Galatian Noses Ahead At Kempton

Back on the polytrack saw a return to form for Galatain, as under a strong ride from George Baker, he just held on to win by a nose in the finale at Kempton last night. The horse has had a lot of problems with his feet which have stopped him from fulfilling his full potential and these issues seem to affect him more on turf, with the level nature of an artificial surface seeming to give him more confidence. He should not go up too much in the handicap and having won off a five pound higher mark back two years ago, he should remain competitive, even if he does not return to his best. With the tapeta at Wolverhampton looking to ride well when it opened on Monday, it does give him a few more options.

Stable star Master Carpenter has been declared for the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury but the drying ground is a concern, as he is certainly more effective on a softer surface, especially over a mile. Options are a tad limited with his three pound penalty for winning in France and it is frustrating Salisbury missed most of the remnants of Hurricane Bertha so Rod will walk the track to see if it is suitable. It is a very competitive race, as befits the excellent prize money on offer and Yuften certainly looks like he will be hard to beat but Master Carpenter keeps on improving and he certainly has each-way chances once again.

Taws would also benefit from soft ground but her last two efforts on a sound surface have been solid and she was badly hampered by Sebastian Beach at Sandown and stopped her from finishing a clear second. She is one pound better off and the very long straight at Salisbury will suit so she has every chance off a light weight under Andrea Atzeni.

Dance Bids For National Hunt Success

Our only hurdler in training Dance goes to Newton Abbot, her fifth consecutive run at one of our local tracks and she has her usual solid each-way chance in the 2m6f handicap hurdle. Unfortunately the handicapper gave her a rather harsh opening mark of 90 and although she ran a cracker to finish third on handicap debut, it was a very weak ladies race and she then got put up 3lbs to 93. She always tries hard, placed on eight of her sixteen starts under both codes but the handicapper has her stuck. Hopefully the step up to 2m6f will suit and it does not look the strongest of races, perhaps today is the day she gets off the mark.

We also have a couple of runners at Kempton (Dylan Centenary is a non-runner). Triple Chief paid for running above himself when second at Warwick on his second run which meant he got a very high handicap mark and has not found life easy. A good effort when third stepped up to ten furlongs last time suggests he is going in the right direction. Hopefully he settles in this small field today and he should not be too far away if he does.

Galatian was very disappointing back on turf last time, but it is likely that he just will not let himself down on the turf anymore. He is back at Kempton, a repeat of his second over a mile there a month ago should see him go close, if he is on a going day!

Masai Moon Retired

One of the yard's ten year old veteran's, Masai Moon, has been retired after suffering a career ending leg injury at Windsor on Monday evening. The son of Lujain has been in the yard since been purchased as a yearling for £8,000 in October 2005. He was originally owned by Kathy Stuart as a two-year-old, then Christopher Roper at three before being transferred to the Rod Millman Racing Club as a seven-year-old, providing it's members with plenty of fun during the two years it ran and then we decided to keep him for Pat to ride (also gave Ryan Timby his first ride when finishing third at Salisbury on his second last outing) in the twilight of his career.

He has had a very successful career, with 8 wins, 34 places from 84 starts and won just under £75,000 in prize money. At his best he was rated 95, effective on both turf and AW and gave both James and Patrick some great days. He has been a pleasure to have around the yard and has been expertly looked after and ridden in his work by Sue Davey through most of his career. We are now on the look out for a good home for him, although horses like him are very hard to replace, hopefully we get some that are just as good at the upcoming yearling sales.

Yard Hits Twenty As Indaria Scores Again

Speedball filly Indaria posted an all the way success on her handicap debut at Ffos Las under Ted Durcan, giving the yard it's TWENTIETH winner of 2014. The Sleeping Indian filly did extremely well to win under top weight and showed her defeat of Prime Exhibit at Newmarket was no fluke. As long as the handicapper does not overreact, she should turn into a decent filly.

Old man of the yard Shavansky is too high in the handicap after such a successful AW campaign but his still finished third in the Class 3 feature at Ffos Las and picked up over a grand in the process.

Run Of Thirds

We have enjoyed a slightly frustrating run of thirds recently. Stable amateur Ryan Timby had an enjoyable first ride, finishing third on yard veteran Masai Moon at Salisbury. Triple Chief ran a little bit free on his first start over ten furlongs when third at Windsor on rain-softened ground.

While Taws was unlucky to finish third at Sandown on Wednesday evening, staying on nicely when badly hampered by the winner, she certainly would have finished second and with space would not have been far off the winner. Biotic found the step up to Class 3 company beyond him but was not disgraced back in fourth on the same evening.

Black Type Secured For Bonnie Grey

After an impressive debut success at Warwick in an excellent time, we had quite high hopes for Bonnie Grey, although things did not really go to plan on her first two attempts at Listed level. In the National Stakes she was stuck mid-track on unsuitable heavy ground but was not disgraced in fourth behind Tiggy Wiggy. Then she got too far behind when stepped up to six furlongs at Newmarket before staying on strongly to finish sixth only beaten four lengths. Therefore we decided to step her up to seven furlongs for the a Listed event at Sandown, a race we finished third with Harvest Joy back in 2006. Settled at the back of the field, she stayed on strongly in the final furlong to claim third place and some valuable black-type for her future bloodstock career.

Creditable Third For Carpenter

Unfortunately thunderstorms in Paris turned the ground heavy at Maisons-Laffitte and it meant that Master Carpenter did not stay the ten furlong trip when finishing third in the Prix Eugene Adam behind Western Hymn. Nicely positioned under Christophe Lemaire, he looked to have every chance approaching the final furlong but could do no more as he stayed on the one pace while the superior stamina of the Gosden horse kicked in.

It was still a creditable effort stepped back into Group 2 company and he picked up another £11,000 in prize money, taking his career earnings past the £100,000 barrier. He has been very busy since that opening third in the Greenham so after two French trips he is having a well deserved break and will be back in the autumn, with the Group 1 QEII on Champions Day his long term target.