Zig Zags
We started with lunch in London and ended with dinner in the North Yorkshire Moors! It was quite the week, one awards ceremony, one runner, a very special stable visit, and an outstanding dinner – read on McDuff!
Monday – The Horserace Writers and Photographers annual Derby Awards lunch at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. This lunch has long been renowned for being one of the best in the racing industry, which makes me wonder why it took me so long to go! This year we were there to support Debbie – who was nominated not for one, but two awards – Photograph of the Year and Photographer of the Year. Our table included trainer Alan King and former jockeys Robert Bellamy and Ollie McPhail, who both have a number of roles, among them working for the charity, Racing to School which aims to inspire young minds through the provision of free, interactive, and healthy outdoor educational events for schools, staged at a variety of racing venues. After a drinks reception – where it was great to catch up with Paul Mulrennan, who had ridden Dino Bellagio so often through the summer, we headed back upstairs for lunch. A veritable Who’s Who of racing in the room, an indicator as to the quality of the lunch and the importance of these awards in racing.
The Photograph of the Year category was early in proceedings, and we were all on the edge of our seats as the nominations were announced. Debbie had been nominated twice before, would this be third time lucky?
She was!
Our table erupting as her name was read out – she had done it – so richly deserved, recognition of her tireless hard work and her incredible talent
The Award Winning Image - Lsst years Breeders Cup - in the run up - all the talk had been about City Of Troy, his habit of being slightly slowly away, and wether or not he woukd face the kickback on the dirt. Debbie captured the exact moment those questions were answered! Just look at his eye!
Huge congratulations to Debbie, we have been so lucky to have her on the team for the past 5 years, her photographs and videos adding so much to the updates and content that we send out to our owners, syndicate members and followers on a daily basis. Debbie is an invaluable part of what we do – not only are we able to boast of having a Derby Award Winning Photographer on the team but she is also only too willing to step into the roll of syndicate manager at race meetings should she be needed. A wonderful host on track – and if ever you are lucky to have her on track with you – you know you will all be getting some fantastic photos!
Sadly there was to be no double on the afternoon, as she was runner up in the Photographer of the Year category – but that is probably a blessing as the racket from our table was loud enough when she won Photograph of the Year early on in proceedings – the Photographer of the Year was announced a lot later - I hate to think what would have happened – the wine was certainly flowing well!
After the awards we decamped to the bar for more fun, eventually heading home at a reasonable hour – well most of us! With six of us catching the train north – four of us got in a cab to head to the station, while two were sidetracked and instead headed towards the West End. Now the names of those two will be changed to protect the guilty – but while four of us had a nice, civilised pint at St Pancras – we will call them ‘Tom’ and ‘Andy’ were sipping cocktails ‘up West’. Four of us managed to get back home in some sort of order, although one of us (me) failed to get the doors to work on the train and ended up alighting at Huntingdon, one stop after my scheduled rendezvous with my Uber at St Neots. It would have helped if I had been trying to open the doors on the correct side of the train – you know – the one that was adjacent to the platform! No great drama – an Uber rearranged from Huntingdon and I was soon back on track. ‘Tom’ and ‘Andy’ on the other hand were a little later – well a lot later – and the tale of their evening will go down in folklore. From here on in – every good evening should involve a pink haired dwarf, two dead phones, and a car jacking!
Tuesday – some of us a lot brighter than others! Really good to get a clip of Greyval working very nicely up the hill at Ravenswell. She is in great order and heads to a mares’ chase in Cheltenham next weekend. Really looking forward to seeing her out again – she was very good around Huntingdon on chase debut, facing a tough task against a very experienced chaser, who would go on to be 5th in the Coral Gold Cup in Newbury last weekend, and who was a little unlucky to be only fifth after a botched start that ruined the chances a good number of the field, not least, Alan’s Doyen Chief! Johnny Burke was thrilled with her jumping that day – and she should find life back in mares’ company a little easier with that experience under her belt!
