Happy New Year !
Wow – what an end to 2021 !!
Happy New Year to all of you – may those last two runs be the catalyst to more success and may all your dreams come true in 2022.
Where to start on last Wednesday – stuck indoors isolating certainly wasn’t the best place to be for me as I looked on in envy at the 15 syndicate owners at Newbury and 9 racehorse owners at Doncaster wearing the colours with pride. How good do the brollys look on TV as well!
Starting with Gran Luna who we know looks absolutely fantastic everytime she turns up but is a delicate one who needs a low key training regime to keep her fit without putting her under too much pressure. Pretty strong in the market she actually went off joint favourite and it was clear from the off that Nico was going to gallop on and on in very testing conditions. She’s some battler, we’ve seen it before with her, losing the lead and seemingly out of it only to battle back to win by a neck – some performance! Incredibly she’s won 4 of her 6 races and is 3 from 3 at Newbury – a Grade A track!
Nico pushing Luna on
Gran Luna was really well after and Nicky said that although Luna may not have lived up to early expectations she has won four out of her six runs and clearly has ability and a winning mentality. Even with the inevitable rise in the handicap after her win, he thinks she is still on a very competitive mark in the right conditions. This means galloping tracks over 2m -2m2f in the soft/heavy or 2m4f-2m6f in better going. We discussed whether she needs a left handed course and he noted that her wins have been on left handed courses but wouldn’t like to pigeon-hole her at this stage and feels the distance, going and a galloping track are more important. She is not a horse that needs soft going but clearly handles it well. What she does need is for the race to be a test of stamina, as she is a genuine galloper and likely to win races by wearing down the opposition, rather than by a turn of foot. Her future, however, is definitely over fences and she will be schooled over them in the summer (at the latest). Depending on how the next two races go Nicky wouldn’t rule out one jump race in the summer before a break.
10 minutes later at another Grade A track Surrey Quest tanked around Doncaster under a really nice ride from young Nathan Brennan. Nicky H said he wasn’t sure how he would go because it was a really competitive race ... hmm competitive – it was like there was only one horse in it – a seriously impressive performance from a big baby who is only going to get better – and another glowing Racing Post Star Performer Award ! Surrey Quest - looked pretty classy after making it two from two over hurdles in fine style
A very happy Nathan Brennan
Quest was absolutely fine after his race. However, he is still a baby, particularly in terms of mental maturity, and in Nicky’s words “still hasn’t got a clue what he is doing and thinks it is all a game” which makes his run at Doncaster even more impressive. However, Nicky asked that we do not get carried away too soon because this is a horse that has a lot of growing up to do and we may not even see the finished product next season! He will get a handicap mark on Tuesday but Nicky doesn’t want to throw him in with seasoned handicappers when he is still so inexperienced. That leaves two options – run again in a novice with a double penalty or, more likely, find an “easier“ Listed race. Nicky said that despite his undoubted promise he does not want to throw him in the deep-end too soon and would like to avoid the “big boys” at this stage. Interestingly and looking further down the line, Nicky thinks his future is likely to be as a 3 mile chaser but that can’t be considered for at least a couple of seasons because of his physical and mental immaturity.
First up in the new year will be Surrey Princess but unfortunately she won’t be running this week. She’ll have an entry at Lingfield on Saturday 15th as it seems that George and the team just can’t get her totally right.
No new news on the other horses – they all enjoying a winter’s break but it won’t be too long before they all start getting revved up for the start of the flat season at the end of March, there’s so much to look forward to. In slightly other news, we hope to be active in the January transfer window and aim to bring an exiting new joiner to the Surrey Racing team – we’re looking for youthful good looks and charm to compliment us two older guys !!
That’s the mic drop for the year - an incredible 35% win rate in 2021 – there is no owner, trainer, jockey, syndicate better than that – and it’s an absolute testament to all of the syndicate owners that every single raceday is such a fun and social experience, we love every minute of it and we can’t wait for even bigger and better days in 2022.
Entries and Other Possible Plans/Events 2021
2022
January
Saturday 15th – Surrey Princess - Lingfield
Saturday 22nd – Charlie Fellowes stable visit for Noir and Knight owners
February
Thursday/Friday 3rd/4th Tattersalls February Sale
March
Saturday 26th – Surrey Knight – Doncaster (Maiden Stakes)
July
Sunday 3rd – Surrey Knight (153rd German Derby, Hamburg) ) 98 left in after Dec 20th – next stage Jan 24th
https://www.deutscher-galopp.de/gr/renntage/rennen.php?id=1330172&d=20220703&s=N
Happy New Year