Duke of Medina Bolts up at Market Rasen

09-11-2015

Duke of Medina helped continue the excellent run of form for HWR with an extremely impressive win at Market Rasen on Thursday. His win took the yard to 8 wins for the season, equalling last seasons total and taking the yards strike rate to 31% which is huge credit to all the hard work from the team!!! REPORTS: DUKEOFMEDINA made the trip to Market Rasen on Thursday to contest the Juvenile hurdle that opened the card. He ran very well at Ludlow on debut for the yard and that form looked strong, so if he handled the easier ground we were hopeful he would prove very hard to beat. The Duke set off to make the running under Richard Johnson, he set a strong pace throughout and put a lot of pressure on his four weaker opponents. Although at one stage he was briefly headed down the back straight, he soon jumped his way back to the front!! Turning for home he powered away from the rest of the field having jumped in slick fashion, and came home a hugely impressive 21 length winner!! Although it was quite a weak race he could not have been more impressive. Dicky Johnson was really impressed and said he ticks a lot of boxes as a juvenile hurdler which is very exciting. It was also very special indeed to have a first win for connections, our yard sponsor - HJWEBB&SON  hopefully the first of many! Our other runner of the week was BIGSOCIETY who made his debut for the yard at Exeter on Wednesday. He had been showing all the right signs at home and had been schooling nicely at Chris King’s. we ran him in first time blinkers and hoped to race handily in a very hot race. Unfortunately it didn’t go to plan as every other runner in the race wanted to be handy and the blinkers had an opposite effect of disappointing him. Having missed the start he was always on the back foot, getting detached at an early stage and pulling up after just the 10 obstacles. It was a very disappointing performance, my feeling at this present moment is that the handicapper needs to help us out by dropping us 3lbs to get a run in a 0-120 handicap chase. This will give him more + easier options. On softer ground, in a smaller field, leaving the blinkers off and a lower level race - will give him a much better opportunity of being able to race handy within his comfort zone. Horses are the best levellers at times but it's amazing how they can change with confidence and he has since had a full days hunting which he loved!! ENTRIES: ZEPHYROSBLEU is declared on Tuesday at Lingfield in a 2m 3f Novices Hurdle at 2.00 . He was running a huge race on debut in a bumper at Warwick before being pulled up sharply with a fractured cannon bone and sadly missed the rest of the season. However he has made a full recovery and is now ready to switch his sights to hurdling, we are looking forward to getting him back on track. He is a big chasing type with lots quality and has always shown ability. The easier ground should be ideal first time and the galloping nature of the track should really suit. He is a horse who will progress as he gains more experience and this is a nice starting point. PINKPLAY is entered at Ludlow on Thursday for her first start over hurdles in the 2 mile mares National Hunt maiden hurdle. She ran a blinder on her seasonal reappearance in a bumper at Worcester, showing a great attitude to finish 2nd and giving weight to the winner Girly Girl. She has really sharpened up since that run and has been schooling very nicely at home. Girly Girl won a very competitive Mares Novice Hurdle last week, so the form looks very strong. She is bred to be smart her brother One For Harry won his fifth race in a class 2 handicap hurdle the other day. We are hopeful she can progress over hurdles through the season, she should get further in time and we are excited to see her out again!! QASSER will make his seasonal reappearance at Taunton on Thursday in a 2m Handicap Hurdle. He was ultra-consistent last season winning both on the flat, over hurdles and only finishing outside the first four on one of his 9 starts. He is a horse with a lot of speed who travels very well in his races, we are hoping having had another summer break he stays the trip a little bit better. The sharp nature of the track at Taunton should suit him, but at this stage the entries look very competitive. He is in cracking form, has been schooling nicely and will hopefully pick up another race or 2 this season. It will be great to see him back on the track!! The yards final entry of the week is EMERGINGFORCE , he is likely to make his debut at Fontwell on Sunday in a 2m 3f Maiden Hurdle. The Force is a big scopey son of Milan with a huge amount of quality! He ran 3 times in point to points in Ireland before joining HWR. His last run has worked out well with both the horses he finished upsides Jack The Wire and Mahlerdramatic winning 3 bumpers between them. The latter winning impressively under a penalty at Aintree on Saturday. He has been working very nicely, is a very natural jumper so we are hopeful he will be very competitive on Sunday. He is a horse that will stay 3 miles in time but he isn’t short of speed, so this intermediate distance is a nice starting point. He is a nice prospect and the run should give us an indication of where to go through the season. He will make a smart chaser in time. Until next week,