Author: grarick

There has been a lot of movement lately in the yard, which is why I’m so far behind on the blog. Some things became clear in Cagnes: Blessing Belle doesn’t want to be a racehorse, and George (Email Exit) has really been given every chance, and even though he’s making progress, he probably needs to move on. It was already in the cards that Turfani go to breeding. So: We gave Belle one last run, but really just for the fun of it, to give Florence a ride down in Senonnes. The stud where Turfani needed to go was close by, which justified the trip; we dropped her on the way, and she will be covered by Iron Mask, a son of Danzig, when she’s ready. Belle ran predictably – moving along decently until the time to accelerate, when she stayed where she was. She has now been sold as an eventing prospect, which will suit her better. She doesn’t want to race, but she is a lovely horse to ride and she jumps.

George is more complicated. He ran in Deauville last Friday and missed a check by a nose-hair. The fourth, fifth and sixth horses in the 17-horse field were in a photo for checks, and we lost out. It was one of his best efforts yet, because he was really in over his head. It was a claimer for horses in for 13,000 to 21,000, and he beat some decent competition. Because he doesn’t have enough earnings over the past year, he is the first to get eliminated from a race. That means we take what we can get. If he gets in, he runs. But the bottom line is, he hasn’t brought home money, so he really has to move on.

So in with the new. For the prime flat season, we have some interesting new prospects. Strictly Rhythm debuted in Cagnes and has two places from three runs. She next goes to Deauville on Friday, with a good chance. Unfortunately, there is a Rouget horse that will be tough to beat, but we’ll have to give it a shot. It’s almost impossible to enter a three-year-old WITHOUT running up against a Rouget horse. It’s getting annoying, because the guy wins everything.

That said, we did get a stroke of luck. Rendition, an untried three-year-old filly, is likely to have her debut next Tuesday in Fontainebleau, and miracle of miracles, there are no Rouget entries. A couple from Sheik Mo, one from Sheik Hamdan, sure, but no Rouget. At least that’s something. Rendition has been working well, and it will be exciting to see her finally on the track. I had hoped to debut Rue Debelleyme, another untried three-year-old, in the same race, but she’s not ready yet.

Another new and very promising face is King Driver, a two-year-old colt otherwise known as the Sequestro Express (you’ll have to ask his owners about that). I bought the Express last year at the Osarus yearling sale in Lion d’Angers, and he came home from pre-training this week. He comes from an incredibly solid and winning family. His dam won eight races and her twelve foals have won a total of 59 races. There’s not much black type, but his brothers and sisters have a habit of regularly chucking checks in the bank, which is OK by me.

Eventually, the Express will be joined by Triple Tonic, a filly I bred and jointly own with two friends. She’s more for fun since the family is completely untried. She is the full sister to Well Shuffled, who we unfortunately lost during castration last year.

Some old faces will come back. Hard Way has been cleared by the vets to come back into training, and he will come home Thursday, along with Timelord, who seems to have recovered from his accident last year. And last but certainly not least is Hi Shinko, who should win a Tierce soon. We’re still looking for a couple of two-year-olds to complete the line-up, and then we’ll see what else turns up. In any case, we’re seem to be well-armed to start the year.

Now that I’m here, the south of France seems a lifetime ago. I’m picking up the rhythm of things here, and planning for the spring season. Strictly Rhythm scored a nice third in Marseille, and will win a race soon. She came back home well, and will probably run at St. Cloud or Deauville in about two weeks. Poor Turfani was unlucky again. When we left Cagnes, the STH gave her a stall sized for a mini-Shetland and when she came off the box in Marseille she had stepped on herself. She normally never has a problem traveling, so it was definitely the tight quarters. The injury was superficial, and the ground looked good, so I was still optimistic. Then after the first race, the skies opened up. The downpour lasted more than an hour, and by the time it was finished, the track had turned to slop. Turfani ran accordingly. Strictly Rhythm was lucky enough to get the last of the decent going. It’s frustrating, but it’s time to call time on her career and let her go off to stud.

Back home, Shinko seems well. If we can keep him down to a dull roar for a bit, he will wait until the Tierce on March 24 for his next race. But just in case we can’t sit on him any more, he’s entered in a claimer next week. The other three-year-old fillies seem very well. Rendition, purchased at last year’s breeze-up sale, seems finally almost ready to debut. Rue de Belleyme will take a little longer, but also seems on track.

