ANOTHER GRADED VICTORY

08-03-2019

THIS WEEK Spring is in the air and we are delighted to report all the horses are in great order and running well.  We have 3 more winners to report in the past week including another landmark Graded victory this time all the way up at Kelso.  The journey may have been far but it was all well worth it and we couldn’t be happier with the result.  So as the biggest week in the national hunt racing calendar draws closer, spirits are high up on the hill and we’re looking forward to the week ahead...           REPORTS BRANDY JAMES Brandy James finished 4th at Newbury on Friday in the Irish thoroughbred marketing juvenile hurdle over 2m.  He was encouraging in his first 3 starts in the autumn and so it was nice to see an improved run around Newbury off the back of a short break.  The flat galloping nature of the track really suited him, he jumped and travelled better than in his previous races and he was a lot more professional, showing that he had clearly grown up mentally too.  Turning in he looked to have every chance but when the pace quickened he was already flat out until the last hurdle where he stayed on extremely well to snatch 4th in what looked a competitive juvenile hurdle.  He will now go back to Newbury in a few weeks time for the 2m3f juvenile handicap hurdle on the 23rd of this month.   DJIN CONTI Djin Conti ran on the same card at Newbury on Friday in the Indulge Chase handicap over 2m6f.  This was his debut over fences, where he jumped and travelled well for a novice.  He looked to have a good position throughout the race but having been one paced turning in he stayed on well to finish 4th.  He will need to step up in trip to 3m for his next run, so we will look for an opportunity towards the end of the month.   HENRIETTA BELL Henrietta Bell also lined up at Newbury on Friday in the west Berkshire Racing club mares national hunt flat race.  She has had a troubled winter with lots of niggling issues but she is a talented mare with huge potential, so we were hoping for a big performance.  She travels well in her races and has a good turn of foot so we decided to drop her in.  She travelled strongly but was unfortunate to bump into trouble twice in running.  When she finally got some daylight in the home straight she picked up well to take arguably an unlucky 3rd.  It was a really promising run and we will find another mare’s bumper for her in a months time before she goes out on her summer break to come back next season for novice hurdling.   ROUGE VIF Rouge Vif travelled all the way up to Scotland on Saturday to run in the Grade 2 Edinburgh Gin Premier Kelso novices hurdle over 2m2f.  He has been improving all season and was in very good form at home which meant we were looking forward to running him in this Grade 2 contest around a track we thought looked to be tailor made for him.  It looked a good renewal with hot favourite Getaway Trump being in there having finishing 4th in the Betfair Hurdle and second in a grade 1 over Christmas.  Gavin kicked on at the start and pinched a few lengths which meant that we could hold on to an easy lead throughout the race.  He showed how much pace he has and jumped and travelled extremely well throughout.  He was also relaxed which meant that turning in he was able to find more and stayed on well to win in impressive style.  It’s fantastic for all the team in particular his owners Andrew & Kate Brooks to get another winner at Graded level.  Aintree is a track that will suit him really well so we will look to send him there in a few weeks time for his next run.  He is also still in the supreme next week which comes around very soon but there is a very small possibility he may run if the ground remains good.   SIROBBIE Sirobbie went to Huntingdon on Sunday to compete in the Molson Coors Novices hurdle over 2m.  This was his first start for the yard, he is a horse that has shown a good attitude at home and his schooling is very good.  This was a fact finding mission here as we needed to learn more about him.  He jumped and travelled really nicely but looked outpaced for much of the way.  He stayed on well to finish 5th and we plan to run him in a similar type of event soon before going handicapping. ZANZIWIN Zanziwin finished second at Fakenham on Monday in the Barnham Church of England Primary School maiden hurdle over 2m. This was his first start since having a wind operation and we felt the sharp nature of the track would suit him as he has plenty of speed at home. We decided to change things around and make the running on him this time as on previous starts he was showing to run a bit in snatches.  He pricked his ears in front, jumping from hurdle to hurdle and looked to be enjoying himself which was great to see.  As the race unfolded he looked to have every chance but we feel he just ran into one on the day, finishing a good second.  We will look to run him around not quite such a tight track next time.   THE KINGS BABY The Kings Baby ran at Exeter on Tuesday in the conditional jockeys training handicap.  She is a nice filly with a very good attitude.  She lined up here in a boys race where we felt she would be very competitive.  