Back At Sunny Southwell

It's nice to have a couple of runners on the fibresand at Southwell, a surface which our horses tend to enjoy and the 465 mile round trip normally provides the yard with some prize money. Both Madame Kintyre and Blunos are having their first experience of the fibresand and while you can never be certain that they will handle the unique surface, especially the kickback, we are hopeful both can run well.

Madame Kintyre missed a very good opportunity at Bath when the weighing room flooded and this is the first race she has actually got in for over a month which has been extremely frustrating as she has been in good form on her most recent starts. Her dam Chorus loved the fibresand surface at Southwell and her half-sister Ishi ran up to her best when tried on the surface, so it should suit. It's a shame she is so wide in fourteen, although that is preferable to being stuck on the dead rail up the inside. A mark of 51 is still workable (has useful form in the 60s) and she should put up a good show and as long as she handles the fibresand, she should have a profitable winter on the surface.

Blunos shaped nicely on his third start at Windsor but has been very disappointing in two handicap outings at Wolverhampton. That surface has received a lot of criticism in recent weeks and rightly so, the mix of fibresand on top of polytrack is causing an inconsistent surface that a lot of horses don't seem to be handling. Hopefully that is the reason why he has run so badly the last twice but he has dropped to a mark of 50, this looks a very weak race and it will be disappointing if he isn't in the three.

We have been very quiet on the runners front recently but Galatian shaped much better when third on his most recent start. He has had a lot of issues with his feet but if his confidence builds, he is very well handicapped off 68 (last win off 72) and should do well this winter. Unfortunately, there are no opportunities at Kempton in the next few weeks, which is the AW track that will suit him best but hopefully there will be lots of races in the New Year.

Weak Looking Maiden For Modem

It has been pretty quiet for the yard in recent weeks, with no runner in a fortnight as most of the Flat string are now on their winter holidays, while those that are racing on the AW through the winter are still a few weeks off a run. However, we could certainly do with a winner and it looks as if Modem has a good chance at Lingfield tomorrow.

The Motivator gelding was green on debut but showed plenty of promise when finishing third in very heavy ground at Ffos Las. He was slow to stride before making an impressive mid-race move, he looked the winner approaching the final furlong before getting tired in the ground. He improved on that effort when fifth in a much more competitive maiden at Windsor on his second start, staying on nicely at the finish. Thursday's maiden at Lingfield looks much weaker, he probably has the best form on offer already and he remains open to improvement. The potential 'fly in the ointment' is the Luca Cumani trained Bouclier, owned by the Wildenstein's and this Zamindar colt is a half brother to Beauty Pagent (RPR119) and Barocci (RPR110). While the Cumani horses normally improve for the outing, he did have a similar type win at Kempton on Tuesday evening.

Blunos returns to Wolverhampton after disappointing on his handicap debut there five weeks ago. The track was riding extremely deep on that occasion and the has tightened up since then. He ran well on his third start at Windsor and a repeat of that could see him go close in what looks a weak looking Class 6 Nursery.   

Four Sold On At Horses In Training Sales And A New Addition

We said goodbye to four of our older horses at Tattersalls Horses In Training Sales at Newmarket last week. Shahdaroba was top lot of the draft, making 65,000gns and has joined Micky Hammond's stable. He was generally pretty consistent, although he struggled with the handicapper after winning at Newmarket's Craven meeting, putting in creditable efforts throughout the season. He has done extremely well for his owners, purchased for 25,000gns as a yearling, winning two races and £36,127 in prize money, plus a £10,000 bonus for his maiden win and will do well for new connections in similar handicaps next year.

The Links also sold the three-years-olds Astrum and Poetic Verse, both having done extremely well this season but both probably held by the handicapper at present and it's the right time to sale them on. Homebred Poetic Verse did particularly well, winning four times this season and was placed a further tweleve times in her career from twenty-three starts. She rose 23lbs in the handicap before her winning run came to an end, mainly due to her excellent attitude but found life harder against some classy sorts in Class 4 company. She has joined John Quinn's yard for 16,500gns and her excellent attitude is sure to stand her in good stead. Astrum was very disappointing at two but he came into his own stepped up in trip as a three-year-old, winning twice and placed six times, he probably should have won three or four but didn't get much luck on occasions. He also went up 22lbs in the handicap and has joined Neil King's yard for 36,000gns and will be sent hurdling in the winter, if his antics when jumping over the road at Salisbury as a two-year-old are anything to go by, he will make a super jumper!

