AMERICAN HOPE - 2nd at Kempton

American Hope ran a great first race in 2015 with a 2nd in the Conditions race at Kempton yesterday. "Yankee", as he is affectionately known, was again a little bit keen in the early stages of the race but then settled into a rhythm and turning for home he got a little trapped. However, once he got through he looked like the winner but Ninjago recaptured his former form under first time blinkers and manged to get a better kick than Yankee. However, our boy was coming back at him in the final half furlong but the line came in time for the winner and Yankee went down by a head.
We were delighted with his run but again he just found one too good for him. This was his eight run for us and it was also his fourth 2nd place! We hope we can get that elusive winner on the board!
The photos (courteous of Christine Rogerson) show what a picture the horse looked before the race (he achieved the best turned out prize) together with him returning to the Winners' Enclosure and also a photo of some connections. Sadly, Paul and Michelle were grounded in Guernsey and could not make the race!

 

Benandonner 2nd BUT retires as a WINNER in our eyes

Benandonner ran his last race for us on the 20th March and although he came 2nd he was a WINNER in our eyes. He was drawn 9 of 9 and the jockey, Shane Kelly, had to take a pull so as not to be too wide. He settled towards the rear but when the race got going in earnest at the 2f pole he had to challenge out wide which cost ground. Also, he was bumped on the bend by the eventual winner, West Leake, but despite this he galloped on bravely to "fail" by the narrowest of margins, a nose! However, you can see why we feel he was the moral winner.

Benandonner has been an outstanding servant for us since we claimed him out of Richard Fahey's yard in December 2009. He has run 52 times for us and recorded 8 wins and 19 placed efforts. The horse is the proverbial "Iron Horse" and he battled in everyone of his races for us. The thrill in this game is to have a horse that tries every time he runs no matter what his rating. It will be difficult to find another horse as tough and as genuine as "DON" as he is affectionately known in the yard.
The day after his last race he was galloping around the paddock like a 2yo and while it was tempting to go back to the well one more time we would have been mortified if anything happened to the horse. Some people who will be pleased he has retired are the lads who rode him at home as he pulled like the proverbial train everyday!
He will now enjoy a well deserved retirement as one of our girls, Holly, is taking him on to retrain as a dressage horse. We wish them both well and hope we can find another Don but we somehow doubt we will!

STARFIELD -  4th in Lincoln Trial on first run for the yard
We were delighted with Starfield yesterday as he ran 4th in a very competitive Lincoln Trial at Wolverhampton. Wearing his normal headgear, a visor, he immediately took the lead and set a fair pace in front. Shane Kelly kicked for home at the 3f marker and it looked with a furlong to go he may hold on. However, the favourite, Mindyouownbusiness, was stalking Starfield and was able to pick our horse up and win. It looked at one point as though Seamus, his stablename, would be able to hang on to 2nd but he was overtaken in the final strides but still finished a highly respectable 4th.
We were absolutely thrilled with the horse and we hope to have some fun with him on the turf this year. The photo shows the connections from Dallas Racing, who own the horse. The glare of the sun impacted the photo but one can just about make out, from left to right, Lee, Alex, Mark and Tom in the front with stablelad, Hugo, Donna and Steve behind.