FULL STEAM AHEAD

07-09-2018

THIS WEEK September is here and that means one thing; the National Hunt season is around the corner.  The horses are looking fantastic, the barns are pretty much full up, the new gallop is in place and things are getting very exciting.  So after a summer of re-stocking, building, cleaning, painting, (a small amount of resting!) and some major planning - we're almost ready for lift off!             REPORTS Salto Chisco finished 3rd on his latest start at Stratford last Tuesday.  The ground was easier than at Newton Abbot on his previous start and he really enjoyed it.  He travelled and jump well through the early part of the race in mid division.  He made a mistake as they passed the stands for the final time and this put him on the back foot.  He did well to get back into contention going down the back straight, before his run was interrupted by the weakening Modeligo.  He eventually got a clear run between the last two hurdles and stayed on strongly to take 3rd in the shadow of the post.  He may well have been 2nd with a clearer run and remains in cracking form.  His turn isn’t far away and he will be out again at the end of the month. Brandy James ran a cracker to finished 3rd at Worcester last Wednesday.  We rode him in a handy position to make use of his proven stamina and he was greener than anticipated.  Despite that he put in a superb round of jumping, travelled well and leaving the back straight he had every chance.  Although he met 2 of the last 3 hurdles on the wrong stride he was very clever and didn’t lose momentum, before running on well for pressure to finish 3rd.  This was a likeable debut and a deep race for the grade.  He should come on for the experience and be much sharper next time. ENTRIES Hurricane Lil could make her first start for the yard on the flat at Chelmsford in a couple of weeks.  She had 7 starts on the flat for her previous yard and currently holds a rating of 55.  She's an athletic filly whose been given plenty of time since joining the yard and is in cracking form at the moment.  She's a Big Bad Bob half sister to 3 black type performers and we are hopeful there's more to come from her.  Hopefully she has a race in her. HWR 5 TO FOLLOW COMPETITION 2018-19 So as we head closer to the beginning of the season we have reached that time of year again when we open up our popular 5 to follow competition... We will be running this in the same way again this year whereby it's a fiver to enter, you can pick 5 horses with 1 reserve, you can enter as many times as you like and can pick any of the horses in our string. Points can be scored accordingly: 1st = 8 points, 2nd = 5 points, 3rd = 3 points, 4th = 1 point (For all races rated Class 2 or higher the points will double) Entries are open now and they must all be in by midnight on Sunday 9th September. The competition will then run from 10th September 2018 - 30th August 2019 Don't miss out, get your entries in now to info@harrywhittington.co.uk     SHARES IN THE HARRY WHITTINGTON RACING CLUB 2018-19 ARE NOW AVAILABLE...   THIS SEASONS' CLUB PROSPECTS... HATTIE HOPKINSON Bought for £14k at the Horses In Training at Goffs at the end of May.  She is a lovely scopey, athletic filly with a very good pedigree and a cracking name.  She is a half Sister to Welsh National winner Monbeg Dude and there is black type all through the page.  Her Sire Jeremy boasts one of the best strike rates of winners to runners and was also the Sire of Our Connor.  She ran in 2 English point to points the Spring finishing placed 2nd and 4th.  She is a filly that will strengthen up plenty for a break this Summer and has the potential to make up into a smart filly in novice hurdles.  She will most likely start off in a bumper at the beginning of October. ECLAT DES BIEFFES Bought for £5k privately in Ireland is a 4 yo Gelding who has ran twice in two point to points where he jumped well, showed lots of speed and wasn't staying the 3 miles.  He has a good pedigree with lots of flat winners in the page.  Therefore the plan would be to drop him back into a 2 mile bumper in late September followed by a Winter of 2 mile novice hurdling.  He is a sharp, good looking athletic type by Enrique who is the Sire of Binocular.   Until next week…