11th August Update
Surrey Noir put in a much improved performance in France this afternoon having been narrowly beaten by the smallest of margins. It wasn’t the intention to lead from the front but Noir found himself there having broken well, and as there was no pace in the race, the jockey made the call to take it on. Encouragingly, the winner is rated 82 and although he hadn’t run since March, it shows a definite improvement from Noir, who met the winner on equal weights. Since he first worked with Noir, Tim has felt he is not a sprinter and should be racing over further. Today’s performance would seem to justify that view and Tim will now look at races between 8-10f. Noir will get his French handicap mark after his next run and so there will be one more Conditions race before aiming at handicaps, where hopefully Noir can start winning some decent money for the syndicate owners with his French premiums.
Next to run is Surrey Force, who has been declared in the 5.00pm race at Kempton tomorrow. Harry Davies will ride and hopefully he completes a double for Surrey Racing after his victory on Surrey Fire last week. On paper, it looks a tough ask for Force because the other horses in the race are at least 12lbs higher in the handicap. However, Kevin feels there are a few holes in some of the those ratings and the intention is to give Force a positive ride and take full advantage of the 16lbs he is getting from the top 4 in the handicap.
We were hoping that that Surrey Mist would make his long awaited comeback at Ascot yesterday but unfortunately the ground was just too firm. The targets now are either York or Hamilton on Friday 23rd August, where there is a valuable handicap to contest at each. There has been rain at both racecourses recently and more is forecast over the next two weeks, so things are looking more hopeful.
Surrey Shadow was scanned yesterday and continues to make good progress in his recovery from the small fracture of his pelvis. The scan showed there was still a slight dislocation that needs to callus over and this will require another two weeks’ box rest before he can start walking again. The form from Shadow’s Haydock race is holding up very well, with the two that pipped him (Apotheosis and Coppull Hall Lane) both winning their subsequent races.
The three NH horses at Toby’s are all doing well and are at various stages of trotting/cantering. Their work will slowly build up during the remainder of the month, with a view to looking at races from October onwards. Surrey Lord and Surrey Fortune will start off in bumpers and Toby is keeping open minded about the seasons plans for Surrey Quest.
Possible races and events
August
Monday 12th – Surrey Force – Kempton
Sunday 18th - Surrey Fire – Pontefract
Friday 23rd – Surrey Mist – Hamilton or York
Saturday 24th – Surrey Belle – Redcar
September
Friday 6th – Toby Lawes Owner’s Open Day