September 22nd Update
No shortage of good news to report !
Starting with Surrey Noir, who finally came good in France winning the Class 4 Prix Brit Hotel – Genybet. The main purpose of the race was to get a handicap mark but we will certainly take the win. This makes it two places and a win in his last three runs. He should get a handicap mark in the next 48 hours and Tim is expecting a mark of about 33-34, the equivalent of a rating of about 73-75 in the UK. It wasn’t the strongest field but before the race Tim was slightly concerned about him dropping back to 1500m and the tight track. However, having settled in 5th place he travelled well throughout and kept on, probably winning a bit more cosily than the ½ length victory suggests. He will now be in handicap company and hopefully can start picking up some decent prize money. Tim will be looking for races of between 1600-1800m, depending on the track, and will keep an open mind as to whether it is turf or AW. He will also try and find courses that are more accessible so owners can attend. Deauville and Chantilly are obvious candidates, although he did also mention the Hippodrome de la Cote d’Azur in Cagnes-sur Mer. Obviously, the latter is an attractive option if there isn’t racing at Wolverhampton or Chelmsford that evening!
Less than hour after Noir’s victory, Surrey Force ran a cracking race to finish 3rd in the 4.45pm race at Chester. Drawn 15, it was always going to be a near impossible task and the jockey said before the race that you have two choices when drawn wide at Chester. Either break quickly and get to the front or drop in and ride for luck. With two renowned front runners coming out of stalls 2 and 4 and with the first bend coming quickly after the start, he had no choice but to settle for the second option. Despite not getting a clear run, Force stayed on well and clearly relished the extra couple of furlongs. Kevin and the jockey are in no doubt he will stay 2 miles and has at least one more win in him. It needs to be remembered that Force was carrying 7lbs less than any other horse in the race and gave the winner 10lbs. This will certainly be taken into consideration by the handicapper and we wouldn’t expect too much of a hike, if any.
Looking forward, Surrey Belle has an entry in the 5.10pm race at Haydock next Friday. It is a Class 5 over 1m 6f. Hughie has also identified two possible targets for Surrey Charm. The first is over 1m 5f at Bath on the 1st October and the second is over 1m3f at Windsor on 14th October. Hughie will almost certainly prioritise the Bath race because that would allow Charm to run again at Windsor, provided she came out of the former race well. There is no further news on Surrey Fire but we will be speaking to Hughie about plans for him later this week.
Surrey Shadow’s rehabilitation is going really well and Tom is delighted with the way he has retained his condition. He is on the walker twice a day and this will continue for another couple of weeks before he is ridden again.
There is no news further news on the NH horses Surrey Quest, Surrey Lord and Surrey Fortune but we are really looking forward to the Surrey Racing owners day at Toby’s next Saturday, when I am sure Toby will give us his thoughts and set out his plans for all three horses.
Finally, Surrey Etoile has been broken in and is taking everything in his stride. Tim is really pleased with him physically and the plan at the moment is to get him back to Tim’s around the end of October/early November.