Category: Updates from the yard

George finished a good second at Longchamp yesterday, putting together two decent races for the first time, which is very encouraging. It was a very low-level handicap, but he battled on well just the same in a messy race. He was trapped on the rail and got jostled and cut off two or three times, but sprinted to the finish when the rail opened up to grab second place in a field of 20. A month ago, I couldn’t sell him for 4,000 euros, and he’s earned nearly 7,000 euros since! He will now go to Guernsey, to run in the DerringBay Memorial Handicap (at least that’s what I’ve decided to call it). After that, we’ll reassess where to go with him.

Next up: Rendition gets another try on Monday in Maisons-Laffitte. It will be interesting to see how she handles her second time out.

She’s consistent. Strictly Rhythm finished 3rd of 14 runners at St. Cloud yesterday, again beaten by a filly with Classic ambitions. The race played out completely the opposite of Deauville. Strictly broke a bit fresh and no one would lead, so she was forced to the front and stayed there. Not what you want to see from the stands, but Francois-Xavier Bertras (easier to call him FX, which he seems to answer to) rode a good race, settling back the pace to not take too much out of her and save gas for the finish. She kicked on and hung on well, losing second by a neck. Again, we wouldn’t have beaten the winner, who will show up in Group races later this year. That’s four checks in five races for Strictly Rhythm. She’ll win one soon – most likely when these other Group fillies head off to bigger things.

Tomorrow, George heads to Longchamp. He’s pretty excited about getting to play in the nice park. Let’s see how he does…

Strictly Rhythm will be part of a field of 14 Tuesday at St. Cloud, in a 2,000-meter maiden. My hope is that after this race she no longer qualifies for this sort of thing. This should be an interesting race, because it will tell us whether we can look up or down in terms of where she goes next. The big trainers are bringing out their good three-year-olds with classic ambitions, so the competition is getting tougher, even at this level. If she wins, we can think about the next step up and have a good horse on our hands. If she doesn’t win, we still have a useful horse, but maybe we’ll have to start looking at handicaps and claimers rather than dreaming of black type. In any case, she is in better form than when she was second in Deauville, and she is still not in top form yet. Her coat is coming, but hasn’t come up all the way yet. She has changed for the better physically, but is still finishing growing.

On Thursday, George goes to Longchamp, of all places, for a 2,000-meter handicap. He seems fine, too, but you never know with George. If he can relax, he can run well. He seems to have understood this the past two times out; let’s hope he’s retained the lesson and doesn’t freak out because he’s on grass rather than fibersand.

Our far-flung owners are visiting us this week, too, so it should be fun if nothing else. We get to run two horses at two wonderful tracks and the weather is fine. What more can we ask for?

Hi Shinko lost a race he should have won today because of a bad decision by our jockey. I had to change jockeys because Fabien, our usual rider for Shinko, had another commitment more important (the problem of being a small yard is that I’m often low on the priority list). So I used Greg Benoist, a jockey I’ve had good results with in the past and who I do like. But today, he gave me one of the worst rides ever. The way to ride Shinko is to let him start how he pleases (which will usually be fast) then ease him into a position and keep it. If another horse passes him, he’ll stop. Shinko jumped out fast today and Greg didn’t want to take the lead, which was the right instinct, but he then hooked him back into sixth or seventh position, which was the wrong instinct. He fought with the horse for the first 200 meters or so, and after that Shinko found himself trapped inside with nowhere to go, so he went nowhere. Coming out of the turn we were in horrible traffic trouble, and even if Shinko did decide to participate, he couldn’t have gotten anywhere. So Greg did the sensible thing and dropped his hands and let him gallop out. Best that can be said is that maybe our handicap will go down a kilo.

Shinko came back hardly having broken a sweat, and was kicking down the walls and looking for food when he got home. It was all just a simple piece of gate training for him – he didn’t do much more and probably didn’t lose 500 grams. I’d like to race him back as quickly as possible, but we may have to wait a couple of weeks. I keep scouring the condition book, looking for something I may have missed. What a frustrating day. I’m usually more guarded in my optimism about my horses’ chances, but today I couldn’t see any reason we shouldn’t have been in the first five home.

I’m a bit late in posting this, but good old George (Email Exit) ran a lovely race to finish second in Deauville last Thursday, beaten just a short head. He looked the winner 100 meters out, but couldn’t quite hang on. He fought hard, though, and ran probably his best race for us so far. We’ve been more than patient with him and I was just about to try to move him on. I think he likes the food here, though, so he decided to finally run a race. He’s a really nice horse to have around, so I’m glad he seems to have finally understood the game. We might now keep him around for the annual Guernsey races on May 2, with a run or two before then.

Rendition made her debut last Tuesday at Fontainebleau. Some things went well and some didn’t. She handled everything fine, most importantly the starting gate, but never found her action on the uneven dry ground. Peslier said the grounds crew had plugged holes with sand, and that the going was very choppy. She galloped along with the group, but in the home stretch never found any acceleration. She is a fast learner, though, and a courageous filly, so I’m sure we’ll see a different side to her next time out. I’ll make sure we get good, even, true ground and she will improve. I think we need good to soft for her, and we’re likely to get that here in Maisons-Laffitte in mid-April.

Hi Shinko, meanwhile, runs Tuesday in the Tierce at Compiegne. The last time he ran a Tierce was in Cagnes sur Mer, and he went off at 80-1 and nearly won. This time things will be different. I’ve gotten calls from at least five journalists asking about his chances, and Geny courses, a leading tip site, has made us the favorite, which is usually the kiss of death. I would much rather be 80-1 than anything in the single digits, especially in this kind of race. Shinko is in good form, but we’re on the turf this time with a climb up the home stretch. His task will not be easy.

Strictly Rhythm ran a fantastic race yesterday in Deauville and would have won – except, of course, for the horse trained by Rouget, a filly who has entries in the Prix de Diane and other classic races and was predictably impossible to beat. That said, our filly ran very well and took a convincing second place. That makes three checks from four starts for Strictly Rhythm, who is turning out to be very useful indeed. There still is the annoying problem of the starting gate. She wants to part of it, and it takes four of France’s finest “pousseurs” to shovel her in. Once she’s in, she’s fine. She just doesn’t want to go. The Equidia commentators were saying that the filly didn’t want to race. Not true. She’s fine with the concept of racing, as evidenced by her performance. It’s just the gate she wants no part of. I don’t know what went wrong with her gate training, because she came this way. But whatever it was, I don’t think I can fix it. We just have to hope we never stumble upon an unmotivated gate crew. And it would be nice, for once, if we didn’t have a Rouget horse to contend with.

Next up is Rendition at Fontainebleau on Tuesday. It looks like a good entry (meaning no Rouget horses for once!), and we have Peslier aboard, but it’s a field of untried fillies, so who knows what might happen?

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.