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NEWS AUGUST ROUND UP August had not been forgotten, but plenty of the horses had been given a short break and wound down a little, without yet having becoming the coiled athletic springs that merit a mention. That spell was broken by ASHMOLIAN, who was a game third at Fontwell. He is not the best handicapped of horses at the moment, but he tried his heart out and only narrowly missed second, although the winner may have been a bit of a handicap blot and out of reach on the day.
Shropshirelass always has this bout of shyness on the walkway to the track at Fontwell. For some reason the words, "oh indeed, Mr Darcy" seem to fit. A recent departure is DAMASCUS GOLD, who has left to take up stallion duties in Syria! A lesson there for us all in trying to anticipate every future marketing possibility when naming a horse. For instance, would the Syrians have been so keen if his name was Mossad Gold or Moshe Dayan? Also note that there are now 10% shares available in TURBULENT PRIEST on a free lease. JULY ROUND UP 1) SHROPSHIRELASS has been the main on course feature so far. She was a decent third at Stratford, but it could have been better had she not decided to step through the hurdle in front of the stands with a lap to go. Not only did she lose valuable impetus, but the sudden braking effect threw Gemma out of the saddle and over Shropshirelass' head. Gemma described it as "being able to taste the grass," not necessarily a bad thing in your repertoire when needing to do a very low weight, but all those gymastic and trapeze lessons paid off as she found her way back into the saddle. In the end they were only beaten three lengths and a bit, but for those wishing to review it, the ATR bod who puts the race pictures on line seems to have lost the will to live half way through this meeting and our race is not available. There are a handful of new arrivals to note, CANNI THINKAAR, who knows his way round Plumpton and Fontwell with his eyes closed), a couple picked up at Ascot Sales - BOLD PIONEER (a nice big chasing type who has won and been placed up north) and placed ex-Irish pointer, OK KITTY Also, thanks to everyone who made it to the Open Day - a brief gallery is on offer here - Open Day Gallery JUNE ROUND UP Some well behaved horses having a gallop on a hot day (above) and a trouble maker (below)
Diefer on his Aintree trip: "It is well known that you need a dog in a racing stables to run the place, but I actually get to go racing quite a lot. Lingfield is not that far cross country if we have not got a runner, and someone in the golf club will usually buy me a half of lager and some Monster Munch. Fontwell is another favourite, as I can nip back and forth to the box between races unnoticed. Salisbury is not too bad either. Aintree was the biggest adventure yet, and all the way up I was under the seat wetting myself laughing. Literally - I'm surprised nobody picked up on the smell! Maybe I will get to Ffos Las soon." 2) Meanwhile, back at Lingfield, EJEED bounced back to form with a third place over six furlongs - a bit shorter than he was excelling at earlier in the year. For 2010 he has now finished in the first four on six occasions from nine runs. Maybe not having a stowaway dog in the horsebox was a great comfort to him, but if the dog can get all the way to Lancashire undetected, Lingfield and back should be no problem. The day after MACINDI STARR finally found out that there is more to life than eating and growing, then growing some more, by running in a bumper at Stratford. Although she was too green to figure in the prize money, she seemed to enjoy the experience, and did not lose her temper with anybody! 1) Having not sparkled at Towcester, SPIDER BOY was lined up to bow out at Fontwell, but fifth in a big field, threatening a place until the final flight was enough to think we should give him another go before a break, and a possible brief stint as schoolmaster towards the end of the year. He followed up with third at the same venue a week later and that is it for the summer. Go to the Spider Boy page for an anorak treat about where this brings his career tally. On the same day, Zoe and Andy were taking ASHMOLIAN and SHROPSHIRELASS up to Aintree for a run the next day as it was a bit of a long round trip to make on the day, especially with Ash not being the happiest of travellers - although Shropshirelass put up a fair run to be fifth. We did have a stowaway on board, as Gemma's dog is a keen wanderer, plus he likes napping in the box. It was a bit of a surprise when he popped up from under the seat just as we turned off of the M6, but he did offer to chip in for the diesel and to bark at ant hitch-hiking hippies. In in the interest of balance, the other dogs that stayed at home appreciated twenty-four hours of peace and quiet. Spider Boy retirement? No thanks! gallery MAY ROUND UP With two wins this week, our annual total is now nine, which is already our best for a calendar year. Hopes were high given the horses that we had in the yard of beating the previous total, but to get there so early in the year is very, very satisfying. The biggest contributor has been Sherjawy, who is imminently going on a summer break. At the other end of the scale, Spider Boy is an intended runner at Fontwell on the bank holiday weekend, and the odds are that it will be his farewell appearance. 2) A rapid pick up from the ticking over came courtesy of ASHMOLIAN, when he won at Towcester. It was all rather splendid in many ways. Firstly, it was Ash's first win, despite a couple of near misses last year. Secondly, we found a race for him that was almost certain to be run fast early and suit hold-up horses, such as ours. Thirdly, the oppo managed to avoid flinging themselves to the ground in front of him, so his confidence was never compromised, and when he needed a good jump at the last, Ash got it. Obviously the experience was one that Ashmolian enjoyed more than he expected, as less than a week later he repeated it with a win at Fakenham. The race went a similar way - he was held up slightly off of the pack, found no accidents or inconveniences to distract him, and came with a late run, that everyone thought had just failed, but in fact was good enough by a short head. He did get a bash on the bonce from the runner-up's whip on the run-in, but as it did not involve leaving the ground, Ash decided to tolerate it...for now. Ashmolian Fakenham win gallery
