2022 has started positively for us with 2 runners at Ayr yesterday. First up was Tough Out making his debut under National Hunt rules. He jumped and travelled really well and stayed on up the long home straight just to be caught on the line to finish third. He is a lovely big young horse who should make a really nice staying chaser in time. He runs for the High Country Racing syndicate which has spaces available. In the next…
We have had to deal with sub zero temperatures pretty much every day from Christmas to Valentines Day.. Early February has been the hardest with temperatures down to -17C followed by about a foot of snow. This was followed by strong winds over the weekend which caused a lot of drifting. We have managed to exercise the horses daily but have been very restricted in where we could go with them and what we could do. Credit has to go…
It seems that January has been one long battle against the minus temperatures everyday. With gritting the yard, defrosting water pipes, harrowing the gallops and a list of other extra jobs just to get the horses to and from work , there has been a huge effort by all the team just to get the horses exercised and cared for.We have had a few entered for various meetings but these have been abandoned either for frost or water logging or…
We trust that everyone was able to have a bit of fun over the festive period and wish all our readers all the best for 2021 – hard to imagine that it can be worse for everyone than 2020 but who knows!It feels like we have been struggling against the weather for weeks now. With hard frosts most days at the moment it takes a lot of work simply to get the horses out on exercise let alone work them…
Patrick and Lucy took Whoa Black Betty to Musselburgh on the 21st of December to run in a Conditional Jockeys “Hands and Heels” Handicap Hurdle. It was Betty’s first attempt at the trip and her first trip to Musselburgh. Ridden by up and coming young jockey,Liam Harrison she jumped superbly and travelled really well despite being bumped and bashed a bit down the back straight . She picked it up two out and ran on well to see out the…
On a very damp cold day on Sunday the 13th December we were pleased with Dunnottar Castle who finished 3rd on his hurdles debut. ( despite the commentator constantly mispronouncing his name!). He jumped very exuberantly and gave each hurdle a lot of respect! He cleared them all by about 2 feet! He was giving away quite a lot of ground as a result but should be a lot slicker next time. He travelled down well and took the overnight…
On Sunday we ran a couple of horses at Kelso on the 6th of December . Any Job Will Do made both his stable and racecourse debut and Whoa Black Betty in a handicap hurdle. Betty ran an uncharacteristically disappointing race and was pulled up having never really travelled but William (as he is known) ran a pleasing race and although down the field , he travelled and jumped well and showed a very willing attitude. On the 13th of…
We are delighted to welcome new arrival Sputnik to the yard for a new syndicate . He is an attractive 5 year old by Recital who has had a couple Irish Point to Point runs and a couple of runs in bumpers in Ireland. He should handle soft ground so will go over hurdles through the winter.
This week we had Welcome Ben at Perth on Saturday. He ran in his usual style upfront and jumping well but found one better than him on the day and finished in 2nd. Another good run from him and we will look to run him again soon. We have been busy helping support Day at the Races at Castle Fraser which is happening on 29th June. Jackie, Rachael, Welcome Ben and Highland Peak went there later last week to have…
We’ve been busy over the last couple of weeks. We now have 4 new horses! Paddy and Luke, both 3 year olds who need to be broken and produced. Palixandre and Scullys Forge who are both 5, Palixandre has already raced over hurdles and Scullys Forge has been point-to-pointing in Ireland. All 4 of them have settled in well and we have thrown ourselves into breaking Paddy and Luke whilst Scullys Forge is enjoying a few weeks off and Palixandre…
