I’ve had an enormous number of second places this year, and there haven’t been many that I have been genuinely happy about. Shawhill’s courageous second place in France, clobbered close to the line with a decent gap back to third, is one I will remember affectionately for a long time.
Taking a horse abroad is not easy. We took Shawhill across on the overnight ferry on Sunday night – it was very hot and she lost a lot of weight. The whole trip was 17 hours, which is not pleasant for a horse. Despite this she ran a great race – she took up the running around 2 furlongs out and ran on, looking for a while as if she would hold on but being hauled in close to the line. The time was excellent. All this from a filly we claimed less than two months ago for £17k.
Great credit goes to Tom Dascombe, who trained and placed the horse, and Mick Stone who spotted her.