She travelled well but was outpaced turning in, she showed a good attitude to stay on to finish 4th.  She will be freshened up now before running again in a couple weeks time.   JAMMY GEORGE Jammy George won the sun racing novices hurdle at Newcastle over 2m6f on Tuesday.  Stepping up in trip for the first time, it certainly worked out well and he travelled and jumped great, loving the conditions.  As he turned into the straight everything looked beaten so he duly stayed very well and won in very impressive fashion.  We were absolutely delighted with this performance and we will now step him up again to 3m where he we will contest a novice under a penalty.   CAPTAIN TOMMY Captain Tommy won the Coral 100k cash Cheltenham smart money series Maiden hurdle over 2m1f at Fontwell on Wednesday.  This looked a good opportunity for him but the only thing against him was the very soft ground, which we were slightly apprehensive about. He is relatively new to the yard and this was his first start for us.  His schooling at home had been very good and he has also showed some ability in his work.  Due to the fact that he has stamina in his pedigree we decided to make use of him, and fortunately there was a nice even gallop set all the way through the race.  Turning into the straight he looked to have every chance but the danger was in the other joint favourite who looked to be travelling very strongly.  From 2 out Captain Tommy was finding plenty for pressure, at the last hurdle he was a length up when the danger fell which meant that we were left well clear and Tommy galloped through the line to win very easily.  He is a nice horse who will make a fun hurdler for the summer months.   PERFECT MYTH Perfect Myth finished 3rd yesterday in a very competitive 2m novice hurdle at Wincanton.  With the continued rain all day the ground got very soft which we felt wouldn’t be ideal for her, however she jumped and travelled extremely with just the one keener type in front to give her a lead.  She looked to have every chance 2 out but the hot favourite who was travelling very strongly was able to quicken past her from the last hurdle and go on to win comfortably.  Perfect Myth stayed on well at the one pace to finish a good 3rd.  As she is so well we will find another race for her in another 2m maiden hurdle in a months time ENTRIES VINNIE LEWIS Vinnie Lewis is set to run at Sandown tomorrow in the matchbook handicap chase over 3m which will be his first run back over fences in a year.  He has been off for a while due to having found that he was suffering from ulcers, he has had treatment and has recovered well.  He is in really good form at home and has been schooling back over fences in recent weeks.  He has lots of ability of fences as he proved when he won the Sussex national last season.  He has been dropped a few pounds by the handicapper to give him a chance and he will also be ridden by Page fuller who claims a useful 3 pounds. We are looking forward to running him. HONOURMISSION Honourmission holds entries next week at Fontwell on Wednesday and Wincanton on Thursday.  He ran okay in a bumper at Ludlow but we were disappointed with the result.  He has been schooling over hurdles well in recent weeks and we will give him a run in a novice hurdle, he is one for handicaps in the summer.   SAINT CALVADOS Saint Calvados holds two entries at The Cheltenham Festival next week; The Champion Chase on Wednesday and the Ryanair Chase on Thursday.  He has been in great form since his recent trip to Leopardstown, the ground there was too quick for him and he didn’t jump with the same fluency.  He schooled fantastically well last week and he had a spin round Newbury on Sunday which he really enjoyed.  Soft ground will suit him and we couldn’t have him in better form at home this time, with the horses coming into good form in recent days just at the right time we are very hopeful that he will run a big race and it is very exciting to be running in a race of this calibre.   BIGMARTRE Bigmartre also holds an entry at The Cheltenham Festival next week on Thursday in the Brown advisory & merriebelle stable plate handicap chase over 2m4f.  He is in the form of his life at home so we are looking forward to running him at the festival.  He has dropped down to a winnable mark, however this is going to be a very tough assignment but if he runs his normal race and jumps well hopefully he will run into a place.   GENIUS Genius holds an entry at Musselburgh on Sunday in the 2m like racingtv on facebook handicap hurdle along with a few other entries in the coming weeks.  He has had a wind operation since his last run which we felt he needed after making a slight noise at home.  He is a horse with plenty of ability.  Having won a bumper in the summer, he likes good ground and is running in handicaps for the first time. We will pick the race that suits him best and hopefully he shows his potential on his next run.   SPARKLEANDSHINE Sparkleandshine has come out of his last run in good form, he has a couple of entries next week and we're sure wherever he lines up he will be competitive as he ran a cracker last time.