Sixth of June comes 3rd at Chelmsford at 33-1

Sixth of June (stable name Grace) ran last Thursday (without shoes) at Chelmsford on the flat over 7f and came 3^rd at 33-1.  This was her first run for us and her first run after an extended break of 650 days. When she ran for her previous trainer, she finished 13^th out of 13 and was beaten 66 lengths. She would weaken at the end of her races which I think must have been terribly disheartening for her. She had never been in the first four before.

When Grace first arrived here at Simon Earle Racing, we did a few things differently for her that we thought might suit her. Grace’s owner, Bernadette, and Don Tucker would come and see her work every Saturday and it was pleasing to hear from them that they thought she was a completely different horse here. Previously she had seemed to lose interest in her training. With us it was the polar opposite. The more work she did the keener she was – so much so that I was the only one to gallop her as it was a real job to pull her up after the third time up the hill gallop. It certainly helped a great deal that she arrived in such great condition from her owners – of which they should take a lot of the credit.

At Chelmsford she was ridden by amateur jockey Mr James Harding. He was very nice and listened to my instructions and carried them out to the letter. I would highly recommend him as an amateur as he spoke well afterwards and spent time speaking with the owners too – a great asset.

We were delighted that she turned into the home straight with all the field bar one in front of her. She passed most of them and came flying home to finish 3^rd – earning some prize money for the first time in her career so far. There are times when you can be disappointed to finish 3^rd and times when you are elated, the latter is certainly what we all felt here. It was a massive jump forward for her and we hope that it shall give her the confidence to improve further. As with all the horses, and as time goes on, we shall learn more about her, what suits her and what doesn’t; what we should do more of and what we should do less of so hopefully it puts her in good stead for the future.

Here is a video of her after a roll in her paddock a few days before her run and having a really good shake.  Look at the ripples of muscle right from her head, neck, shoulders, back and ribcage through to her hind quarters – her ears are like windmills! How beneficial this must be after a morning’s exercise.

The official photographer at Chelmsford racecourse, Megan Rose, took the striking images of Sixth of June below. 

Here we see her finishing well, trying hard and note the absence of shoes.

The image above shows Sixth of June happy and relaxed on her way to the start.

And this beautiful image shows Sixth of June after her run with a very pleased and happy look on her face.