Gladiatrix Gets Back On Track

With her owner-breeders keen to chase black-type, life has been a little tough for Gladiatrix this year but back down to Class 4 level she returned to the winners enclosure at Windsor on Monday evening. She enjoyed the heavy rain that fell before racing and as she likes being in space, the race panned out ideally as they spread out across the track and she ran out a convincing winner by two and a quarter lengths. Obviously life will be harder back in Class 3 company but with confidence boosted, hopefully she can get back on track and will probably try to get black type again later in the season.

Purple Spot showed her first bit of form when finishing fifth in the fillies maiden at Windsor on Monday and her future lies with the handicapper but she should continue to progress. Burnt Fingers was a little disappointing at Haydock, but it was difficult to come from behind that day and it may be that she just runs best for Andrea Atzeni.

Biotic has not progressed as much as we liked but still ran a solid race when second at Kempton on Wednesday, he is still a giant of a horse that needs to strengthen up so should improve with plenty of time on his side. Shavansky ran a nice comeback race, looking dangerous for place money before weakening inside final furlong to finish fifth and Nelson's Trick made a promising debut in sixth.

Three Easter Saturday Runners

It's three runners at three different meetings on Easter Saturday and with all three in sixteen runner fields, some luck will be needed. At Bath Gladiatrix goes in the Listed race as she aims to get some black-type for her owner-breeders. She has come back from her winter break in great shape and should prove much better than her current mark of 86. However, that mark leaves her with a lot to find and having drawn stall fifteen, it is a near impossible task unfortunately.

At Nottingham, Pat takes the ride on Cotton Club and he should prove another well handicapped three-year-old for the stable this season. He did not get much luck in running when fourth on his handicap debut and should have been second at least. The step up to ten furlongs should suit but this handicap looks pretty competitive with lots of unexposed types that could be anything it won't be an easy task.

Finally, it is a rare jumps runner for the yard as Dance goes to Newton Abbot for the Mare's Maiden. The Erhaab mare is a full sister to Shy, won three for the yard and Money Money Money, who won five in one season, so she should know how to win. However, although proved consistent in both bumpers and AW handicaps, she hasn't quite got her head in front so we revert to hurdles. She jumped big when unseating on her debut back in November and needs decent ground, hence the AW campaign when everywhere was waterlogged this winter. She has done plenty of schooling in recent weeks and although a clear round is the main aim, she is definitely capable of being placed in this kind of grade.

Lots Of Recent Places

It has been a few weeks since a news update and although we would like some more winners, the horses have been running well in recent weeks. It was a very narrow defeat for Gladiatrix when she was denied by a short head at Newmarket on Friday evening, with the rejuvenated Tax Free taking advantage of a reduced handicap mark but Gladiatrix posted a career best effort in the process so we can't be disappointed. She had been unlucky on her two previous starts, a bad draw at Sandown costing her victory when third and then got badly hampered at Salisbury next time out. Another homebred filly to be busy is Gaelic Ice who has posted solid second and thirds at Windsor and Ffos Las in the last ten days.

We took two of the Links Partnership's horses to Haydock earlier in the month and both Astrum and Icebuster ran good races, both finishing second to useful horses. Astrum was unlucky not to go one better when second again at Pontefract on Monday, unfortunately he got hampered at the start and was too far behind to catch the winner. His attitude has been brilliant this year and he has improved with every start.

Unfortunately we did endure disappointment at Royal Ascot as Master Carpenter was only fourteenth in the Chesham Stakes. It wasn't ideal for him to make the running on Ascot's straight track and perhaps he may benefit from dropping back to six furlongs but no obvious excuse has come to light and we will just ignore that effort and he will be out again shortly.

Gladiatrix Bids To Get Back On Track

After a week of no runners, it's nice to be back on the racecourse at Sandown this evening with two runners, both have chances but high draws on the sprint course makes life hard.

Gladiatrix made a surprise winning return at Southwell, showing enough speed to avoid the kickback at Southwell and we hoped for big things this season. However, she hasn't progressed as hoped, been intimidated in a competitive sprint at Windsor before a disappointing third on the polytrack at Kempton a month ago. She was always a bit hesitant last season and blinkers were going to be used before the penny dropped in the autumn. However, now she is running in more competitive events, we feel the blinkers could help her concentrate on the job in hand and hopefully it will see a return to form. Unfortunately a wide draw in thirteen (now ten of twelve with non-runners) against such experienced sprinters makes life hard, although at least she should get a clear run on the outside and we would be happy if she was in the prize money.

