Weekly Update - 17th Oct
The highs and lows of horse racing!
After the euphoria of Surrey Gold at York the racehorse syndicate owners we were brought down to earth with Surrey Princess at Bath on Wednesday. It was a disappointing run considering we were off a low mark of 60 despite finishing less that 5 lengths from the winner (her average from the winner in her first three runs was 14 lengths). Surrey Princess was pretty relaxed in the prelim and went down ok, but she pulled fairly hard at the start of the race. She did settle but when the race started in earnest she was crowded out a little, and didn’t have the experience or the willing to push through. Trevor Whelan said she did pick up again once the race had gone by and that she would have learnt more from it, and he thought that she would go very close next time which may be off an even lower mark. There’s a race that the syndicate owners need to put in their diary Kempton on November 1st - it looks perfect for the next run.
In other slightly frustrating news, Surrey Knight has been working really well on the gallops but has tied up a bit after the last couple of harder gallops which really is just a sign of immaturity. Charlie feels that he is too good a horse to push too hard, too soon, and wishes to put him away for a couple of months to mature and grow. He would then debut in the Spring as a 3 year old. Obviously it’s great that it looks like we have a good horse on our hands but I know for some it will be disappointing after paying for a good few months to have to wait even longer for his debut. Charlie will host a zoom call for the Knight racehorse owners on Wednesday to explain his rationale.
Surrey Gold has had an easy week. He was hiked 6 pounds by the handicapper to 90 this week following his York triumph. We consider a rating of 90 to be the holy grail, only 10% of all flat horses are rated 90 or above so to get another one there is fantastic and he joins Surrey Thunder (high of 106) Surrey Hope (96) and Surrey Pride (96) in our ‘Hall of Fame’.
Surrey Charm shares have been flying off the shelves this past week, welcome this week to Malcolm, John and Christina, we are looking forward to meeting you all soon. There seems a little less interest in Surrey Belle, but both are doing great at Langshot Stud and they are now being hack ridden which they both really enjoy. We have been trying to buy a colt this week but have been outbid a few times at the sales. Prices have been incredible – a 35% increase which defies belief! Our attention will now focus on the sale at Arqana in France this week. Surrey Charm and Surrey Belle will stay at Langshot Stud for at least the new few weeks, I hope those involved in them can make the visit on the morning of Sunday November 7th.
We’ve been in touch with Nicky and he’s happy with both Surrey Quest and Gran Luna. They are both nearly ready to go but he wants some rain to give them a couple of harder, sharper training sessions on the grass gallops – so when the rain comes, add two weeks for Gran Luna seasonal return and 3 for Surrey Quest. Looking at the forecast – we could still see Gran Luna around month end and Quest very early in November.
Entries and Other Possible Plans/Events 2021
October
Wednesday 20th – Surrey Knight owners zoom call – 18.30
Sunday 24th – George Baker Owners Lunch
November
Monday 1st – Surrey Princess - Kempton
Saturday 6th – Surrey Gold – Doncaster (November Handicap)
Sunday 7th – Surrey Racing Yearling Parade 10.00 -12.00 @ Langshot Stud, Chobham, Surrey
2022
July
10th – Surrey Knight (153rd German Derby, Hamburg)