Sunday 24th August

August 24, 2014

On Wednesday we headed to Lingfield with ROCK OF LEON. He was soon bustled up to lead early on. He was ridden over three furlongs out, when headed two furlongs from home. He had every chance until one furlong out and soon looked outpaced and was beaten. In the evening GRAND MEISTER was not given the best of ride. He was forced wide and was never dangerous in the race. It was a shame as he looked as though he was bouncing back to form.

On Friday we started the day at York with WIGMORE HALL. He dwelt in the rear and made some good headway three furlongs out. He was ridden well over a furlong out and stayed on to chase the leaders entering the final furlong. He seems to lose his races in the stalls as he is so laid back, he is always last to leave them. At Newmarket we introduced two nice two-year-olds making racecourse debuts. We started in the first division of the maiden with GRACELAND. She was running on late after racing out the back early on and though she never threatened the leaders she will certainly improve for the run. In the next division MIDAS HAZE gave the impression the experience would not be lost and again gave another encouraging display. Held up, she made some headway over two furlongs out. She was ridden and edged left over one furlong out, weakening inside the final furlong. At Hamilton WHITE VIN JAN made it three out of three when scoring later in the afternoon. She had no problems shouldering a six pound penalty for her success at Leicester three days previously, to land her third handicap on the bounce. She handled this softer ground well and travelled like the best horse in the race. She won with a shade more in hand than the official margin. She is a progressive type and should remain competitive off a higher mark we hope. We rounded off the day at Newcastle with INVOKE. She travelled well for a long way, but did not find quite as much as expected, although she went down narrowly in a driving finish.

Yesterday we were disappointed with the run from FIERY SUNSET. She tracked the leaders and took a strong hold early on. She was ridden over three furlongs out, weakening inside the final couple of furlongs. Also in the race we were gutted for poor MANTOU who clearly had a cracking chance. Stepping up half a mile in trip after getting off the mark at Newcastle eight days earlier he was produced to win his race by Joe Doyle and was still in there pitching when the saddle started to slip inside the last half-furlong. Despite a miraculous effort by the young apprentice to hang on to any part of his mount he could, his feet made contact with the ground a couple of times before reaching the post and that meant he was disqualified from fourth place. It was very bad luck on both horse and jockey, but hopefully he will be able to gain compensation in due course. Thankfully Joe Doyle did not get hurt and hopefully we can find a winner for him before the season ends. At York we were delighted to see Louis Steward ride the winner of the Ebor, his biggest career win to date. Louis is a real grafter, who works hard and keeps his head down. He is a polite, well mannered lad who certainly deserves this victory and hopefully now other trainers will take note and he will get some more outside rides as is certainly a talent.

Today we start the afternoon of at Goodwood with SONAR. He appears to have come on from his racecourse debut at Doncaster and we should see some improvement here. Later on the card SPIRITOFTHEUNION who has been stepped up in class due to her rating takes her chance. She won in nice fashion at Ripon and looks to be a nice filly that hopefully is progressive. At Yarmouth we start the afternoon of with recent Goodwood runner TOUCHLINE. She is a talented filly who did not run as well as expected on her racecourse debut. She appears to come on for that effort and should be competitive here. Later on the card ZACYNTHUS should have conditions back in his favour and he looks in good form. We expect a good effort from the horse. We round off the afternoon off with SILVER MIRAGE and she certainly has the ability to win a race like this. It would be great if we could have a double for Her Majesty!

We start Bank Holiday Monday off at Newcastle where the talented BERLAND re-appears after his Catterick win. He has looked good in his work since that run and we expect him to give a good account of himself. Later on the card HALA HALA appears to be coming back to form and she looks well in for this particular race. At Epsom Alex Ferguson takes the mount back on HYPERLINK and both horse and jockey were successful on their last start at Catterick Both go into the race at the top of their game and should be competitive. RAVEN RIDGE is certainly due a win and as long as the rain arrives he should have a great chance in the handicap at Epsom. He ran a nice race at Newmarket on his last start after being gelded and with that race under his belt heads into this in good order. We round the day off at Chepstow where GEROGE CINQ takes his chance. He will be ridden by inform jockey Louis Steward and both have already proved a winning combination.

On Tuesday we have declared MISSISSIPPI QUEEN at Wolverhampton. She did not show a lot on her first start but appears to have improved for that run and hopefully she will show that improvement here.
Today the horses worked on the Peat Moss

http://youtu.be/ymZ90nExmKo
Berland and Akeed Champion (White Cap)

http://youtu.be/4SmBrTbXzYI
Storytale and Malvia (White Cap)

http://youtu.be/2Txb8nOAf0k
Amurra (Blue Cap and Tarando

http://youtu.be/6cG8S6VNj8o
George Cinq

http://youtu.be/xIIYTGkUv_g
Big Orange (Red Cap) and Galizzi