Urban Dreamer runs in the opener and once again he has a bad draw, something that probably denied him victory when he had to come across from a wide draw to grab the favoured stands rail at Lingfield. He only got caught yards from the line and holds the Mick Channon trained Sartori on that form. We then stepped him up to the National Stakes at Sandown last week and although last of five, he wasn't disgraced and ran up to form and should enjoy dropping back in grade tonight. He has the form in the book to win but there are some interesting newcomers from the Hannon/Jarvis yards and stall nine won't be easy to overcome. Hopefully he won't need to but may make a quick reappearance at Bath on Friday.

Busy Bank Holiday Ends With A Winner

We had a very busy Bank Holiday Monday with six runners at four meetings and most ran with credit before Astrum won the finale at Warwick. The Haafhd gelding has turned the corner as a three-year-old and this was his second success of the season, both at Warwick and he looks set to progress again as he wasn't given a hard time by Andrea and still won by a length and three quarters. His previous Nottingham third, where he ended up poorly placed, has worked out extremely well and hopefully he can get win number three in the coming weeks.

Pat had a good ride on yard veteran Shavansky and the pair didn't quite get up when losing out by a neck in a London Mile Qualifier at Kempton. Once again the £43,000 Final which he won last year will be his main aim this season. Isis Blue returned to form when third at Warwick, having disappointed on his two previous starts where he raced too keenly, so we decided to drop him out the back and made sure he settled in the early stages. While, he ran his race much more professionally, the first two raced prominently and he just had too much ground to make up but it was a step in the right direction.

Although she finished third, it was a slightly disappointing effort from Gladiatrix in the fillies handicap at Kempton. She didn't really pick up in the closing stages and it may be that six furlongs stretches her stamina but she needs to improve again before we target some Listed races. At Bath, Blue Anchor Bay was fourth in a maiden, he would have finished closer if he wasn't hampered by the third.

Hat-Trick Landed!

Poetic Verse made it three out of three since stepping up to twelve furlongs and recorded her fourth victory of the year at Windsor on Monday evening. The Link's Partnership's homebred filly couldn't be in better form at the moment and ran out an easy two length winner without being asked a serious question by Andrea Atzeni. Hopefully the handicapper won't be too harsh, as the race couldn't have worked out any better for her, with the pace up front far too strong and in such a small field, Andrea had plenty of time to switch her out wide as she made effortless progress inside the final three furlongs. Obviously things are going to get harder in future, as she will be forced into Class Four company and she can't remain in such blistering form forever. Although she has certainly exceeded our expectations so far, hopefully we can sneak in win number five at some point this summer!

Ultimately Monday was still a disappointing day for the yard as both Gladiatrix and Isis Blue ran well below expectations. Gladiatrix had won five of her last six starts but faced by far her toughest test at Windsor and only finished ninth, five lengths behind the winner. She stumbled in the early stages and didn't have a lot of room which may have affected the confidence of a filly that was very hesitant in her early races. Hopefully it won't be long before she's back on the winning trail but we might have to adjust our future plans. Isis Blue was very keen in the early stages which meant he was very awkward going round the bend and his action never really recovered up the homestraight. He was in a competitive event and may benefit from dropping in grade but he is proving quite frustrating at the moment.

Our final runner of the jumps season was Dance and she ran another solid race when third in her final bumper at Taunton on Wednesday. She was a bit keener on her fourth outing and didn't have any more to give when headed entering the final furlong. She will now revert to the flat and will enjoy dropping back in trip. Although we didn't get a win out of our bumper team this season, we did have eight places and Pat certainly gained some valuable experience which he will put into good use this flat season.

Hat-Trick For Poetic Verse?

As usual on a Monday, especially now Windsor is back up and running, we're very busy and have three runners tomorrow. The best chance would be Poetic Verse who runs in the finale at Windsor and this tough filly is going for three victories in a row. Having looked exposed off marks in the low sixties this winter, a step up to twelve furlongs has seen has seen plenty of improvement and she was impressive when winning at Kempton a fortnight ago. She is six pounds higher and eventually the handicapper will get hold of her but is extremely well in herself at the moment and certainly full of confidence. Small fields suit and her turf form over shorter distances was comparable to AW efforts over similar trips so that shouldn't be a problem and she has to go well again.


Meanwhile, if Gladiatrix hadn't gone over the top when third at Bath in October, she could be bidding for a six-timer, having won on her return at Southwell. We were slightly surprised that she won there, as the fibresand surface wouldn't have been ideal and it certainly augurs well for her this season. She is in a sixteen runner sprint at Windsor and it is by far her hardest test yet so it won't be an easy task. Some have suggested that she may be better at five furlongs but her first two wins were over Bath's extended five which is pretty stiff and she's normally doing her best work at the end of her races, so we don't think stepping back up to six will be a problem. She only went up two pounds for that Southwell success and we still feel she's well handicapped so we're hopeful she will go close, especially as we hope she can compete for black-type in Listed company this season.

