In the News
A very good week for the Bloodstock branch as our Diamond Boy gelding was joint top lot at the Goffs Stores Sale at Doncaster on Tuesday. He’s gone to Mouse Morris for £100,000 and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for him. Our other two lots didn’t fetch quite as much, but we still averaged out at over £50,000 across our three lots, so we’re happy enough with that. We have three more horses entered in the horses in training sale, but they won’t go through the ring until day two of that particular sale.
Last week’s runners
The rain finally came last week, allowing us to have six runners in the last week.
We started with Valadom who had a disappointing pipe opener over hurdles. The amount of rain that fell turned the going at Worcester to soft and he generally enjoys a quicker surface. He led for most of the way, but weakened after four out and wasn’t given a tough time by Alain Cawley. I’m sure he’ll bounce back.
Petiville did better later on the card, claiming third in a maiden hurdle over two mile four. He led for most of the way, in an attempt to make the most of his stamina, but was headed approaching two out. He didn’t jump that one too well and Alain again didn’t give the horse a hard time when he realised that third was the best we could do. He’s placed in all three starts for us so far, so we can’t really complain, but it would be nice to see him go one better.
Ramonex went to Aintree instead of his Uttoxeter engagement and ran a good race for second. Having led most of the way, he jumped pretty well until being a bit flat footed two out where he was headed. We had no chance with the winner in the end, who was getting six lbs from our lad, but Ramonex stayed on well for second.
Another at Aintree was Definite Outcome who reverted to hurdles after his bad fall last time out at Perth. He was quite keen, tracking the leaders in third for most of the way, but jumped well in the main. He couldn’t quite go with them on the turn for home and was already losing ground when he made a shuddering error three out and Hugo Hunt quickly pulled him up after that. It turned out after the race he’d lost a shoe, but I don’t think that would’ve made much difference in the end
Our final runner at Aintree was Highway Storm who ran in the three mile chase under Jamie Bargary. He was prominent early on and led for a long way, jumping great on the whole and much straighter than his rival for the lead early on. He ran a great race considering it was only his fourth start over fences against horses with plenty of experience. The ground was probably quick enough for him, considering his best form is on soft or heavy and he’s perhaps one that will go better in the winter in a less competitive race.
The last runner of the week was on Saturday at Uttoxeter where Racing Pulse was well fancied to run a big race, but he never really got going. He gave his fences quite a lot of air and was quickly at the back of the field and ended being pulled up about halfway around the final circuit. He certainly looked better than that on the gallops at home, so it’s obviously disappointing.
This week’s runners
Three horses with a total of five entries this week, starting with Petiville on Saturday at Cartmel in a Novices’ Hurdle, with Jamie Bargary set to ride him there. He also has an entry at Cartmel in a Handicap the following Monday, but the Novices race would probably be his first preference. He would get weight of a couple of winners and Jamie will claim three to give him a decent chance. Two mile six should suit given his stamina and hopefully he can break his duck after a few placed efforts.
Surf And Turf also has two entries, one at Uttoxeter on Sunday and one at Cartmel on Monday. As it stands, Hugo Hunt is set to ride him at Uttoxeter, claiming seven over a two mile three trip over hurdles. He likes good ground, so he’s a real summer horse in that sense. He goes well fresh and he’s down to a very reasonable mark now, so we think he can run a big race.
Our final entry is Valadom, also at Uttoxeter in a two mile four chase. It looks a decent race, but you’d expect that with 21k for the winner. He won here last summer over three miles and was second over C&D on his debut for us two years ago. A little bit of rain might help his cause as long as it isn’t a downpour. Hopefully he can bounce back from his disappointment over hurdles and he’ll certainly feel much more at home over the bigger obstacles.