Post Cheltenham

We finally had our first ever runner at Cheltenham with Surrey Quest today who ran an absolute blinder despite being outpaced for much of the race, especially on the downhill sections. He relished the uphill parts, jumped so economically, he really is the complete furnished horse and closed in to finish second, although another 100 yards he surely would have won. There’s so much to look forward to with him, with plenty of big races to come before the season is out. Spare a thought to the two horses in the race (including the winner) who won’t be going back to their home tonight, racing is a brutal sport at times and it’s why we do need to celebrate the good times. We’ll see how Quest comes out of the race and the feeling is the Mandarin at Newbury after Christmas is a good target but there are other races he could be considered for.

Yesterday we met with a few owners for breakfast just outside Lambourn before visiting Surrey King at Ben de Haan’s, the former jockey turned pre-trainer. He’s doing very well and looks a picture. He’s been very easy to break in, enjoying his work and doing everything that is being asked of him. He’ll stay in pre training until late in December and then join Hughie and his team for the steady progression towards a debut in the Autumn. We do have a couple of shares left so if you are interested then get in touch as we do expect to sell out soon.

Next to run will be Surrey Lord who has come out of his race very well. We think he’ll run at Southwell on December 3rd, but there are other options around that time. Toby is keen to run him in three bumpers before he embarks on novice hurdling campaign, hopefully having a couple of those towards the end of the season. If he doesn’t win a novice this season, he can stay in novices for all next season.

Surrey Noir had a racecourse gallop over a mile this week which pleased Tim. Next time out he’ll race in a hood and Tim will change the bit to have him a bit more settled which will help. Noir will work again next week, and he’s on course for (hopefully) a winning run in a handicap at Chantilly on December 10th.

That will be it for runners before Christmas although hopefully Surrey Quest has an outing at Newbury on the 28th. Sea Presenting has been stuck in Ireland, held up by the transport companies with the ongoing sales. She will hopefully get a lift over this coming week. She’ll need 4-6 weeks to settle in so we would expect her to be racing early in the new year.

Surrey Etoile is going great,, he’s grown a fair bit in the last couple of weeks and Tim couldn’t be happier with him and said this week he’s going to be ‘a lovely lovely horse’ in his Limerick lilt! Incredibly, his sire, Sea The Moon has had 19 Group winners this year, including 4 Group 1s, pretty good going for a stallion with an accessible fee.

Of the other horses, Surrey Fire contracted a gastro infection last week and was admitted to hospital. It was initially thought to be colic and so was admitted for further investigations. Fortunately. this was not the case, and it is believed to be an infection because of his gelding operation. He has improved with treatment and has now returned to Hughie’s, where he will continue his rehabilitation and remain on antibiotics for the next couple of weeks.

We are delighted to let you know that Surrey Charm has moved to the Wex Hill Livery in West Horsley, Surrey (www.wix-hill-livery-stables.co.uk) . The owner of the livery, Clare Edwards, is an experienced equestrian and showjumping coach. We have spoken to Clare and the plan is to give Charm plenty of time off to wind down and forget about racing before re-training her for either equestrian eventing or as a leisure horse for an experienced rider. Surrey Mist also moved last week to an equestrian yard in Sussex where he will get so much love and affection! Mist can’t be ridden until around Easter time because of his injury and then like Charm, he will be retrained. He’s such a gentleman of a horse, he’s already settling in and meeting the other ponies in the yard. As always, we do everything we can to make sure that our retired horses find a happy home, and this is certainly the case for Surrey Charm and Surrey Mist.

The Clover’s are on holiday so no new news on Surrey Shadow or Surrey Moon.

No runners this week, or next, so we don’t need any rain just yet!

Possible races and events.

December
Tuesday 3rd – Surrey Lord - Southwell
Tuesday 10th – Surrey Noir - Chantilly
Saturday 28th – Surrey Quest - Newbury