Our third runner is Isis Blue at Kempton and unlike Gladiatrix, he failed to handle fibresand when a disappointing third nearly three weeks ago. He was slightly unlucky when runner-up on his handicap debut over course and distance in March and off a one pound higher mark, he is another with a solid chance tomorrow. He's a horse we really liked last year but was on the weak side and picked up a few minor problems but still showed some solid form on his first two starts. He has strengthened up nicely over the winter and we feel he's capable of exploiting a mark of 70 and progressing through the handicap ranks. It's a competitive handicap tomorrow and he needs to bounce back from a below par effort but he too shouldn't be far away, hopefully it will be a good day!

However, we didn't have much success on Friday and Saturday with the two-year-olds running well below expectations. Seaham was in a very competitive maiden at Newbury and probably ended up on the slower ground but he didn't look very comfortable at halfway and perhaps he will prefer a sounder surface. Meanwhile, Urban Dreamer got very upset in the stalls at Bath and while he showed plenty of speed, dropped away tamely from halfway. Hopefully both will leave these efforts behind next time. At Nottingham on Saturday, Astrum stayed on well for third and was slightly unlucky, getting shuffled back early on a track which favoured those racing prominently. He showed more resolution than when winning at Warwick and he should keep progressing off his low handicap mark.

Successful Return For Gladiatrix

Gladiatrix

Tuesday was a busy day for the yard, with runners at Southwell and Kempton and we were unlucky not to come away with a double. Last year Gladiatrix racked up a quick four-timer in the autumn and made a very promising seasonal debut when winning at Southwell. We weren't sure she'd enjoy the fibresand at Southwell, especially as she normally gets behind early but Michael Murphy got her out quickly and kept her close enough to the pace to avoid the kickback. Hitting the front inside the final furlong, she just did enough to hold on in a bunch finish to land the valuable £12,000 handicap. She should improve for the run and progress throughout the season.

After his promising seasonal debut, when runner up in a competitive event at Kempton, we were hopeful Isis Blue would go one better on Tuesday. However, he was quite keen early and didn't handle the left hand bend too well before looking awkward up the home straight as he plugged on for third. He's come back home fine and we're hoping he just failed to handle the surface, as he'd beaten the winner at Kempton and he's much better than he showed on Tuesday.

We also had Icebuster at Kempton and he was desperately unlucky not to make a winning return, failing to get up by a head. Once again he was undone by a steady pace on the AW and even in a smaller field, he was unable to make up the ground in time. He's returned in good form and should be much more effective on a galloping turf track.

Isis Blue Bids To Go One Better

We ended up having no runners last week but it’s a much busier week in prospect with runners at Warwick on Monday, Southwell and Kempton on Tuesday.

 Astrum was very disappointing last season, showing more signs of temperament than ability on his first two starts before a glimmer of promise at Leicester. He had excuses when disappointing on the AW in two nurseries (6f too short/hampered next time) but needs to fully focus on the track this season. His work at home suggests he’s well handicapped off 54, so hopefully he can show more on his return at Warwick on Monday. There are only seven runners and while the tacky ground isn’t ideal, it isn’t the most competitive of races, so he could run quite well, although nothing would surprise.

Tuesday sees the yard back at Southwell, our horses tend to do well on the fibresand surface but both Isis Blue and Gladiatrix are making their debuts there and until they have actually run on it, you don’t know how they will handle it. Isis Blue has strengthened up nicely over the winter and he made a very promising three-year-old return when runner up in a competitive race at Kempton, staying on strongly inside the final furlong despite been checked. He has only gone up a pound and as Tuesday’s race isn’t any stronger and as long as he handles the fibresand, we’re hopeful he will go close. Gladiatrix really progressed in the autumn, landing a four-timer and she should progress again this season. There aren’t many options for her in the opening weeks of the ‘turf’ season and she was balloted out at Kempton on Saturday, so our hand is forced to go to Southwell. It probably isn’t the ideal track to run her, as she can get behind early and it provides a unique test against some course specialists like Even Stevens. However, she needs to get a few runs under her belt and she has plenty of ability so it will be interesting to see how she gets on.

Nothing really went right for Icebuster last season, he missed most of the turf campaign and was then unsuited by slowly run races on the AW but showed he retains all of his ability when third at Kempton in a very competitive handicap in the autumn. He has had an uninterrupted preparation this winter and we’re hopeful he can regain the winning thread at some point this season. Once again, the main concern on Tuesday would be a slowly-run race but there are a couple of prominent runners and there are only ten runners so he should find some space up the home straight under Jamie Spencer and he definitely has each-way chances.

We have just uploaded a Stable Tour onto the website. At the moment it only contains the older horses but a two-year-old tour will be uploaded later next week.