The horses know its Christmas and are all in good form.
Red Rock has been declared to run tomorrow at Taunton in the 2m1f Handicap hurdle. He was due to run last week at Uttoxeter but due to the ground being to testing we decided to wait for the better ground.
Wednesday we have three entries at Ludlow.
Fulgora in the Juvenile Hurdle, Ten Fires in the 3mile Chase and Conigre in the Bumper. Conigre needs 7 to come out to get a run so I am keeping fingers crossed.
Ten Fires was due to run at Lingfield on Saturday and we got half way there to learn on Twitter that racing had been abandoned due to frost. He was in great form and I am really annoyed especially for his owner Ian Kidger as we had not declared for Cheltenham as the ground was to firm and now I am going to have make a new plan of action.
Aeronautica runs Tuesday at Folkestone in the 2m5f Handicap chase and then on Friday Red Rock has been entered at Uttoxeter in the 2m4f Handicap Hurdle.
It looks like we are going to get rather wet this week and I see on the weather forecast there are likely to be strong winds, I hope Folkestone is on.
We worked Red Rock, Fulgora and the Milan Filly on Friday and they went well, the Milan Filly is improving all the time and Lady Cobham has named her Fairey Delta, hopefully she will be ready to run after Christmas.
Kielan Woods and Sam Jones came in Thursday and we schooled Aeronautica and Ten Fires over fences and then Fulgora led the Milan filly over the hurdles.
This week I am aiming to work Conigre and Westward, they have had an easy week due their blood not being right.
Fingers crossed the weather does not ruin our plans.
The following entries have been made for next week.
Monday Lingfield Expensive Legacy in the 3.30pm race 1m2f Handicap
Tuesday Fontwell Aeronautica 2.10pm race 2m4f Handicap Chase
Red Rock 2.40pm race 2m2f Handicap Hurdle and the 3.40pm race 2m4f Handicap Hurdle
Thursday Ludlow Ten Fires in the 2.40pm race 3m1 1/2 f Handicap Chase
Thursday Taunton Red Rock in the 1.20pm race 2m3 1/2f Handicap Hurdle.
Delamere Racing has a new horse called Conigre who has been leased from Ann Sturgis. He is a lovely four year old by Selkirk and has been working and schooling very well. There are only a few shares left in him, please see the partnership page for more details.
Yesterday both Kielen Woods and Sam Jones came in to school. Ten Fires and Aeronautica both jumped very well over fences and then we schooled Fulgora and Conigre over the hurdles and we were delighted with them as well.
Red Rock has been declared to run tomorrow at Fontwell in the 2m4f handicap, he is top weight and seems to be high enough in the handicap for what he has achieved so far. But he seems in good form at home and hopefully the ground will be ok (at the last meeting the jockeys reported that the ground was very gluey and tacky). Fingers crossed.
Last week I was begining to tear my hair out wondering what I had done wrong to deserve so many problems in the yard.
Ten Fires was on course to be running at the Hennessy meeting at Newbury on Saturday, but he had a dirty scope so has had to have a quiet week, he is back cantering now and watching him on the gallops this morning I think he is feeling better!!
Aeronautica returned lame from her race at Lingfield so had to have a quiet week, but is back moving well and I am keen to get her out fairly soon.
Smart Viking got spooked on the roads by the builders and managed to get loose and fall over cutting his knees so I am afraid he will be on rest for at least a month while they heal.
Westward Point returned lame from excercise and I thought the worse, but luckily it turned out to be a corn, which we had to treat and he was on rest for the week, I was rather nervous riding him yesterday as he could have been very fresh but luckily he behaved well.
Cardinal James has picked up a small injury and will be on rest for the Winter, he prefers summer jumping ground so will have his holiday now and come back for the Spring.
This week has started much better and Effectsmenone is back cantering after his Bumper, he had a few easy weeks to strenghten up and feels great on the gallops so hopefully he will be ready to run in a few weeks time.
Fulgora is in tip top form and we have started to school her and she loved jumping so much that Sam Jones could not pull her up after the hurdles. She will have one more Bumper run on the 8th December at Taunton before going hurdling after Christmas.
Fulgora on the schooling ground.
Conigre is in good form and did his first piece of work this morning and I was delighted with him. He hopefully will be ready to run at the start of December. He has been leased to Delamere Racing for the season and will have one more run in a Bumper before going hurdling. He is a lovely looking horse who has filled out this summer and I can not wait to run him. There are 15 shares available at £80 per month or a one off payment of £560.
CONIGRE
If you would like to come and see him on the gallops please give Tor a bell.
By joining Delamere we offer you
1. Racehorse membership without the cost of purchasing a horse. 2.The whole experience of Ownership
3. Open Mornings on the gallops
4. The opportunity to attend race meetings as an owner
5. A share in the prize money won
6. Weekly updates by email and on the Web Site
If you or your friends are interested (it would make a great Christmas present!!) please email Tor at info@torsturgisracing.co.uk for more details.
Oh yes and the Three puppies are doing very well!!
We have no more runners this week.
Tuesday was very frustrating, Aeronautica unseated Wayne at the first fence at Lingfield. She has schooled very well at home and she has been working so well I had been hopeful of a big run, to get no further than the first was very annoying to say the least.
All the horses cantered on the grass yesterday and went very well.
This morning Fulgora jumped for the first time in the school and really enjoyed her self. She is so well I may look for one more bumper run before going hurdling.
