I added another horse to my string today – Max One Two Three, who won so well at York last time. I’ve been eyeing her up for a while I was intending to try and buy her before the York race but I didn’t get around to it – I had a decent bet on her but the price went …
Betty baby
A debutante from a new trainer for me today as Bet Noir comes out in the 2:20 at Donny. She is owned by a syndicate made up of members of the Betfair senior management – I have 1/4 of her. Walter has said from the start that she is a backward type and is unlikely to win this year so I’m not …
The Moon is out
Lilac Moon runs for me in the 8:55 at Wolver tonight. We claimed her from a mile claimer at Carlisle and sent her to Nicky Vaughan – Mick liked the look of her profile beforehand and she won well enough. From breeding and running we think she should get a little further and she runs over 9 1/2 furlongs tonight. …
Nick Gifford stable visit
I visited Nick Gifford€™s yard in Findon on Wednesday morning to catch up with news of the four horses owned by the Core Strength syndicate of which Bert forms a third. The horses are all five year old geldings who were selected with a long term perspective and there has been little racecourse action from them as yet €“ Better …
Catching Up
A week away and a lot to report. Effingham came nowhere – the vet has found a small fracture which could be the problem. He’ll be gelded now – should be ok next season. We’ve had a decent offer for Lord Peter Flint which is subject to a vet’s exam – if he passes he’ll be sold. I’ll update later. …
Effingham at Windsor
A good day Saturday. Not so good on Sunday – I’m sad that Authorized’s racing career ended on a low note. Effingham goes today in the first at Windsor. I had a good chat to Barry this morning – having originally thought him to be a sprint type (on the basis of appearance) he now thinks he is more of a …
Go on Baldy
Only one runner today – Baldovina at Fontwell. I’ll be very surprised if she wins. There’s a few I’ll be backing. Tariq has worked out very well and looks the right sort at Longchamp. Creachadoir apparently goes well at home. Armenian Boy is decent in the third at Fontwell. A friend tried to buy Malt or Mash recently but they …
Eazy does it
Hoorah!! Another win for the heroes as Major Eazy triumphs at Salisbury in a pretty hot conditions race under a nice ride from Richard Hughes. He was returned at 12-1, but there was clearly a bit of money for him (ahem…). He’ll go into the sales at some point and this will have done him no harm at all – we’ll probably …
In other news
I’m still reeling over the Winker news – apart from anything else it was only a gentle piece of work today. I really believe he was a virtual certainty in the Middle Park – Pete certainly thought so and the only threat looked to be Sir Gerry – he would have been a very short price. Reading the Betfair forum I …
Winker out
Desperate news from Pete – Winker had a setback today and will now miss the rest of the season. He did a light piece of work this morning and he was fine immediately afterwards, but he was sore and a bit stiff later on and they called in the vet. An X-ray showed no damage, but the vet has advised us …