Happy Easter
A very Happy Easter to all our syndicate owners today
We did have our eyes and ears out at the Craven Breeze Up sale this week and pinpointed one horse that we were going to make a bid for to go into training with Tom Clover - but Anthony and Tom weren’t quite 100% sure so we decided to pass at the auction – it went for 165k !!
Overall it was a pretty strong sale with some decent horses, but also some average ones that went for good money. We refuse to pay above what we think is the right value and won’t go chasing just to have horses for sale. Having said that a 32% rise in the median is a little worrying because last year was strong as well. We will look again at the Goffs Breeze Up in Doncaster which starts on Tuesday but are more likely to be successful at the Guineas Breeze Up the following week.
Yesterday we attended Newbury Racecourse and took part in their ‘Discover Ownership Day’ where Surrey Belle was paraded before racing whilst Steve and Hughie were interviewed by Frankie Foster. It was a very pleasant afternoon with good racing and nice to meet up with owners Ken, Lester and Fred. Unfortunately the location of the syndicate village meant low footfall but for a free experiment in warm weather it wasn’t too bad an experiment. We will do the same at York at the Dante meeting in May. Surrey Belle looked amazing, she really does look a proper racecourse and took the parade ring experience well, ears pricked, on her toes drawing some very complimentary comments from those watching including Matt Chapman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes her debut back at Newbury in October.
I hope everyone is enjoying the fine weather – unfortunately it’s not helping our horses! I can’t believe I’m looking at the sun praying for rain! We haven’t heard from Nicky H but there has to be doubts whether Surrey Quest and Gran Luna will run again this season especially as racing at Grade A courses is drawing to a close. Nicky thinks both are too good to run on anything but the top courses in the spring.
Surrey Knight has stepped up to doing steady canters and Charlie will continue to build up his exercise and monitor his action carefully. We are not out of the woods with him yet, but he is making great progress. Surrey Noir continues to exercise well, but his routine is not changing at the moment as he’s not ready to do anymore but Charlie is very happy with him right now .
Surrey Charm is well – Ian, one of the owners went to George’s Friday and said she looked great. Surrey Gold is ready to race but he needs rain and looking at the forecast there’s none about for the rest of the month so we are probably looking at Ascot or York early May.
We do however hope to have two runners this week!
Surrey Mist has two potential races on Friday, two handicaps over 10 furlongs at Doncaster and Sandown. We do feel Mist would prefer some cut in the ground but George is happy to take his chance at either track as long as the going isn’t too fast – so good going at a Grade A track is fine. It does mean they would need to water well and George would probably want to walk the course beforehand but I think we will be racing with Trevor Whelan again booked to ride.
Surrey Princess is back on Saturday with two potential runs at either Leicester or Wolves – with the turf race being the favoured option. She won’t mind faster ground so she’s even more likely to run.
Good luck to both horses and their owners – let’s hope they keep the recent run of form going !
2022
April
Friday 22nd – Surrey Mist – Doncaster - 16.30
Friday 22nd – Surrey Mist – Sandown – 16.40
Saturday 23rd – Surrey Princess – Leicester - 16.26
Saturday 23rd – Surrey Princess – Wolves - 18.50
Sunday 24th – Hughie Morrison Open Day (invite only)
May
Friday May 13th – York - Discover Ownership Day
Wednesday 25th – Surrey Racing Golf Day @ Silvermere Golf Couse
July
Sunday 3rd – Surrey Knight (153rd German Derby, Hamburg) ) 72 left in – next stage June 27th
https://www.deutscher-galopp.de/gr/renntage/rennen.php?id=1330172&d=20220703&s=N
August
Monday 1st – Surrey Noir – EBF Ballyhane Stakes – Naas Racecourse, Ireland
September
Thursday 1st – Windsor - Discover Ownership Day
Thursday 8th – Surrey Noir – Doncaster – Weatherbys Stakes
October
Friday 21st – Cheltenham - Discover Ownership Day
Saturday 22nd Cheltenham - Discover Ownership Day
November
Friday 18th – Ascot - Discover Ownership Day
Saturday 19th Ascot - Discover Ownership Day