Alan King declared Uhtred Ragnarson in Market Rasen on Thursday. A Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle. UR was a very impressive winner on seasonal bow in Warwick – and the hope was that he would be capable of defying a 7lb penalty. He had been very keen that day, as he can be, so a repeat of that would not make him an easy ride in a small field of just 6 runners – but we would give it a go. He would have an extra voice shouting him home when he ran – Phil taking advantage of our mid-season price offer and joining the Alan King Racing Club and a share in the three horses for a one off £2,000 all-inclusive payment for the remainder of the season. At the time he joined – the Alan King Racing Club had had 5 runners, and 2 winners – with the promise of much more to come from all three of the horses involved, Uhtred Ragnarson, Ghost Dancing and I’d Go Maniac.
Click the link – membership runs right through to the end of July 2026, with two to run over jumps and one on the flat for the remainder of the term!
https://alankingracing.co.uk/racing-club/
Alan called later in the morning to give me an update on Nevada Samba, who has been plagued with a rare issue, that has kept him away from hard work for a while. He is in exercise, but Alan has not been able to get any strong work into him – he is 100% sound, but just not right – so after a bit of research and a chat with the vet, he has been referred to a specialist, who has developed a ground breaking treatment for horses like him – this has a very high success rate, with next to no side effects – so he will be handed over into her very capable hands in the hope that she can help. We have made no secret of how highly we regard this horse – and no expense will be spared in trying to get him back right and into full training.
Jason Maguire called shortly afterwards and the first thing he asked was ‘How’s Barry?’ (Nevada Samba), Jason broke him in and pre trained him and was fortunate to have the current Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Favourite. Mydaddypaddy at the same time. Jason knows just how good they both are – and like us all is hoping beyond hope that we can get Nevada Samba back on track – He has always said he couldn’t split NS and MDP in their work which gives you an indication of how good he thinks NS could be!
Jason and I finalised plans for a few of them while we were on the phone. Cloud Dancer will be scanned at Timmy Murphy’s in early January, when he will hopefully be given the all clear to resume work and the next stage of his rehab. If so, he will return to Ivy Lodge Farm and join Intrepide Sud on the road back to full fitness and the racecourse once again.
George our Golden Horn 2 yr old with the grey Cloud Dancer at Timmy Murphy's this week
Dino Bellagio will also come in from the field at the same time and be reintroduced to work after a 10 week break. He will spend a couple of weeks with Jason before heading back up to Donald McCain. He should be back on track in late March/early April and have a prep run before a crack at a handicap in Chester in May. There is a single share in Dino should anyone be interested – First come, first served – grab a share and book your ticket to the Chester May meeting!!
Our Golden Horn 2 yr old will remain with Timmy Murphy until the spring when he will return to Ivy Lodge Farm for his ‘Secondary School’ term.
The 3yr old by Falco out of Savingforvegas is one that will get to a warm stable slightly ahead of the others – Jason will have him back in in the next couple of weeks and get him going again. He missed most of his work in the spring as he was under the weather, so we didn’t push him and simply left off of him, giving him the time that he needed. He will return to work, and the plan is to get cracking with him and run him in a bumper in the spring.
Wednesday – Alan on early with a video of Ghost Dancing working. She has come out her debut run very well and is being targeted at a Junior National Hunt Hurdle for fillies in Ludlow mid-month. She will be on a far more level playing field in terms of experience than she was first time out – and having learned plenty from that run, she should go well.
Most of the remainder of the day was spent trying to sort out the printer, after it shut down following a brief power outage! In the end – I just ordered a new one – the easiest option I decided!
I did chat with Olly Murphy who has our 3 yr old The Grey Gatsby gelding ready for another away day. He is really happy with him, and another away day will tell him if he can run him around Christmas or if we will have to be a little more patient with him and wait for another few weeks.
Thursday - I headed up to Market Rasen for Uhtred Ragnarsons run in their opener. A study of the race only backed up what I had feared at declarations – a small field and a lack of pace would make life difficult for Phil Armson on Uhtred, who would have to be held up and settled in rear.
It was good to see a few Club members there to see Uhtred run. He had travelled up the day before and settled in well – he had eaten his tea and breakfast and had drunk plenty of water – always very important when spending the night away.
