September newsletter

It has been another great month. I think we have only had one horse out of the money since May. Bella Madonna is booked in for a wind op so she will be making up for lost time for sure when she gets back onto the course as her times on the gallops have been very good.

It was wonderful that Nivelle’s Magic won her 2^nd race on the flat in a row at Ffos Las. She then ran again at Kempton and was in an impossible position on the home turn but still finished 4^th despite running into plenty of trouble and getting stopped making her run. We need to improve here so we can reduce this sort of thing happening again – very frustrating.

Malago Rose improved to finish 3^rd at Worcester whilst still running green. I also think she will be better again over a bit further and taking our time more. 

Kimberley Eve also came 3^rd at 50-1 at Uttoxeter. Her times on the gallop at home told us that she would finish where she did at worst. Money for old rope at that price when you time them on the gallop at home, have them carry the right weight and are also able to look back at our records and compare with other horses that have done well.

All of these horses will improve going into the winter.

During National Racehorse Week we held a public open day, and we were oversubscribed with 60 people attending. We were delighted to show what goes on behind the scenes. It was great for the young children to be able to stroke the nose of a real racehorse for the first time and see the delight on their faces; hopefully giving them a fondness of the racehorse for many years to come.

Some of the comments we had were: “Simon is most welcoming to everyone. Very interesting and so in tune with his horses. Very knowledgeable man, with lovely staff. Thank you so much for allowing us to look round. Great cakes as well!”. “A great insight to what goes on behind the scenes. A lovely friendly yard and great to see happy healthy horses. Great to see unshod, natural horses doing what they love. Thank you”.

It is with great sadness that Desert William is to be retired. Keith Harris, his owner, is very fond of William and so are we. The horse had been doing really well but it wasn’t until I started to quicken him up that I thought there was something not quite right with him. So after trying a few different things I took him to a specialist vet, Dicky Hepburn at B&W Equine. He x-rayed his head where he found a dislodged bone caused by a trauma that is affecting his coordination and balance and there is nothing that can be done. Sadly he would be a danger to himself and others when travelling at speed; it would definitely not be right to race him.

I am gutted for Keith as he has stopped at nothing with me to get this horse right and I believe he had a tremendous amount of ability, and he gave me some feel going up the gallops. He would be one of the kindest and most generous of horses I have come across and to have been coping with this and still trying to do what we ask of him is quite remarkable. The last week of riding he had just been a bit more sluggish going to the mounting block and to me that was a sign of something not right. We always try and listen to our horses and there are many signs of them telling us stuff over the years that I have learnt to listen to.

William would always be the first to come over and see you in the field. He would leave the others straight away to come over with a ‘lovely, pleased to see you’ look on his face. He loved the small children on the open day making a fuss of him. We are looking for a new home for him where he will get the love he deserves so I would be very pleased if anyone knows of someone.