Finally, tough two-year-old Urban Dreamer was also sold on, frustratingly still a maiden but he gave his owners plenty of fun this year. In a busy season, he had seventeen starts, finished runner-up on seven occasions as well as four thirds, a fourth and two solid efforts just outside the prize money in valuable sales races. He still picked up over £13,000 in place prize money and was generally progressive at the end of the season, ending up rated 78. We felt he was the type that may struggle in the UK at three, so although winning a maiden should be a formality (we also thought that throughout the season but UD had other ideas!), life in handicaps could be hard. He made 17,000gns and is now enjoying the sunnier climate of Qatar.

While we also have a new addition to the yard as Triple Chief was purchased for 10,000gns from the Luca Cumani yard. The High Chaparral colt out of Trebles is an unraced two-year-old and he's been gelded and put away for the winter. He's a half-brother to a German Group 2 winner in Sherezad and he could be a nice progressive type for next season.

Shahdaroba In Action On Champions Day

It's nice to be represented at Ascot on Champions Day, with Shahdaroba taking his chance in the apprentice finale, a twenty seven runner cavalry charge! Seven furlongs on soft ground is ideal and he has finally eased in the handicap, just one pound higher than when he won at the Craven meeting. It was a solid effort when fourth over a mile at Ascot two weeks ago and it would be no surprise if he nicked some minor prize money.

At Bath on Sunday, Madame Kintyre bids to go one better after finishing second on her two most recent starts. Somehow she just lost out in a three way photo at Windsor last Monday, beaten a nose by the winner and dead heating for second! She enjoys soft ground, so the more rain the better and Pat could take off a valuable seven pounds. She certainly deserves to get off the mark in 2013.

Another Placing For Dreamer

Once again Urban Dreamer has continued to run well without winning in the last two weeks. He stayed on well for tenth in the £150,000 Redcar Two-Year-Old Trophy and we were confident of another big effort at Haydock on Friday. He didn't disappoint with a solid third in a £14,000 Nursery, the rain softened ground probably wasn't ideal but it was still a cracking run off a five pound higher mark than his second over the same course and distance three weeks previously. He's now had sixteen runs, seven seconds, four thirds and two solid tenths in big Sales races. Despite no win, he's picked up £13,000 in place money and we have one more chance before he goes to the sales at end of the month.

Two Year Old Trophy Task For Dreamer

Consistent two-year-old Urban Dreamer goes to Redcar for the £150,000 Totepool Two Year Old Trophy and has outside chances of picking up some minor prize money. He's an incredibly tough two-year-old, from his fourteen starts he's racked up seven seconds and three thirds and has run consistently well throughout the year. Blinkers seemed to bring about some improvement when second to Deeds Not Words last time and he wasn't stopping at the line, so six furlongs could help. He ran very well in the Super Sprint, showing good speed before getting badly hampered and in a better race, it would be no surprise if he ran a career best and nicked fifth or sixth prize.

It was another solid effort from Shahdaroba when finishing fourth at Ascot yesterday. He again stayed on well enough to suggest that he has enough stamina for a mile but also confirmed that he's a tad high in the handicap.

Shahdaroba At Ascot

Shahdaroba goes in the 0-90 Classified Stakes at Ascot on Friday. The Haatef gelding has struggled with the handicapper since winning at Newamarket's Craven meeting back in April but this is his first run at 0-90 level this season. The trip of a mile is a query, he has won both his races over six furlongs but has run well enough in two attempts at today's trip, a second at Chepstow and fifth at Kempton to suggest he has the stamina. Although very soft ground wouldn't be ideal, the excellent drainage system at Ascot means it rarely gets too heavy and he certainly has each-way chances.

Eugenic ran a nice race on his second start at Warwick on Thursday, finishing seventh of thirteen and running much better than his odds of 100/1 suggested. He is still on the weak side but should make up into a nice three-year-old next season.