A tough handicapper Update

No runners in the week just gone although we are still basking in the afterglow of the three great performances from the week before. It was great to see a few of the syndicate owners at Newmarket yesterday, seeing Surrey Knight go through his paces, especially on the grass gallop for the first time, a tour of the National Stud, where we have already tried to put out feelers for our horses and then a lunch. Thoroughly enjoyable and nice to get out and about. Surrey Knight is in great shape, he’s probably hit his full height now so he’ll grow a bit more outwards as he strengthens. Charlie couldn’t be more pleased with him, his attitude is spot on, and seeing him on the long grass gallop he really does look like a big striding stayer, he won’t have a huge turn of foot but certainly the type who will gallop the others into submission, especially on softer ground. He won’t run until late summer/autumn, but Charlie would hope to have two runs out of him as a two year old, and he will have a 2022 German Derby entry! Hamburg here we come!

For a trip down memory lane, 20 of the racehorse owners and friends, who were enjoying the free German hospitality in 2019 got very excited as Surrey Thunder and Jason Watson led the field into the home straight – a very credible 5th. What a weekend that was!    

We do have a runner this week – the long awaited debut of Surrey Quest, who will be declared in the lucky last at Warwick on Wednesday evening in what will be a very competitive race. There are some other options later in June but with the ground drying out we feel we should take our chance and run on merit. Nicky has a horse in the race called Russian Ruler who he says is more forward that Quest and a horse they feel could be top notch, so Nico will ride him, and James Bowen will ride Quest. There’s no doubt in Nicky’s mind that Quest will learn from the run and be a much better horse next season - we love a challenge!

As you will be aware, the announcement of the end of racing ‘behind closed doors’ on Monday 17 May marked a significant step in the return to a more traditional racecourse experience. Previously Owners have been required to undertake a COVID e-learning evaluation pre-arrival and also a follow-up assessment on arrival at the course, along with a temperature check, these elements will no longer be required. Racecourses can now provide owners with access to the Parade Ring to see their horse and speak to their trainer and jockey in a safe and managed environment. Social distancing will continue to apply in the Parade Ring, given the mixing of personnel from different zones. Racecourses will calculate a safe capacity for their Parade Ring and in the instances where there is enough space to accommodate Owners (in addition to Green Zone participants and Trainers), racecourses will issue Parade Ring access wristbands on arrival at the racecourse to Owners. This means that the number of Owners able to enter the Parade Ring on the day may not be the same as the number of racecourse badges available. In line with the changes to Owners on course experience we can confirm that whilst face coverings are encouraged, they are no longer compulsory in outdoor areas except the Parade Ring, Pre-Parade Ring, Saddling and Unsaddling areas and Horsewalk, where they continue to be mandatory and must be worn at all times.

We had lunch with the red hot Joe Tuite midweek to discuss Surrey Pride – he’s a bit sore from his run at York, nothing major, these races are tough at this level. We discussed where to go from here and we were all in agreement that all roads lead to York and the John Smiths Cup on July 10th. We were raised 6 pounds to 96 by the handicapper this week, but realistically to be safe for York we’d probably need to be at least 98, and to give ourselves every possible chance we wouldn’t want to be too much higher than that. We do want to win our next race, but ideally we don’t really want to win a bigger race and get another 6-7 pound rise to make the York trip even harder so we feel that Redcar on the 31st May and Haydock on June 9th are the best options at two very galloping tracks. Royal Ascot is an option but we don’t think we are high enough rated to get a run there, and the big issue is that if we waited for Ascot, and didn’t get in, we don’t really have any other options. With all that in mind we will look at Redcar first, if conditions don’t suit then we aim at Haydock, and again, if conditions don’t suit we try for Royal Ascot. 

If you thought the 6 pound rise was harsh for Pride, on the same day the handicapper pinged us 12 pounds for Surrey Gold ! So he rises from 75 to an Official Rating of 87 but having looked at the sectionals at Newbury, We think there’s a lot more to come and Hughie didn’t seem that concerned about the hike either! Royal Ascot is certainly the aim – we will be right on the cusp on getting in so fingers crossed, but we’d also want soft ground so keep the rain dances going! If the stars aligned we would be very confident of a bold showing in the King George V handicap.

Gran Luna is moving to Hillwood Stud tomorrow for her 8 week summer holiday. Surrey Mist has started to fill out, which is great. We think Lingfield is putting on another barrier trial soon so he’ll go to that if arranged, if not then George will take him for a racecourse gallop around Kempton. He will hopefully debut at the end of June over 7 furlongs. Surrey Princess is well, she knows she’s been in a race though so it’s just taking a few extra days for the freshness to return. George feels she’s a lot more confident in herself, which is a great sign, and he’ll look for a race for her the week of June 6th.  

This Thursday we have the annual Surrey Racing Golf Day at The Silvermere Golf Club in Surrey, 20 of the syndicate owners will hopefully be enjoying the forecast glorious weather as they hack round the course. There will be a few hard luck stories in the bar afterwards!

We continue to live the dream!

Entries and Other Possible Plans/Events 2021

May
Thursday 27th – Surrey Racing Golf Day, Silvermere, Cobham, Surrey
Wednesday 26th – Surrey Quest – Warwick 8.30 (James Bowen)
Monday 31st – Surrey Pride - Redcar (Zetland Gold Cup)
June
Wednesday 9th – Surrey Pride -Haydock
Thursday 10th – Surrey Princess - Newbury
Thursday 17th – Surrey Gold – Royal Ascot (King George V Handicap)
Friday 18th – Surrey Pride – Royal Ascot (Duke of Edinburgh Handicap)
July
Saturday 10th – Surrey Pride – York (John Smiths Cup)
August
Saturday 14th – Surrey Gold – York (Melrose Handicap)
September
Saturday 11th – Surrey Gold – Doncaster (St Leger)
October
Saturday 2nd – Surrey Mist – Paris Longchamp (Arqana Sales Race)