Having been in the parade ring in plenty of time, Spider Boy walked past this sign at Towcester enough times that he switched off his competition mode of thought. 1) A ticking over start to the month. SHROPSHIRELASS made the frameagain, being third at Fakenham, and EJEED did the same at Windsor. That was the latter's first run on soft ground and it did not seem to do too much to demoralise him. SHERJAWY had another slight up in grade at Goodwood and was fourth. Unfortunately, he dead-heated for fourth, which means the prize money was split and he earned the princely sum of £156.33 - what to do with the odd 33p? APRIL ROUND UP 3) A very pleasing end to April, as SHERJAWY bravely picked up a win on the grass at Brighton, with a late surge producing his now traditional win by a margin that only words, and not numbers, can describe. ATR viewers will have noticed a certain inconsistency in the supporting team, split between those remembering a bust all-weather season, and those hopeful of transferring the winter improvement to turf. Spin doctors across the land despair at the inability to maintain a consistent message to voters, erm, viewers. 2) Not so poor SHROPSHIRELASS after all, as she defied the handicapper by winning - despite the hoik up the weights - in a competitive handicap hurdle at Plumpton, although it was hard work, leading very late and getting home by half a length. Although it was completely different going to that which she had met at Stratford, she had won on fast in the past. For anyone who bypassed the home page, there are a couple of shares remaining in her full sister, SUSSEX LASS. Shropshire Las has won now in Shropshire and Sussex, maybe Sussex Lass will do the same... Meanwhile, on the all-weather, SHADOW BAY ran another solid race, finishing a three length eighth, and seems to be progressing nicely after a few months off the track. Going back to the jumpers as part of an incredibly badly structured sentence in an erratic paragraph, despite finding a couple of rivals far too strong, TCHANG GOON jumped very satisfactorily on his novice chase debut at Fontwell, which augurs well for when he tries handicaps. 1) Poor SHROPSHIRELASS - one win and she is hoisted up eleven pounds in the handicap. Seems a bit harsh for the quality of race and the fact that some of the main dangers ran themselves into the ground before the end of the race. Meanwhile, on the track JUST BEWARE put on a brave show to be third in the feature race of Plumpton's Easter double header on desperate ground, and SHADOW BAY followed her example, although he tackled a more adventurous task - journeying to Yarmouth and back on a bank holiday Monday. He seemed to find it less fraught than the driver... MARCH ROUND UP 5) Dear old SPIDER BOY had a bit of an off day in the mire at Fontwell, but the end of March was lit up by SHROPSHIRELASS winning at Stratford. She did find the pace a bit hot as she stepped down a little in trip, but determination was not missing, and the oppo gradually wilted, and she found herself in charge as they hit the home straight. A pleasing outcome as it has taken a bit of time and head scratching to get her right since she joined us. 4) Getting towards the end of March and SHERJAWY continued his wonder season with a one length second in a 0-85 race. He started the all-weather season rated 56 and is now on 71, and the thirteen races in the meantime have produced 3 wins, 5 seconds and 2 thirds. And in one of the other runs, he won over £500 for being fourth to a couple of horses rated over 100 in a level weights race. Meanwhile, SPIDER BOY, despite having his Kempton form let down badly by Punjabi, was undismayed enough to manage second at Fontwell - the fifth straight race in which he has come home in the first four. And SEE ELSIE PLAY ran her best race to date, fourth in a mile maiden. 3) Off to Towcester next, and SPIDER BOY ran another good race, finishing fourth after getting bumped around in a rough race, where Gemma thought he could well have been second with a trouble free passage (Note to self - find out if horses can get haemorrhoids). After that ASHMOLIAN also ran well, eventually seventh, but had his chances ruined when nearly brought down at halfway. A smaller field than the cavalry charge he encountered here will suit better. We would be happy for JUST BEWARE to replicate those results at Cheltenham on Tuesday!!
Ashmolian (left) tries to go about his business calmly, when we all know that he is much more keyed up than he tries to let on. Meanwhile, a contented Spider Boy demonstrates that he personally, considers the result an exceptional performance (or could those pesky Farmer Giles' be at it again?) 2) Another brave effort in defeat came from SHROPSHIRELASS, who was second of thirteen in a big field at Stratford, where she appeared to have nicked a vital advantage at the end of the back straight, only for one rival to extricate itself from the pack travelling well, and reel her in at the final hurdle. A couple of days later SHERJAWY won for the eighth time in a four runner conditions race at Lingfield, his first on the course. He was not well treated at the weights, but has been in outstanding form, and is the television producers dream - his last four races have been second by a short head, won by a neck, another short head second and a win by a nose. It's BBC2 for Shakespeare, but Sherjawy on the all-weather for drama, to paraphrase some famous gibberish. 1) The first day of spring saw a enlivened by sunshine JUST BEWARE (and slightly less spritely Gemma) make a cracking stab at success at Plumpton. Despite her handicap mark still being a bit high, Just Beware was second, beaten only a couple of lengths, and reeling in the tiring winner all the time. Her main weapon here was adapting to the very heavy going very well - the meeting just about survived an inspection for waterlogging.
"Stop pestering me at work. Just turn up on Saturdays with carrots!" Just Beware (black and yellow) spots a familiar face in the crowd. |
