12th May Update
We trust everyone had a cracking weekend in the sun!
Just the one runner last week, and again it was a disappointing run from Surrey Noir who does seem to be underperforming so far this season. Unfortunately from a wide draw he just couldn’t get any cover and was a bit ‘lit up’. When push came to shove he sulked and just didn’t want to know. Charlie is convinced he’s a good horse who should win a few races so we will go again at the end of the month back on the turf in a 6 furlong contest at Doncaster. There should be a big field that hopefully set a fast pace so Noir can get cover and pick a way through near the end.
We’ve just arrived back from the sales in Deauville and it was fantastic to have 4 syndicate owners out there with us. We had a super time, great company, dinners on the beach, lovely food, and enough wine to last the month! The sale itself was a little indifferent with only 75% of the lots sold, the median was down 10% but there wasn’t any that we liked within our budget so we came home empty handed. We did however witness a great battle for a Justify colt between Anthony Stroud and John Magnier, with Anthony making the winning bid at €2.3m ! We will continue to look for a French bred 2 year old at the Tattersalls Ireland sale next week and then there is another breeze up in Deauville in early July.
Surrey Shadow has been entered in the 3.30pm race at Newbury on Friday, however it’s not the favoured option as there is a race at Doncaster on 1st June is still more likely. Shadow is in good shape and has sharpened up for his debut run, and Tom wants to keep him at 7f for now. Although his preference is to give Shadow an extra week or two, if he was knocking down walls tomorrow and the ground came up soft he may consider the run on Friday.
We haven’t had a chance to catch up with Hughie this week so news on Surrey Fire, Surrey Belle and Surrey Charm will come next week and Kevin hasn’t been forthcoming with news on Surrey Force (who was dropped 3 pounds to a mark of 61 this week) or Surrey Mist. Surrey Lord has moved back to Dorking and enjoying the sun – he’s a big lad who seems to have grown every time we see a picture of him.
You may recall that Surrey Fortune is currently enjoying a break with Jackie du Plessis in Cornwall after sore shins interrupted his training last year. Jackie has been continually monitoring the legs and reported that there is no evidence of any on-going problem and that he can return to full training in the summer to be ready for the start of the NH season. Sore shins are primarily caused by immaturity and so it is likely to be something that will improve as he matures. Fortune is still a relatively young horse and so next season we will continue to keep an eye on things and take the usual steps to minimise the chance of any re-occurrence. This will include training more on the grass than the all-weather gallop, avoiding firm ground and giving him an extra week or two between races. For the first time since we started Surrey Racing, we still have shares available in a horse two years after purchase. Having spoken to a number of potential owners it seems that everyone is keen on the pedigree and physical attributes of the horse but were not prepared to take a chance on Billy as a new trainer. If Surrey Racing is to remain sustainable it is important that we sell out of shares as soon as possible. Carrying a large proportion of the initial cost and monthly training fees obviously impacts on our ability to purchase new horses, which are always initially funded by us. We also feel that having missed last season, it would be prudent to place Fortune with a more experienced trainer, in a more established yard and with greater access to grass gallops. We’ve had a long chat with Billy to discuss the above and he was very understanding. We will look to support him longer term but for the reasons outlined above, we will move Surrey Fortune to a new trainer when he returns from Cornwall in mid June.
Unfortunately, Surrey Quest been kicked by another horse while out in the field and so his holiday has been cut short as he now needs a few weeks’ box rest/walking. There is an open would about 2cm long and an x-ray has shown a small chip about 1mm deep on the bone at the top of his rear leg. It is on the fleshy part of the “thigh” and so fortunately there was plenty of muscle to protect the bone. It is nothing serious but he is quite sore (the cut and bruising rather than the bone chip) and so has been given an anti-inflammatory and a short course of antibiotics as a pre-caution. There are no long term implications but it means he will be in his box and on the walker for the remainder of this month. Toby will return him to the field in mid/late June and may delay starting his work by a couple of weeks’ if the weather is nice to give him a proper break. It is a bit frustrating as the horse deserved some time in the sun but it will have minimal impact on having him ready for the start of next season and Toby will make sure he gets out in the paddock and has a break at some point.
Good luck to Surrey Shadow and connections if he runs on Friday.
Possible races and events
May
Friday 17th – Surrey Shadow - Newbury
Tuesday 21st – Surrey Racing Golf Day – Silvermere Golf Club
Friday 24th – Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale
Friday 31st – Surrey Noir - Doncaster
June
Saturday 1st – Surrey Shadow - Doncaster
July
Tuesday 2nd – 4th – Arqana Breeze Up Sale
Tuesday 9th – 12th Tattersalls July Sale