March 24th Update
We managed to catch up with each of the trainers this week and so have updates on all of our horses.
Starting with the jumpers, Surrey Quest has completely recovered from his illness and is full of himself. Toby has reiterated that the Scottish Grand National on 20th April (what a great day out that will be for the syndicate owners) remains the No 1 target, with the BET365 Gold Cup at Sandown a week later the back up should the ground dry out too much at Ayr. Obviously, the step up to 4 miles for the National would be an unknown but from what Toby has seen both on and off the track he is confident that the distance will suit. Toby does not want to have Quest race ready too soon and therefore has continued to take it easy with him but will start picking up Quest’s work this week. Toby has no concerns about getting him fit enough without a further run and actually thinks it will be an advantage to run him fresh especially considering his runs at Huntingdon and Newbury both came after decent breaks.
Surrey Lord is 2-3 weeks away from returning to Toby’s, at which point he will be rescanned and Toby is optimistic that he will be given the all clear. On his return, Lord will continue to enjoy a break for another couple of months. Typically, after their summer holidays, NH horses return to training at the end of July but Lord will start in early June with an emphasis on developing his core fitness through lots of trotting and roadwork. He is a big horse and has been out of training for an extended period so Toby will take advantage of the extra time available to build him up gradually.
Surrey Fortune is thriving at Jackie’s in Cornwall and living up to his nickname of Bucky. Jackie regularly checks his legs and they seem fine. It has been very wet in the South West and she is hoping for a period of warmer, sunnier weather to improve the quality of the grass. Depending on the weather, he will remain in the field for another 6-8 weeks before being scanned and starting work again. Like Surrey Lord, we have the advantage of extra time and so he can gradually build up fitness from June onwards.
With the flat season officially starting at Doncaster yesterday, activity is stepping up with our trainers in Newmarket and Lambourn, we can look forward to plenty of racing in April and May.
Hughie has reported that the easy couple of weeks has done Surrey Belle the world of good and that she is definitely heading the right way. She has put on weight, looks strong and is moving well but Hughie is reluctant to push his fillies too hard at the moment in case there is another cold and wet spell. However, he is very happy with her and we are looking at an early/mid May seasonal reappearance, with a view to getting her to peak for a late Summer / early Autumn campaign.
Surrey Charm is probably a little ahead of Belle in terms of fitness but just holding her winter coat. Again, she will benefit from a spell of warmer weather and will tell us when she is ready. Hughie is thinking late April/early May for her first run.
There was some encouraging news on Surrey Fire this week. After an easy 3 weeks, all signs of soreness have gone and the scan was positive. The vet has advised a month of trotting, after which he will reassess Fire and hopefully give the go-ahead for him to resume full training.
Surrey Force has come out of his race well and Kevin remains happy with him. We thought at the time it was a race with some depth and this has been confirmed by the fact that the more experienced horses that finished around Force have been given initial handicap marks of between 77 – 80. Considering he is 12f horse in the making, running over an inadequate distance and needed the run, it was an encouraging performance. We feel the best way forward is to give him another educational run over a mile (probably at Lingfield on 8th April) before moving through the handicaps with the aim of a big prize over his ideal distance in the summer.
Surrey Mist is due to return to Kevin’s in the next week or so. The plan is to have him trotting for a couple of weeks before rescanning him and hopefully with an all clear he can start cantering again. Unfortunately, we won’t really know whether the injury has fully healed until he starts working again.
Surrey Shadow completed his first piece of faster work on the Cambridge Road gallop last week and Tom was very pleased as he went a strong gallop, the sectional times were good. The plan would be to give him another four faster gallops like that one, before getting him on the racecourse in mid/late April. Tom doesn’t want to commit to a specific race just yet but there is a restricted maiden race over a mile at Yarmouth on 23rd April that looks ideal. It is a nice galloping track for inexperienced horses, not too far from Newmarket and the timing is about right.
Surrey Noir is another that completed his first proper piece of work since returning. Charlie was delighted with the way he came through it and described Noir as being in a good place and improving. He will start the season over 6f on turf with a bit a cut in the ground and we are looking at the second or third week in April. There are a couple of options around that time at Windsor and Ripon but no specific races have been identified by Charlie.
As always, lets keep everything crossed that the horses stay fit and well and we will keep you informed as plans firm up over the next couple of weeks.
Possible races and events
April
Monday 8th – Surrey Force - Lingfield
Monday 15th – Surrey Noir – Windsor
Thursday 18th – Surrey Noir - Ripon
Saturday 20th – Surrey Quest – Ayr - Scottish Grand National
Tuesday 23rd - Surrey Shadow - Yarmouth
Saturday 27th – Surrey Charm – Leicester
Tuesday 30th – Surrey Charm – Yarmouth
May
Thursday 9-11th – Arqana Breeze Up Sale
Tuesday 21st – Surrey Racing Golf Day – Silvermere Golf Club