We’re looking to sell on Blessing Belle, who really needs to go hurdling if she stays a racehorse. She doesn’t seem interested in showing much on the flat, and we want to move on to new things. She is sound and fit, so I hope she will be somewhat easy to place. She’s entered in a race next week, which she will run if she’s still here.

One of the upsides to stopping off in Marseille was a chance to see a colt called Batt Ling Jo win his maiden race. He is the brother of King Driver, bought by my Guernsey connections as a yearling and now ready to come into work. It is a very exciting family, and we all have high hopes for King.

I ended up in the Concorde after the last day of racing here, and fittingly, there was a spectacular bar fight that topped the one on the first night. This time, a certain trainer dramatically and publicly broke up with his partner, blows were thrown, names were called and everyone was thrown out, but not without a fight. The two continued to fight all the way across the street to the track, where one climbed the fence after the other, spewing insults all the way. My English friends and I had ringside seats two tables away.

On a calmer note, Blessing Belle was my last runner here, and she ran an uninspired eighth. We’re throwing in the towel on her now – she’s had a good chance down here, but doesn’t seem interested in racing. She is sound, easy to ride and jumps, so my objective when I get home is to place her elsewhere as soon as possible. She can either go hurdling, where she is likely to make some money, or be a decent show jumper/eventer. She is a big, good-looking horse and there’s nothing wrong with her, except her attitude.

The past 24 hours here have seen a steady parade of horse trucks loading and leaving. Turfani and Strictly Rhythm are among the last horses here, and the last two on our yard. I think they’re wondering what’s happening and where all their friends went. In any case, they were both quite happy to see me for night stable tonight, to reassure them that they haven’t been forgotten! I’ll load them at 7 tomorrow morning for the two-hour ride to Marseille. Strictly runs in the third race and Turfani the sixth. If the ground is not too soft, they both should have good chances. It will be Turfani’s last race before she heads off to be a brood mare, so I’d like to see her do well. She is a really wonderful horse, and she deserves to go out in style.

I’m spending the night packing, because there will be very little time tomorrow morning. I’ve got to get to Marseille before the horses so I’m there for unloading. It has certainly been a long strange trip, and I’m ready to go home. I’m very glad we did this, and I have learned a lot for next year. We answered the question on Belle, gave Strictly a great foundation for her season, finished up Turfan’s career and got to see Shinko flourish. I have one win and two places from 11 starts in Cagnes. Not horrible, but I can improve that if I do this again. For now, on to Marseille.

That’s all that separated Shinko from 23,500 euros on Wednesday. A head and shoulders. Half a length. I keep looking at the photo thinking Ugh! But he ran very, very well considering his far outside draw and two-kilo penalty in the handicap. Did I mention he went off at 74-1? I’m sure the prognosticators very nearly had to change their underwear when it looked like he might win. He still collected 4,500 euros for his fourth place, and this also marks my first placing in the big Tierce handicaps. We’ll get one soon. Shinko made it back home Thursday morning and has apparently been eating nonstop since he got there. That bodes well for finding him another try at the Tierce in Deauville in March.

The meeting here finishes tomorrow, and Blessing Belle will have one last crack before we try to sell her on. I’m not expecting a miracle, especially since she’s back on the turf, but if she decides to participate, she might run a place. While she won’t like the ground, she will appreciate the distance, back to 2,150 meters. After that, she’ll pack her bags and head home, leaving me with Turfani and Strictly Rhythm, who head to Marseille on Monday. Turfani just made the cut; she’s number 16 in the second half of the Tierce. Both seem in good form, and Strictly’s entry looks particularly good. Now we have to hope she handles the starting gate better than last time and that the ground turns up no worse than soft. After their races Monday, we all head home. It’s been a good ride, but I’m ready.

I’m in my last week down here, and things have sort of taken on an end-of-days feel. Fiona and the Moore horses went back today; four of the five horses next to me leave tomorrow night, as does Shinko, who runs the Tierce tomorrow and then goes home. I’m here through the bitter end. In addition to Shinko tomorrow, I’ve got Belle again on Saturday, then Turfani and Strictly Rhythm in Marseille on Monday. I’ll head home from there, leaving when they leave.

Belle ran yesterday and did OK, all things considered. She bowled along out front in her blinkers and lost steam in the last 100 meters. I thought she might hang in there for a place, but she finished eighth. She’ll have another shot on Saturday. The distance is better, at 2,150 meters, but it’s on the turf, which is sure to be either sticky or heavy, neither of which will help us. But we’ve already decided to sell her on, so this is sort of a last-chance effort.

