Little to report

17-02-2017

THIS WEEK It has come to light that the horses are still not quite at their best on the racecourse, therefore we are postponing any further runners for at least another 10 days.  The horses are eating up, look well and are generally in good health.  But when they're not competing as they should do in a race the best policy is to be patient.  The new barn has been built and horses have been moved around so we need everything to settle down before we start running horses again.  We are very hopeful that our patient approach will reward us and we can have a successful end to the season.  As a team we couldn't thank our owners enough for being so patient and supportive throughout this tricky time. REPORTS Charlemar finished a solid 4th at Doncaster last Thursday.  He made the running under jockey David Bass and set a decent gallop from the outset.  His jumping was stand out again, taking lengths out of the opposition at every obstacle.  He kicked on turning into the home straight and looked to have the field stretched out jumping the 3rd last, but the 10lb penalty did tell in the closing stages.  He was eventually beaten 5L by a horse rated 130 , so ran to his mark of 135.  He will now step up in trip to 2m 4f, which should bring about improvement. Flower Ball finished down the field at Kempton last Friday.  He travelled nicely in mid field for much of the contest before really feeling the pinch down the back straight.  It was a competitive race, run at a generous gallop and it took him out of his comfort zone.  He is now eligible for handicaps, where he has the option of stepping down in class and switching to fences. Wychwoods Brook was pulled up at Exeter on Sunday.  Although the ground was advertised as soft, the jockey’s reported that it rode far quicker.  He was rushed off his feet from an early stage and was never able to get competitive.  Options are thin on the ground for the rest of the season for him and he has now turned 11, so the decision has been taken to retire him.  He has been a great servant for his owners Kevin and Anne Glastonbury, his biggest win came in the 2014 Peter Marsh Chase. Astrapaios finished 8th at Towcester on Wednesday in his second start in a bumper.  He took a handy position and travelled well throughout the contest, but when push came to shove he didn’t pick up like he had at Ffos Las.  The ground had become very testing but this performance was well below what he’s capable of.  We will regroup with him, before looking for another bumper. Until next week...