As the nights draw to a close and the evening meetings come to an end, we thought it was time to give you a mini update of the season so far. After a frustrating start, we are now onto 12 winners and have surpassed over £200,000.00 in prize money. With lots of horses left to run we hope to boost that total in the coming months.
Stable star had certainly been Master Carpenter as he has improved again from three to four. His group 3 penalty for his Chantilly success last year made the start of the year difficult as he was forced to compete at the highest level and while not disgraced – life was proving difficult for the Mastercraftsmen colt. Therefore we decided to drop him back into handicap company and made the long trip up to Ayr ( our first since 1990) to try and boost his confidence and find some rain softened the in June. Although the rain never materialised , he got back on track with an unlucky in running third an followed that up with and improved effort finishing third in a competitive handicap at Sandown.
With no options over a mile on soft ground we stepped up to ten furlongs for the £150,000.00 John Smiths Cup at York. Running three pounds well in as it was an early closing handicap – everything went right as from stall one he had a smooth passage throughout the race and having kicked clear entering the final furlong, he was always doing enough to hold on and claim the yards biggest success since Sergeant Cecil claimed the Yorkshire Cup back in 2007. A big success on a Saturday combined with the prize money haul is extremely important for a yard like us and hopefully it is a sign of better things to come.
A six pounds rise takes Master Carpenter to a mark of 110 but he showed he can mix it in Group 3 grade when giving the highly touted Intilaaq a fright in the Group 3 Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock before finding ten furlongs in very soft ground a stamina test too far at Windsor last time. His end of season target is the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.
The super stayer of the yard is certainly the extremely game filly Taws who got the yard off the mark for 2015 when scoring easily at Wolverhampton back in March. A rise through the handicap ranks, 57 for her initial three year old success to a current mark of 92 has made it difficult to add to that success but her seconds over the marathon trips in the 2m6f Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot and the 2m5f hadicap at Glorious Goodwood gave both us and her owner-breeders a lot of satisfaction. With a lack of marathon events available ( we may need to lobby to the BHA for a 3m event!) options are limited but with such an excellent attitude and possible improvement from four to five, it would be great if she secured some black type.
Midnight Rider has proved an excellent purchase at last years Horses in Training Sales for £ 7000.00 . He has already won three times and won over £ 17,000.00 in prize money. Although a quirky sort, you certainly could not rule out further success.
An exciting horse to look out for in 2016 is the massive Champagne Champ and he is improving rapidly as a three-year-old, running out an extremely impressive winner in two events on rain softened ground at Ffos Las in recent weeks. They were only over twelve furlongs and as he should get better the further he goes so we have high hopes for him in the future.
Nora Batty has been stepped up in trip since joining the stable and has cone well for the yard, sinning at Chepstow and being placed in subsequent handicaps. Cotton Club had been proving frustrating but stepped up in trip to two miles he absolutely bolted up at Bath. A marathon trip appears to be what he requires but his need for a sound surface does limit options as we enter the autumn and he may need to concentrate on the AW.
Biotix has improved this season as we have gradually been able to step him up in trip, running out a narrow winner at Windsor before finishing an excellent second against a handicap blot at Sandown last time out. He has taken a long time to fill out his frame but is another individual that should continue to improve.
Azure Amour has proved to be a tough three-year-old filly, making all the running for a game success at Bath and has not been disgrace in defeat subsequently, she should be able to win again.
It has been an extremely frustrating time with the two-year-olds with a whole host of setbacks affecting the juveniles early on. However, this does mean that they should come good later on and horses like Sir Roderic and Bukle have shown enough to suggest they will be winning races shortly.
The yearling sales have come around quickly and Rod was busy at Doncaster sales purchasing five colts, two by Sir Prancealot and a Royal Appaluse, Famous Name and Compton Place. Of those, one of the Sir Prancealot‘s (lot 568 from the Silver Sale – dam a half sister to three winners, one rated in the 90s and others in the 80s) is for sale while there are plenty of sales still to come for 2015 so if you would like to get involved, please do not hesitate to give Rod a ring.