Whitsun Update
A quiet week just gone and more of the same this week ahead with no runners due until mid June.
A couple of bits of news, Surrey Mist was dropped 1 pound by the handicapper last week, down to an official rating of 101. Kevin is very happy with him and thought the last performance at York was as good as his Listed win in Deauville, with the right ground he would have gone very close despite giving plenty of weight away. The plan for his next race is very much ground dependant so it does mean we will be looking at the weather forecast before making entries. We will be looking at Listed races both in the UK and France (Lyon) and handicaps including at Royal Ascot. However, if asked to pick a race now, Kevin would choose the Copper Horse at Royal Ascot on the 20th June as the race to give us the best opportunity of winning (ground dependant!).
Surrey Noir was given an opening mark of 70 which we felt was fair, if not a little generous. The plan for him now is to find a race in the UK to win, which would be either an uphill 6 furlong or a downhill 7 furlong race on ground that is on the softer side of good. He takes his races well so if we have the right conditions he will be back out again in 2-3 weeks time.
There isn’t any change in the status of the other horses, all are fine and doing well. As well as the two mentioned, we also hope to see Surrey Belle and Surrey Charm on the track in June.
Without too much other news, a reminder that we have shares in three horses for sale and we probably won’t be buying any more horses to run in the UK until we are sold out of these, details on https://www.surreyracing.co.uk/available-shares-2
We have a solitary 5% in Surrey Knight who is in training with Charlie Fellowes. For those who aren’t aware, he’s an extremely well bred Le Havre horse out of Millionaia, a mare who came second in the French Oaks. Surrey Knight made the best debut of any of our horses, a second place to the now 99 rated Groundbreaker, earning an RPR of 77. Unfortunately he had a tendon strain shortly after but we have given him the best care and treatment and he’s now back on the Newmarket gallops. We really won’t know for sure if he has fully recovered until he races which is expected to be in July. If that return goes well, and the signs are good, then he will be a classy horse who will run in the big staying races and that 5% share at £5,500 (with monthly fees of £165 payable from June 1st) will seem extremely good value!!
We still have shares left in Surrey Fortune who has spent a year learning his trade with Billy Aprahamian having been bought from the Goffs Store Sale last August. He did suffer a bout of colic when he first went into training a year ago which set him back a few months but now he looks the part. He’s having a break now and will come back to debut in a bumper in September. He’s probably the best bred NH horse we’ve had, out of Soldier of Fortune, son of the mighty Galileo, Fortune is the nephew of Knappers Hill and Sionnach Eile, currently 104 rated on the flat.
Finally, Surrey Shadow, who we’ve already sold 50% of the shares who is in training with Tom Clover.
Surrey Shadow was bought from the Guineas Breeze Up Sale and after having had a chat with owners at the golf day, there may be come confusion between the breeze up sales and the Horses in Training (HIT) Sale. Horses in Training is buying second hand goods, some horses do go on to do very well, but mainly there is a reason why owners are selling, whether they have a horse with problems or they want to cash in, so one you don’t want, the other you cant afford ! The Breeze Up sale are for 2 year olds who are yet to go into training, and provide an excellent opportunity to assess the ability of the horses because they run a 2 furlong ‘breeze’. Prospective buyers are given the opportunity to record breeze times, calculate stride lengths, judge action, listen out for wind problems and assess general demeanour. We do like them as a source of good young horses and although Breeze Up horses tend to attract a premium, they do have the advantage of making their racecourse debut within a few months of purchase. We have enjoyed great success with our previous Breeze Up purchases with Surrey Hope, Surrey Thunder and Surrey Pride all achieving official ratings of over 96 and Surrey Thunder remains our best rated horse at 106.
Surrey Shadow has settled in really well and will start cantering this week, building up to a debut in September, around the same time as our other 2 year olds. The sire, Territories was a high class Godolphin owned miler who was 2nd in the 2000 Guineas and won the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat in 2015. Despite being a relatively new sire with his first two year olds only running in 2020, the son of Invincible Spirit has already produced Derby runner up Hoo Ya Mal and Group 1 winner Rougir. The Dam, Elbow Beach, reached an official Rating of 70 and has produced a Group 3 4th.
If you are interested and want to see any of the three horses then please do let us know.
Have a super week ahead