Shinko, on the other hand, would have had a real chance tomorrow until I saw his draw: 18 on the far outside. I suppose 1 on the cord would have been worse, but this is not doing us any favors. No one drawn wider than 12 has won on this mile course. No one in the press gives us a ghost of a chance, which is fine by me – if I win, I like the odds to be long. Keeps the pressure off and my faithful “turfistes” happy.

Falling off was bad enough. Having my fate announced to every ear on the track over the loudspeaker was worse. Spidello, with me up, and Shinko were just finishing up a hack around the main track when Fabien warned me that a canter was coming on the inside. I moved out of the way, but Spidello – who was very, very fresh – decided he definitely was going along with fast horses. I said no. He said yes. I said no, and he said but yes, I am, and he got his nose down between his knees and launched into a series of bucks that finally sent me flying after about the third. He was due to have a canter yesterday, but we decided against it because of the horrible track condition (which we later ended up racing on – and shouldn’t of). Spidello races in the Tierce on Saturday, so he decided he needed that final workout after all. The track was still quite deep, so I didn’t get hurt, with the exception of pulling my shoulder a bit trying to hang onto the horse – unsuccessfully. So as I watched the backside of my next Tierce horse galloping full tilt down the backstretch thinking “oh, f*ck,” the sirens went off, the barriers went down, and the track announcer fired up the loudspeaker: “Loose horse! loose horse!” He then proceeded to give a play-by-play: “The loose horse is now galloping up the home stretch. I repeat: The loose horse is now galloping up the home stretch.” I stayed where I was, knowing Spidello would come back around, which he did (and that was confirmed by the announcer). But we were unable to stop him, and he took off for a second lap (again, with play-by-play). He finally pulled up at the main track entrance (of course), where the ground crew picked him up. “The loose horse has been caught. I repeat: The loose horse has been caught.” Thanks for that. So I cut across the infield to go get him, enduring all of the “you all right?” inquiries.

By the time I got back on, trotted him out on the main track and headed home, 20 people must have commented, including a few trotter drivers. Shinko, meanwhile, gave Fabien quite a circus once he realized he was on his own. Fabien stayed in the saddle, but it was touch and go for a bit. Spidello is no worse for wear, and he probably needed the work, so it all ended well. I’m sure there will be quite a few more remarks made at the cantine tonight. So far, everyone I know has come off at least once, with the exception of Big Kate and Fabien. Considering the circumstances, it would have been a minor miracle if I hadn’t fallen off at some point down here. Lucky the only thing hurt was my pride.

Mudville was the operative word today. It has been raining here for 48 hours now, and when it rains here, it pours. The track here is essentially a bowl at the bottom of the Alps, and there is no drainage. All morning, jockeys were saying racing would be canceled. I rode out first lot. Spidello has quite light action; while there was water standing on the track, he seemed to skim over it. But then I took Belle out for second lot. She is a heavy horse, and on her, I sensed we were finding the bottom of the track (that said, she seemed to enjoy it, which is more than I could say for Spidello). Strictly Rhythm and Turfani were really my two best chances of this meeting, and it was all being scuppered in the rain. The tractors were out and working the track from 11, but it wasn’t enough. The piste was completely waterlogged, and I would have done better to declare non-runner for the two of them.

In the end, Strictly finished sixth in a race she could have won, and Turfani finished eighth. We also could have done without the starting gate problems. Strictly was No. 1 in the gate, which would mean, in theory, that she would be loaded first. But she wasn’t having it, and instead of loading another horse first, the gate crew insisted, using a blindfold. She found herself alone, panicked and broke out the front leaving Fabien behind. But being a sensible horse, she didn’t run off, and he was able to catch her. By that time I had run down to the gate and told the crew to load another horse first. They hesitated, then finally did it. After that, Strictly loaded fine, and waited a good long time for everyone else to get in. Still, it would have been best to avoid the situation in the first place. I was called in by the stewards later (not a surprise, really), and I said everything would be fine as long as there was another horse first. They agreed, and it was no further trouble.

I’m not sure where either horse is going next, but there are races for the two of them in Marseiile on Feb. 28. It all depends on how they are tomorrow. It is supposed to stop raining tomorrow night, and the sun will return. And then everything will change, again.

