Melrose Update
It was a great day at York yesterday to watch Surrey Gold with a 20 000 crowd there, although at times it looked like everyone had gone in fancy dress with Love Island as the theme! The 8 of us who made the trip were invited to a private dining room where our horse syndicate owners lunched on lobster and crab washed down with more than enough rose wine – all courtesy of York racecourse.
As for the decision to run – it was a tough call especially as the rain hadn’t arrived in time. The going was good but the times were fast. Hughie said that Gold hadn’t run on good ground, despite feeling that he needed soft, he wanted to find out for sure and with the course in great shape he didn’t seem to feel there was any risk, Today Gold was very chirpy this morning and none the worse for his run.
David Egan gave Gold a good ride and had every chance 2 furlongs out but the firm ground horses pushed on and left us finishing 15 lengths back in 8th. Gold lost a shoe again which can’t have helped but there was no disgrace in the run, we’ve learnt now (what we probably all knew) that he needs soft ground on a flat galloping course. Some suggested that maybe he didn’t stay 1m 6f, it’s hard to tell but Hughie thought it was the ground not the distance. David said he was sure he would win a big handicap in the Autumn over the longer distance. Annoyingly, 2 hours later the heavens opened and there was flooding in York!
George thinks both Surrey Mist and Surrey Princess will both be back on the track mid to late September. Princess is now galloping up the Robin’s Farm Hill twice daily – she has put on a lot of condition so that will be slowly worked off.
Surrey Mist hasn’t been off for as long but the break has done him good, he’s filled out more, and he’ll be saddled back up again next week. I think it was pretty clear at Sandown that he has a lot more filling out and we don’t want to risk overrunning him while he is still growing so he’ll [probably only have two more runs as a two year old. It’s also pretty unlikely that he will go to Paris although the entry and that option remains, but the travel, plus the competitive 22 horse race may not be ideal at this stage.
Surrey Knight continues to progress at a rate of knots. He is strengthening up by the day and Charlie said it’s very noticeable that he finds Warren Hill easier and easier. Knight will be ready to start doing two canters up Warren Hill in a week or so’s time. I feel that we may have got lucky again and have a pretty exciting prospect on our hands.
Nicky is very happy with Gran Luna and Surrey Quest, We could see Gran Luna back on track as early as next month. Quest needs a little more time but his schooling has been going really well. Of the two he certainly looks to be the more accomplished hurdler.
We haven’t been on the premises since May with those 2 wins in the day, amazing how this game produces so many highs and lows, but September and October look to have so much going for us, the syndicate owners will certainly see some highs in the coming months.