I’ve been ringing around today and the news is mixed.
Lilac Moon has jarred one of her feet and it’s badly swollen. It’s probably nothing major but we’re having a scan to be sure – she was down to run at Lingfield on Tuesday, but has obviously been left out. It’s annoying as she’s been in great form at home and I’d have fancied her to run a big race on Tuesday.
Her breeding profile has been significantly improved over the last month, as her mother’s full sister has produced her second group winner from two foals to race – Lady Marian has won two group 3s and missed out on a group 1 by a neck. I think she’s broodmare material now (albeit at the low end) and I intend to bring her in to the stud – the question I need to answer is whether I want her to have another year’s racing. I’d like her to achieve more on the racecourse and I think she can – I could run her in foal next year which might give me the best of both worlds.
The others with Nicky are all fine, though none are close to a run. The best news here probably concerns Shepherd’s Warning, who has put on a lot of weight and is suddenly starting to look like a racehorse. She’s had a lot of niggling problems but isn’t too far off a run. Effingham is going nicely now but he’s lazy – it won’t be easy getting him fit on the home gallops.
By far the best news overall concerned Bouguereau. I didn’t write it up, but Bougie picked up an injury in his last race at Goodwood and I thought it would probably be career ending. He’s making an remarkable recovery and the vet is a lot more bullish now – we still have a way to go but there’s a great chance he’ll get there.
It would mean a lot to me to see Bougie back on the track. I think he’s better than he’s proven. The form of his recent races has worked out exceptionally – Conduit won the Leger, Gravitation won the Lily Langtree – and when he lost at Goodwood he was running the last furlong with a broken bone in his foot. He’s as game a horse as I’ve owned. Most of all I think he could make a truly outstanding hurdler – he has all the right stuff for that game. Fingers crossed.
A sad chapter came to a close with the retirement of Lord Snooty, a horse we once believed was better than Winker. He turned out to be a bleeder – we sent him to America to run on Lasix. He won his maiden in great style and we got excited, but he was well beaten after that. Last week he did a tendon. We take the view that it’s good money after bad and he’ll be sold on, presumably never to race again.
I hoping to have runners in three of the 2yo races at Newbury on Saturday, including Marine Boy in the Mill Reef.