A good day on Sunday with King’s Head doing it nicely. He needs it G/F or firm and given that he has invariably delivered when he has had his ground I probably should have given him a stronger write up. He may come out again on the weekend – he has entries on Saturday at Market Rasen and Sunday at Ascot. Market Rasen is currently good and they state that they may “water to maintain”, which won’t help his cause. Ascot should be G/F but it’s a flat race.
Prince Ary finished last. His last few runs have been very poor and I don’t see any reason why this is going to turn around – I’ve decided to pull stumps on his career. I could put him in the sales and get a few bob for him, but it wouldn’t be a lot – I’d prefer to just give him away to a good home. He’s well liked in the stable and has a nice personality – if anyone is interested drop me a line through the blog.
I was in Cambridge on Sunday seeing friends, and I popped over to Newmarket to see the two yearlings I have at New England Stud. I couldn’t believe how well they looked – my Rock of Gibraltar in particular had made giant strides and both looked like 2yo types. I took my two young daughters and four of their friends – the six of them lined up on the fence cooing and squealing until the fillies eventually spooked and ran off. It was a great day out.
I have a few runners coming up, the main one being Winker in the QE11 on Saturday. It’s not a certainty that he’ll line up – he has another possible engagement a week later and we’ll decide later in the week. Max One Two Three is also down to run at the weekend, but she pulled a muscle today and is an unlikely runner now. Bea Menace, an unraced CSH 2yo with Paul Cole is close to a run and may go on Friday. Paul gave Jeremy a positive report on her today, although she will need her first run.
Mick had a very upbeat call from Nicky Vaughan today. The vet is a lot happier with Lilac Moon, and if we wanted we could probably get her back on the track in December. I’m not sure that we do want this, but it’s nice to have the option. The other three are all close to running. Effingham should come out around October 1, and we’ll find out a bit more about where we are with him – I’m not overly bullish but he’s dropped to a fair mark if he retains any ability. Shepherd’s Warning is in good shape and I’m looking forward to seeing her out again. Viscaya is a bit tricky but she’s shown signs of ability and she’s an interesting prospect – there’s a lot of upside in her handicap mark if we can get her right. SW and Viscaya should come out around mid October.
Bouguereau continues to make excellent progress – I’m hoping to get the next vet’s report tomorrow and if it stacks up we may make plans. I also have to decide where my four yearling fillies are going to be trained, and I’ll settle on that in the next fortnight.