Strictly Rhythm runs the first tomorrow, as Ian points out, Post 1, No. 1 in Race No. 1. That can only mean one thing, we hope. It’s a field of eight; two should not be a factor, three finished ahead of her last time out, but she has made tremendous progress since. The most dangerous should be, as usual, the Rouget, a filly who debuted 2eme here at the end of January.

Turfani, meanwhile, runs in the 7th. Poor mare can’t catch a break – she ended up in the first half of her handicap at bottom weight, meaning the competition is tougher and Fabien is too heavy to ride. We have Flavien Prat on board, who is OK, but I’d have preferred Fabien. But as our numerologist Ian points out, we have Post 7 in the 7th race and she’s No. 14, or 2×7.

Both horses seem in good form, especially Strictly. I know it’s too much to hope, but it would be really, really nice to win two…

It’s been a busy weekend, if not a terribly productive one race-wise. Blessing Belle actually ran quite a bit better than her last time out (well, it would have been hard to run worse), and Thulliez is up for giving her another shot. She’ll go back on Monday in a 2,400-meter handicap on the fibersand. She hasn’t gotten a chance to run on that surface yet because both of her races were on the turf, and I do think she might do something there. She’ll keep the blinkers, which seemed to help.

Shinko ran midfield on Sunday, but it wasn’t really his fault – it was an amateur rider race and I had no expectations going into it. The point was to get our favorite “cavaliere,” Florence, back into racing after a four-year absence. Florence is a wonderful person and she has been galloping my horses for me in Maisons-Laffitte while I’ve been in Cagnes. She was forced to give up her amateur license because of an illness, and the race Sunday was a victory for her in any case, because it marked the end of a long battle back. She’ll do better next time out, and Shinko got a workout under his belt in preparation for another crack at a Tierce handicap on the 23rd.

I, meanwhile, have fallen into the routine of morning work, quick lunch, racing, night stable, cantine bar. It’s the fault of the English contingent, really, that last bit. They all congregate in the bar after night stable, and even Bertrand, Spidello’s owner, has hooked into the routine. It’s a good way to discuss the day’s events, and you never know who might turn up. Tonight, I got a chance to lift a glass with the owner of Makfi. Turns out his uncle, who was also there, has won a bit of money on my horses over the past couple of years, which earned me a complimentary round of drinks. At home, meanwhile, I’ve fallen into the routine of meals consisting of either cheese and crackers or pasta, because I only have a gas burner to cook with and I’m not ambitious enough to get very creative. I’ve had a steady string of visitors off and on, which has thwarted any long-term, and maybe healthier, grocery shopping. But horse boot camp is almost over, and in two weeks I will go back to my real life – and a healthier diet – in Maisons-Laffitte.

Racing today in Cagnes didn’t involve me, but my English stable-mates had plenty of runners so I helped saddle and run errands for them. They finished with a winner and two places, and the winner was claimed, so everybody was happy. My own horses are idling awaiting their weekend entries. Belle worked yesterday with Spidello, but she really called it in and I’m not very optimistic about her chances on Saturday. Physically, she is great – looking shiny and well, veins popping and fit to go. Mentally, she just doesn’t want to know. She will have blinkers this time in the hopes this might wake her up (or make her angry enough to run faster). Theirry Thulliez said he was happy enough to give her another crack, so let’s hope he can find the button this time. Hold your bets, though.

Shinko has been doing very little because he only gets a week between races. That said, he certainly doesn’t seem tired. Because the four other horses all had work to do yesterday, he was the odd man out and that left me to ride him on my own. This is a bad idea for a few reasons, but the biggest one is that Shinko is really a coward and doesn’t like to go anywhere without a buddy, certainly not into a situation that involves dodging trotters. So we did it American style. I walked him in hand to warm him up, then when I hopped on, Bertrand led us down to the track, let go at just the right moment and I hacked him all around the outside (not without a few arguments over direction). I pulled up where we started, turned up the off ramp and then jumped off. Just in time, too, because a packet of sulkies came down the track behind us and Shinko launched into a bucking bronc routine that would have made any rodeo proud. I managed to get him home, unsaddle him and walk to cool out. He was a little confused over the routine, but he got to stretch his legs and nobody got hurt.

Turfani and Strictly Rhythm worked together and both went very well. I rode Turfani and had all I could do to keep her speed down to a reasonable work. When Strictly Rhythm came upsides at the head of the stretch, we flew home, and that’s with Turfani carrying at least 15 kilos more than Strictly. They both seemed well-primed for their entries next week.