Uhtred looked great in the paddock – and was nicely settled. Philip’s instructions to get him settled early in rear and make his move as they exited the back straight and try and come with one run. The pair went to post early and jumped off last of the 6 runners as the tapes went up. UR settled well off of an average pace and jumped well early. The problem was that he had to be in rear to get him to settle, but that was the last place you would want to be off a steady pace in a race that was sure to turn into a sprint. It was going just as I had foreseen, and as the pace lifted on the turn for home the sprint began. UR switched around horses made ground easily and at one stage he looked as though he would swoop past them all, but that effort soon told, and he wasn’t quite able to get to the front. A scrappy leap at the last not helping. In the end he had to settle for a close third. Although he hadn’t managed to win, he had shown that he had learned to settle much better from his Warwick run, which gives the jockeys the opportunity to ride him a little more handy the next day, which will help. The race pretty much went as I saw it – which meant that we were a hostage to circumstance, as there was only one way to ride UR on the day. He did really well, considering, and he will remain very competitive when we see him out again – probably over the Christmas period.
Heavy rain had set in before I headed home. A dramatic trip, with a few twists and turns – due to ‘an issue on the A1’. The new printer had arrived on the doorstep earlier in the day, and I was busy setting that up when I arrived home – which went remarkably well considering!
Friday – we would end the day eating some fantastic food in North Yorkshire, but first things first it was our first syndicate visit to the Heath House Stables of Sir Mark Prescott – to see the gorgeous yearling that we have in training there. The first time that his syndicate had visited the yard and met their new horse. We met in the Heath Court Hotel next to the yard and had a quick tea/coffee before making the short walk round to the yard. Sir Mark had called last weekend to say that he was very sorry, but he would not be at home for our visit, but he would leave us in the very capable hands of his business partner and assistant trainer, William Butler.
While we were enjoying our teas and coffees, Alan King called to say that all was well with Uhtred Ragnarson after his run. He had been very pleased with how he settled, and that there was real progress on that front.
Bearing in mind Sir Marks views on punctuality, we arrived a few minutes early and were given a tour of the yard by William. We got to see the treadmill in action, the swimming pool and the indoor ride, where everyone got to see their horse for the first time. After having a trot under the watchful eye of William when he assessed each horses wellbeing, we were making our way to the cars and up to Warren Hill when we were met by Sir Mark, who had cancelled the plans that he had, and was on hand to drive some syndicate members up to see their horse work. A real bonus for them all to meet the great man himself.
Once on Warren Hill, we got to see the yearling canter in a small string – which he did very nicely, he is a well balanced and good moving colt – absolutely nothing not to like about him.
From there we jumped back into the cars and headed up to the top of the hill to see the string do their ‘Zig Zags’ – something that was once part of many horses training regime as yearlings, but now unique to Sir Mark Prescott. The horses are asked to form up line astern and canter in a zig zag across the top heathland above the town behind an old, experienced hack – this they will do for a week – and we were fortunate to see their final day of this routine under beautiful blue skies. It was a pleasure to see, and we were even more fortunate to have Debbie there to take stunning pictures of it all.
Having completed their drills, they all get to have a pick of grass as a reward before heading home.
As they made their way down Warren Hill so did we. We got to see the stables in the Osborne House yard over the road where the 2 yr olds are housed before getting to meet the new lad when he returned from his exercise.
He really is a stunning individual, and everyone, Sir Mark included, was full of praise for him. He has settled in well to his routine and does everything that has been asked of him very easily. He swims, has been introduced to the treadmill, and canters up the hill in a very free and easy manner. With his week of ‘zig zags’ complete his work will now step up a gear, and he will gradually get to go a little bit quicker. This he will do for another few weeks, and then when Sir Mark believes he has made the requisite progress he will return to Ivy Lodge Farm for a break to get over the rigours of the last three months – four changes of address, being ridden for the first time, learning to swim and having his first taste of his future working life – these are huge moments in a horses life, and like us all it would have taken a bit out of him. We will have another visit to see him striding on in canter before his break which will be eagerly anticipated by everyone who was there on Friday. Their feedback was unanimous – what a morning! Such an honour and joy to be able to visit such a beautiful and historic yard and see their horse in training there – to meet Sir Mark, an unexpected bonus – all under beautiful blue skies – it was a very special morning.
