That Was The Week That Was .....racing round up
Several runners from the last week or so that we can now catch up on
our own thoughts on how they did.
No winners for the yard (boo...) but a couple of fine runs (hooray...)
and in general the horses are in good health.
So, starting a couple of days back at Kelso on Thursday, where the going was soft.
Maid Of Houxty was
only having her second outing over fences and ran a fine race to go so
close in the 3m 2f Cond'l Jockeys handicap chase, beaten a length
sandwiched between a couple of experienced chasers in Lucinda's Camp
Belan and Kinneston Nick's Gypsy Lee Rose.
Even over hurdles, Maid Of Houxty had been inclined to pop in the odd
jumping error and this time a bad mistake 2 out may have been the
difference between a win and second place. The front 3 had pulled clear
by that point but Maid Of Houxty showed a lot of grit by battling back
to be part of a 3-way fight over the last. Under young Lewis Dobb, she
kept on but couldn't quite get to the winner.
Still a thrilling run for his owner-breeder Bill Aitchison and wife
Carol.
Just prior, and over 3f shorter, in the Novice Handicap Chase
Stolen Money looked to be
there with every chance 5 out but got in too close and toppled over.
Some anxious moments as the fence wasn't clearly visible from the stands
but both horse and jockey were up safely. A pity as the gelding is a
very strong stayer and the business end of the race was just commencing.
However, Stolen Money did sustain a nasty cut to his near off hind leg
but he was well attended to by the racecourse vet service and arrived
back in his box at Dodlands later in the evening. Of course, he'll get
particular care and attention over the next couple of weeks from our vet
Sarah & our staff and we hope he's not off the track for too long.
Shoeshine Boy ran well
enough in the 3m 2f handicap hurdle a bit earlier on the card but was
beaten 11 lengths in 3rd. No real excuses but he's yet to find the
sparkling form of last season.
Just a 6-yr-old, his siblings have tended
to improve further with age so there is still a lot of fun to be had
with this Valirann gelding.
Might just be suited by a slight drop back
in trip especially when the going is fairly testing.
Our first runner of the day was
So Many Roads in the
opening 2m novices' hurdle.
These 2 mile races are started from a shute at Kelso and as a
result the pace tends to be quite fast leading to the first
flight.
And that what the scenario played out for So Many Roads and he
was chasing the leaders by the time he took the 2nd flight.
Stolen Money back home in his box
Consequently he reached for the hurdle and dragged his back legs through
it. Craig gave him time to recover and down the back straight he was on
an even keel but although finishing well from the home turn, he wasn't
able to make any impression on the leaders.
But So Many Roads did show a good attitude and we hope he can keep progressing.
It's interesting to view contrasting views on this run - Timeform have
him running at a mark 5lb less than his previous run, while RPR rated
this as an 8lb improvement. Handicapper will have the final word on
Tuesday.
So Many Roads pictured in the paddock before his race at Kelso
Last Monday at Musselburgh (good to soft), Maid of Houxty's elder sister Bonny Houxty raced prominently until dropping away 2 out in the handicap hurdle. This was her first race for 6 months and it looked like this will bring her on.
And finally a few day earlier at Hexham over 2 miles,
Cowboy Cooper finished 6th
of 10 beaten a fair way by Southern raider You Wear It Well. Neither
Madame Onassis nor the rest of this field had anything on Jamie
Snowden's gelding who won unchallenged by 22 lengths.
The way the race
was run couldn't have worked out worse for Cowboy Cooper who was having
just his 2nd outing over hurdles and was waited with to ensure his
jumping wasn't put under undue pressure early on.
But, our gelding was
never able to get close to the clear, runaway winner and finished about
20 lengths adrift of the second horse.
He now needs one more run for a handicap mark.
