A slightly later than anticipated review of December. I’m blaming the VAT return needing done just after the Christmas and New Year period. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the festivites!
Swedish Icon was well beaten on his hurdling debut but it was encouraging to see him jump as well as he did as he had lacked a bit of confidence at home when practicing. He idled once the others has gotten away from him but he is sure to have come on for the experience. Jamie described him as babyish so hopefully he will progress with racing. Roebuck Bay ran another cracking race in defeat and having lost ground being outpaced she stayed on strongly to be a close up 4th. It would be lovely to find a mares bumper for her as she is not the biggest but she has progressed from her first run to her second and seems to thrive on racing.
We threw Kerryhill into a hotter race on his second run for us and he performed with credit. He did not get the run of the race and was shuffled to the back with a circuit of Cheltenham to go but he jumped superbly along the back straight to get into a better position at the top of the hill. Despite being the last off the bridle he got a touch tired coming into the last before getting his second wind to run on up the hill. He looked a one point like he was going to fade out a bit but to be fair he was beaten 7l by the favourite and two much more experienced rivals. He had a blow and he is sure to have learnt a bit from that run.
Southern Babylon stepped up in class and down in trip at Haydock to try her luck ion a mares novice event. She did not perform at all and Richie reported she ran flat. She was quiet for a week afterwards at home too but nothing else has come to light so i’ll do the trainers trick of putting a line through it and carrying on! She is bouncing again now and will be out soon.
We had a good couple of days following on from Christmas with a debut Boxing Day winner at Sedgefield. Sagonige is a home bred by Blue Bresil out of Oleohneh who had also won a Sedgefield bumper – Oleohneh’s sister Mcgregor’s Cottage also made a winning debut at Sedgefield – so I was confident she would handle the track! She was well behaved on the day and trotted away quietly to the start. We covered her up early and she travelled nicely before having to make her move around the bend to get into contention. She was a little green down the hill but despite it being her first experience of a racecourse and a race she knew enough to get her head in front. She showed a good attitude to beat more experienced rivals.
Lavida Adiva was delighted with herself after getting her head in front at Catterick. She is not entirely straightforward at home so she simply does her day to day work and runs, hence, it has taken me three runs to deduce her best trip on soft ground! She seemed to settle away in front and jumped lovely. One horse came to battle before falling at the last, and it was impossible to know if it would have gotten past her, but Jamie felt she still had plenty to give and she didn’t blow following the race. She is maturing mentally with racing and we hope she continues to as she looks like a horse that will giver her connections plenty of fun.
Hashtag Boum then had the pressure of making it three winners form three runners that week but the heavy rain at Kelso turned the race into a different event and it wasn’t to be. Still, she ran with credit to be second and she has been the most consistent of horses. Hopefully we will get a win under her belt this season as she deserves it.