The good news is that the colt really does look the part and ticks every box. Even at this early stage you can see that he is an athletic horse with a very good mind and constitution – as we said on Friday – ‘We felt he was unbelievable value when we bought him – and as we stand here, he has done nothing to dissuade us from that way of thinking!’
There are two shares left in him – hit the link – buy your share in the small and very exclusive syndicate and join us on our next visit to Heath House.
https://www.nickbrownracing.co.uk/ForSale/8274/sir-mark-prescott-bt
During the morning – Donald gave Ridin Solo an entry in Newcastle next Thursday – a 3 mile novices handicap chase. Only a look see at the moment, Donald would assess him after his work on Saturday.
After a quick coffee we jumped in the car and headed off up the A1 to North Yorkshire. We were heading to Oldstead – and the Black Swan. The Michelin Star restaurant of Chef Tommy Banks.
A good trip up the A1, just one hold up at Colsterworth which we managed to circumnavigate, after which it was plain sailing.
We were staying the night, and the half bottle of Pol Roger on ice in the room when we got there was very welcome.
Dinner – a tasting menu of very seasonal food, homegrown in the pubs own kitchen garden and on the Banks’ family farm adjacent to the pub and foraged from the local area. Being the depths of winter, the menu was made up of lots of preserved fruits and vegetables and was absolutely stunning. Wines paired beautifully, the Sommelier doing a fantastic job of introducing us to each bottle and describing their origins and characteristics. It was a very special night, spent with great friends, eating stunning food, and drinking wonderful wine – well worth the 4 hr trip!!
Saturday – breakfast at the Black Swan – as you would expect – home reared pork makes for fantastic bacon and sausages - homemade bread, wonderful eggs and a gorgeous serving of black pudding made for a great start to the day!
Alan sent through two more videos of Alan King Racing Club horses – Ghost Dancing working in a nice group
And I’d Go Maniac returning to the hill after his win in Wolverhampton – he will be out again in about a fortnight.
Home in time to see most of the racing – Lulamba looked very special in winning the Grade 1 Novices’ Chase in Sandown. More reason to love his sire – Nirvana du Berlais! We seem to be sitting pretty with one of his daughters on the ground and Vegas in foal to him once again!
Lulamba - photo Debbie Burt
Sunday – I will be heading to Huntingdon later to meet up with Paul and Jan to see their mare Kaydence run in the Listed bumper that closes their card. A winner of a Uttoxeter bumper against the geldings last time out – we felt that it was worth a crack at a little bit of black type with her as there wasn’t a suitable hurdle race for her for the next 3 weeks or so. What we hadn’t foreseen was two mares from Willie Mullins making the trip over, which will make that job of finishing in the first three a little more difficult, but she is where I had envisaged her being in the market and warrants her place.
Around the remainder – Up with Donald McCain – Old Blue Eyes will be checked over by the vets in around a week when hopefully he will be given the go ahead to resume work. He suffered a niggly little hold up – nothing serious, but it could have been had it not been diagnosed so quickly – and he will make a full recovery. We are all very much looking forward to getting him back – the form of his Aintree run looks better and better, with the second in that race finishing second in a Grade 2 hurdle in Sandown on Friday. OBE is another talented horse on the team – we just need to get him back on track! Ridin Solo is well, and after his work on Saturday, Newcastle remains an option on Thursday, but by no means is it certain that he will run. There are plenty of options going forward and it is not long since his last run in Uttoxeter.
At Barbury Castle, And She Was is in great heart – bouncing after her seasonal debut in Uttoxeter – she is having an easy time of it and will resume harder graft next week – she should be back on track over the Christmas period.
At Ravenswell Farm – Molly’s Lad is in rude health and is being meticulously prepared for a tilt at the 4yr old Listed Bumper in Cheltenham on New Years Day. We are really looking forward to that. He still holds the second best RPR achieved in a 3yr old bumper this autumn – and there is an abundance of improvement to come as he was clueless on debut!
Next week – could be a flying visit to watch a piece of work – a trip to Newcastle and then to Cheltenham with Greyval – you will get to read all about here in seven days – should you want to put yourself through the torture once again!
