warner.
I see George Strawbridge has a 2yo coming out today – Cavera in the 2:00 at Salisbury. George’s 2yos show a small loss and this one may not appreciate the ground, but I’ll have a look anyway.