Yesterday I picked up the Needwood Blade two-year old who has had a holiday at the farm, he has grown and looks great so we will gradually get him fit before deciding whether we run him on the flat or keep him for a three-year old bumper.
We have two new horses arrived this week, Ten Fires is a lovely 3 mile chaser and has settled in well, hopefully he will be ready to run at the Hennessy meeting at Newbury. I have also bought a two-year old, By Danehill Dancer out of a Saddlers Wells mare. He is quite backward so I have gelded him and he will have the winter off before bringing him back in the spring.
I am hoping we can get enough people together to have a free lease on Conigre for the season. He ran in two competitive Bumpers last season and will be ready to run at the end of the November. He will have one more Bumper run before going hurdling. He is a lovely horse who has been given plenty of time and hopefully we can have a lot of fun with him this winter so if you would be interested in him please give me a call.
Tomorrow I am off to Cheltenham, which should be good fun and then on Saturday evening I am off to Ralph Beckett’s 40th Birthday, the theme is ‘The Good The Bad and The Ugly’ any ideas would be great!!
We also had the arival of three puppies yesterday!!
Charity Rainbow having her first jump this morning.
Last week I went to Newmarket for the horses in training sales. There were plenty of horses but the competition was very hot, with a lot of foreign buyers especially the Australians (so it was wonderful for us to win the Melbourn Cup this morning!!).
There was a lack of Jumpers so the market was strong. The horses I liked but failed to buy I will follow with interest.
Tartan Gunner – did not meet his reserve, I thought he would make a lovely dual purpose horse and he is well handicapped at present no wonder Mark Johnson was keen not to sell him.
Shernando was bought by Nicky Henderson for £55k he was another Mark Johnson horse with plenty of scope.
Lyvius was bought for Highflyer for £32k he was a lovely German horse who had very good form.
Protect was a lovely two year old filly offered by Michael Stoute, I should have been braver and bid more for her as she was sold for £10k. She had a wonderful outlook and scope that I thought she would improve with a winter and then she could go hurdling next year, I am gutted I was not braver in my bidding.
Sir Mark Prescott’s horses were all in demand and made plenty of money, I knew they would be out of my budget but I was hoping State Senator would be affordable, and he looked like he would make a lovely dual purpose horse but he went for too much to Highflyer.
Bouggatti was a lovely type a real jumping stamp and I thought with his handicap mark of 68 I would be in with a chance but he made £32k.
Rocky Rebel was another big jumping type and Ralph Beckett recommended him to me but he made too much and went to Chris Bealby.
A quick turn around and I came home for Fulgora to run a promising run in the Bumper at Fontwell, she made the running and was outpaced when the increased in the home straight and began to tire in the last two furlongs in the soft ground. She showed a good attitude and Sam Jones gave her a lovely ride. She has come out of the race so well I have decided to run her at Towcester this week for some more experience, before going hurdling.
We had a long journey to Uttoxeter on Friday – Friday traffic on the motorway made it a journey from hell and Wayne and I wondered if we would make it in time, we ended up taking a very scenic route following our google map on the iphone!! We made it for Effectsmenone to run a very promising race in the Bumper, he is a lovely horse but is still incredibly weak and green, so I was delighted with his run. He will have learnt so much for this run and we will look for another run before Christmas, I want to give him plenty of time to strengthen up.
Yesterday I went to Doncaster sales and there were a few nice horses. I liked With Hindsight from Clive Cox but I felt he lacked scope for the future. Lucinda Russell bought Navy List, I feel this is the one I should have bid more for and I will be watching him to see how he gets on. There were plenty of horses with problems and I liked Hawkhill, but he is going to need a bit of time off before racing again and Tim Vaughn bought him.
I am annoyed that I did not come home with anything but I am going to have to get braver with bidding!
Today we had a good day at the yard, everything schooled very well and we managed to get them all over the hurdles on the grass after the rain last night. Aeronautica schooled over the fences and Wayne was delighted with her, I am hoping to run her next week at either Hereford or Lingfield.
Smart Viking and Westward Point jumped the hurdles well. Conigre schooled for the first time and I was very pleased with him. Then we jumped the Milan Filly in the school along with Charity Rainbow.
The Milan Filly has improved so much in the last month and Sam Jones was delighted with her.
Rhosilli Bay was a non runner on Wednesday due to her having a slight sore shin, this was very annoying a she was in good form and we had hoped to get a run in to her before her going on holiday.
Century Dancer was entered at Wolverhampton, but missed the cut by one so she has been retired and will go to her new home this week.
The following entries have been made:
Thursday Fontwell Fulgora runs in the Bumper.
Friday Effectsmenone has been entered at Uttoxeter in the Bumper, I am desperate to run him, and I am hoping for some rain.
We have done plenty of schooling this week.
Red Rock ridden by Wayne Hutchinson
Smart Viking
ridden by Wayne Hutchinson
We also schooled Westward Point, he is jumping well but needs to learn to settle, at the moment he thinks he knows best so we have to do plenty of work to keep him relaxed. Aeronautica schooled very well over fences and I can not wait to start her over fences this season.
The Needwood Blade two year old is currently on the farm as he needs time to develop, he caused some entertainment this week as he was found in the next door neighbours swimming pool, not to their amusement!! But he did walk out up the steps as though nothing was wrong!!
We have a busy week of sales with Newmarket starting on Monday until Thursday, then Doncaster on Monday 31st October. I am on the look out for a few new recruits and hope that we can find something suitable.
