February Update

Another week flies past but another week closer to being back on the racecourse.

We were hoping to tell you that Gran Luna has been declared for Taunton on Tuesday, but alas not, so we are still waiting for our first runner of 2021. Gran Luna has been schooling well and is ready to return to the track but having had the wind op Nicky really wants her to have an easier test first up and the ground, even at Taunton, is going to either be heavy or frozen. She will like soft ground and will probably go well in the heavy, but in reality no horse enjoys it. To carry top weight against some decent types right now doesn’t seem right so more patience is required. Cheltenham remains the target but the chances of having two runs before then are getting slimmer.

 Surrey Quest is fairly forward already, and Nicky can’t believe how much he has grown in the past few months. He’s already working upsides on the artificial gallops but with the wet ground he has yet to work on the grass. He’s fairly excitable’ and needs to settle down a bit although Nicky thinks that will come when he starts to work harder which he will over the next few weeks.

Surrey Mist continues his learning and still looks set for an early (April) debut. Surrey Knight is further away, he has had the odd canter up Warren Hill but still being on the weak side he finds those plenty hard enough. He will have some grass work this week which he should enjoy. The trainers are always looking for alternative work for the horses just so they don’t get bored doing the same thing every day,

Surrey Pride is struggling to lose his weight – with lockdown we all know that feeling ! He’s eaten a fair bit over the winter and Joe won’t work him too hard to start with but he’ll be fit and ready to come back at the end of March. No new news re Surrey Princess or Surrey Gold, we’ll see both of them on the track in April.      

Look out for another Gran Luna entry this week !