Is it Coming Home?
I trust everyone is settling down for the kick off - come on England!
Starting this week with some bad news. Unfortunately, Surrey Shadow has been diagnosed with a small, displaced fracture of the pelvis. There is a risk over the next 3 weeks that Shadow could aggravate the fracture and this can become very serious. However, provided he gets through this initial period, the prognosis is really good and he should make a full recovery. It does mean however, that his turf season is over as the recovery time is about 12 weeks (4 weeks box rest, followed 4 weeks walking, followed by 4 weeks trotting). After such a promising start to his career the owners are bitterly disappointed but the main thing now is the horses welfare and getting him through the next few weeks, we know Tom will give him the very best care.
Surrey Mist was due to run yesterday at Ascot but Kevin wants to give him another couple of weeks as there is always an added risk of injury when a horse isn’t quite fit enough to race, so hopefully (ground dependant) we’ll see him at Ascot on the 26th.
We did have one runner last week, the return of Surrey Fire after 9 months off with injury. After such a promising debut it’s fair to say the syndicate owners expected a little more for his return but he trailed in down the field. Fire was obviously short of racing fitness leading the commentator on Racing TV to remark ‘that looking at him in the parade ring there is no way I can back him’. He raced 32 kgs heavier than he was for his run last October, some can be attributed to age growth but the ‘bulk’ (pardon the pun) is down to condition.
Fire also seemed to find the right handed circuit a challenge, he trains left handed so that could be the reason, but he did hang left handed in the home straight which he also did at Nottingham. There are several reasons as to why he hung, including pain from his right side (foot, knee, shoulder etc), a wind issue, or just from tiredness. He came out of the race sound and his tendons felt fine the following morning. Obviously Hughie and his team will fully investigate any potential issues, and considering his propensity to put on weight he will probably need to be gelded at the end of the season. Although we were disappointed with the run, finishing back in 9th, it was good to see both the winner and second had finished 9th on their 2nd runs! He will perform better next time.
If Fire is sound over the next few days then Hughie wishes to pick up his training and will look to get him back out again soon. The problem though is that there are very few options for novices over 10- 12 furlongs and those will be ground dependent. Hughie has earmarked Lingfield on the all-weather on July 30th. We are not fans of Lingfield, it’s one of our least favourite tracks, but it really is the only suitable option. The benefits are that we don’t have to worry about the ground, it’s left handed, and after this race he will get a handicap mark which will open up better options throughout the rest of the season.
We did ask Hughie about the our other horses and he said both are very well. Surrey Charm is looking well and enjoying the sun, she’ll be back racing towards the end of August. Surrey Belle has been declared for the 8.30 at Kempton on Tuesday evening, a class 5 (0-68) handicap over 2 miles with Oisin Murphy back in Surrey Racing colours after a few years hiatus. Belle seems to have come on for her last race and is in great shape, she won’t be wearing a hood while racing this time and we hope that makes her more alert when challenged, she should run a big race.
We do have a second runner this week with Surrey Noir making his French debut for Tim Donworth at Les Sables-D’Olonne on Saturday. At the initial entry stage there are 7 horses who are rated higher than Noir, we’re not really clear on how these races break up – there is another entry stage next Wednesday (with a supplement) but 22 horses have entered. Tim does plan to use his stable jockey Ambre Molins to ride, under French rules female riders can claim 1.5 kgs.
Surrey Force was cut 2 pounds by the handicapper last week (fwiw Surrey Shadow was given an opening mark of 81) to a new rating of 59. We are happy with the way he has come out of his race and the fact he showed a competitive attitude whilst racing despite not liking the ground. He has a number of options for his next race (see below) but it all depends on the rain, he needs a softer going.
Good luck to the Belle and Noir connections
Possible races and events
July
Tuesday 16th – Surrey Belle - Kempton 8.30
Saturday 20th – Surrey Noir – Les Sables 3.45 UK
Wednesday 24th – Surrey Force - Leicester
Friday 26th – Surrey Mist – Ascot
Tuesday 30th -Surrey Fire - Lingfield
Wednesday 31st – Surrey Force - Leicester
August
Saturday 3rd – Surrey Force - Windsor
September
Friday 6th – Toby Lawes Open Day