Weekly Update - 7th March
It’s been a difficult week for racing with the wrong type of publicity. From a Surrey Racing view we wouldn’t stand for one of our trainers disrespecting a horse and would withdraw from that stable immediately. We treat the subject of health and welfare with the utmost respect and are always at pains to see our retired horses find a loving and caring home.
All of the racehorse owners had another very entertaining hour on zoom last Wednesday, this time with Joe Tuite who was his usual cheerful candid self. Joe said the image was very disturbing and thought how sad the whole situation was. He did say the BHA conduct spot checks at the stables here in the UK to make sure each training sticks to the high levels of care that is expected.
He said that Surrey Pride had wintered extremely well and was looking pretty big and robust. He’s building up the fitness slowly but that is now including some faster work on the gallops. Asked whether he would have done anything differently last year he said no, but Newmarket was the race that got away. He was fairly satisfied with the other races, obviously Pride didn’t like the ground at Newbury, but he thought he ran ok at Doncaster. He has decided this season to use the best jockey available for all his horses.
Something you may not be aware of is that jockeys all get paid the same price no matter what race. The fees were increased this week so now Jump Jockeys get paid £174.63 per ride and Flat Jockeys get £127.90. However, roughly 22% of official prize money gets deducted from what the owners receive which is split between jockeys, trainer and stable staff. That split is per race type and the percentage varies depending on the position finished and race type.
The plan for Pride may not start on March 27th at Kempton as Joe still has reservations as to whether he will be suited by the all-weather surface. He’s pinpointed a couple of races at Epsom on April 20th as possible alternative starting points, when we can have at least 6 syndicate owners back on course with outdoor hospitality. He thought Pride was 10 pounds out of the handicap so can see him getting to a rating of 100 and therefore Royal Ascot would be the main target in the first part of the year. As the season progresses and all going well he would continue to target some of the bigger handicaps but with Group class horses winning those then possible big handicaps in Ireland or Listed races in France would become better alternatives with more favourable prize money.
The staff are well and enjoying their daily routine which has continued throughout the pandemic. Joe said they realised how lucky they have been to continue working in a job they love whilst others have been stuck indoors. He said January and February have been tough with the wet cold weather but now there has been some warmth about the mood has definitely picked up.
On his favourite racecourse a fair few were mentioned, York, Chester, Goodwood, Newbury, Brighton and Salisbury. He’d love to see Honeysuckle win at Cheltenham, and wasn’t sure his Black Kalanisi would run there despite having an entry as there are other options open to him.
This week on zoom it is the turn of Hughie Morrison – so I’ll leave him to update the horse syndicate owners on Surrey Gold on Wednesday.
Gran Luna has apparently been dancing around the yard in the latter part of the week so hopefully whatever was bothering her has passed. She was given an Official Rating of 122 this week which has brought us back down to earth somewhat but if she did have a virus it would then turn out to be an extremely competitive mark. We will talk to Nicky on her plans in the early part of the week, final confirmations for Cheltenham are Friday so no decision will really be made until then on her next race.
Surrey Quest, Surrey Knight, Surrey Princess and Surrey Mist are continuing their learning, so no change with them. Three of those are still very much on course to make their debuts (I’ve already forgotten Princess’s debut!) in the next 2 months.