Hartforth an impressive winner at Ayr today

'Surprised but delighted' was how The Trainer described today's battling performance to Racing UK's Gordon Brown afterwards at Ayr today where our gelding stayed on strongly to prevail by a length from the odds-on favourite from down south,  West of the Edge, in the staying handicap hurdle.

Hartforth normally makes the running but when the flag dropped Callum was faced by a line of no less than 9 horses (from a field size of 11) who were aiming to race prominently. Sensibly, Callum dropped Hartforth in, and keeping to the outer got the horse into an excellent jumping rhythm. Halfway down the back straight for the second time, Hartforth made good headway to join the leaders. The pace quickened markedly 4 out, and Callum made his second crucial decision of the race in biding his time and not immediately chasing the breakaway trio. Gradually gaining ground, he nudged away at Hartforth to pick up the front three after 3 out.
Just edging the leader (West of the Edge) approaching the last, where a tremendous leap by Hartforth allowed the partnership to hit the ground running and our gallant gelding stayed on well to clinch victory.

The Trainer explained to Racing UK afterwards that it's been a difficult 6 months for Hartforth, as we knew his sparkle had gone and we did wonder if the wear and tear of 44 races (flat & hurdles) was starting to take its' toll. Vet advice led to a treatment for ulcers, a change of diet and in the last few weeks the team have been reporting that he's back to his (naughty) self, and his morning work also showed signs of a return to good health.
But this was quite a competitive race, not least of all given the presence of an odds-on hotpot from Dr. Newland's yard, so a placing in the first 5 would have seen us delighted.

Of course, this was an excellent win - jumping, travelling well to 3 out, then responding to pressure in the manner of a good, staying hurdler. The ride from Callum was straight from the top drawer, well done!!

And the SP!!
Five oh.....fifty-to-one, we're changing this fellow's stable name to something more appropriate......er, Santa Claus!

'Santa Claus'

Racecourse gallops

You avid twitters out there will already know that we ventured down to Newcastle early last Friday morning with a couple of our youngsters.
Brother Ali took a couple down as well, one of which was handicap hurdler Claude Carter who acted as lead horse for the other three over the 2 mile racecourse gallop on the Tapeta surface.
Our unraced 4 yr olds 'Cliff' and  Side of the Road went okay, and will have benefitted from the experience. Neither struck us as immediate bumper winners but it's the intention that each will make a debut over the next 2-3 weeks.

 
Side of the Road (on the left, Milky) matching strides with 'Cliff' (Callum)

Introducing Stuart Connett

Stuart has been with us for a couple of months now, having answered our advert placed on this site for a work rider.
Stuart has vast experience, mostly at the top end of the racing spectrum having spent 10 years with Godolphin.

Read more about Stuart here.