The Middleham trainer talks through his team for the 2021 summer campaign including some beautifully-bred juveniles.
We had a good time of things over the winter on the all-weather and made a decent start but it’s got a little sticky over the past week or so. They all look really well so perhaps it’s just the weather turning a little colder again.
We don’t have a huge amount of early, five-furlong juveniles this time around but we’ve some really exciting horses in the yard and when more of the six-furlong events really get going is hopefully when some of ours will start to come to the fore this season.
We've often liked to campaign the right type of horses in France at times but Covid has made that quite tricky at the moment so we’ll see how the year plays out in that regard.
Our intake has been quite good, relative to what’s been going on in the world the past year or more, but I suspect it’s this year’s sales that’ll get more difficult and it may get harder over the next year or so.
We’ve a lot of sprinters and sprint handicappers at the moment and that’s something we’d like to rectify to be honest. The balance of the yard doesn’t seem quite right so no doubt we’ll look to address that.
I don’t like to set targets necessarily but it’d be really nice to have a successful season and getting up past the million pound prize-money mark again would be fantastic.
ADABBAH
She’s a half-sister to Ten Sovereigns and she’s been sent to us from Roger Varian. The recommendation was to get her out of Newmarket as she was unsettled in that environment and she seems to have settled in really well. We’ve only had her six weeks or so.
AINSDALE
He’s entered in the Group Two Temple Stakes at Haydock. That’s a possibility but he might just want six furlongs. He ran a very good race at Chester (third) – he wants proper soft ground and if we’d had really deep ground at Chester, or a better draw, he might well have won against El Astronaute. He’s come out of it well and there’s a six-furlong Listed race at Windsor a week on Monday we could consider too. We’ll have to go where the ground is, while he might not be out of those top handicaps but I do think he’s got Group-race potential.
BICKERSTAFFE
He’s got an entry at Newmarket this weekend and we’ll have to see with the ground likely to be much softer than for his last two starts, though he did win on soft at Hamilton on his two-year-old debut. He’s rated 92 and he finished third of four at Newmarket last time but I think there were some really nice horses in there.
BORN TO BE ALIVE
We’ve had a few problems with him and unfortunately he’s suffered another setback – a reoccurrence of the old injury - so we won’t be seeing him for a little while and may now wait for the all-weather again as he did well over the winter.
DANDALLA
She’ll probably run at Haydock next week, either for the Listed fillies and mares’ race on the Friday, which is a possibility as she doesn’t have a penalty, or she may go for the Sandy Lane Stakes the following day. That’s the race we won with three-year-old filly Quiet Reflection en route to winning the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, but I’d imagine it will be quite a tough race. She’s been fine since Newnbury, she’s doing well. We wanted to see if she’s stay the seven (furlongs) and she was coming with a run and might have been third but I didn’t realise but Kevin (Stott) had just given her one little flick before he dropped his stick. She petered out a little and possibly didn’t get home in the last 50 yards or so. She’s a genuine Group performer, it’s just a case of finding the right races for her as the season goes on.
ELAKAZAAM
He's got a good chance at York. He was disappointing around Wolverhampton last time but I don't really know why. He's working really well and I think the seven furlongs on turf will suit him very well.
EXALTED ANGEL
His form took off during the winter on the all-weather and he took the step up to six furlongs in his stride pretty well. He ran really well when just beaten by David O’Meara’s horse (Summerghand) on All Weather Championships Finals Day but hasn’t run to that level back on turf the last twice. He hated the heavy ground at Haydock but seems in good form still and hopefully he can pick up some nice prize money through the year. He might get an entry in the Wokingham and later on a stiff five furlongs in something like the Portland at Doncaster could be ideal for him.
KELLY’S DINO
He’s been a grand horse but picked up an injury so unfortunately we won’t be seeing him again until the autumn at least. He’s out at the moment.
LADY IN FRANCE
She runs in the Duke of York on Wednesday and goes there in good form. She’s still quite lightly-raced and she was looking good towards the end of last season, we feel she could have gone very close in the Abbaye but was a bit too far back and does prefer to be up with the speed. So that was frustrating but she won a handicap at York last year over five furlongs. She’s older and more mature now so maybe six furlongs will be okay but ideally a fast-run five on soft ground would be ideal. She could ultimately really come into her own again come the autumn time, but we’ll see how she goes this week.
LORD OBERON
He’s gone up in the weights a bit for winning twice at Southwell earlier in the year but we’ll see how he goes back on the turf at York on Friday. It’s a competitive seven-furlong handicap but we know he stays and he handles some cut in the ground too.
LORD OF THE LODGE
He’s done really well and I still think he can be a proper Group Three horse. We still own him ourselves so we’ll have a think about where we go next. It didn’t quite work in Group races last year but the drop back to handicaps has helped him this year and the first time he went to Wolverhampton on Boxing Day that was really his first run around a bend. The next time he was a bit better, then he went to Lingfield and obviously he was even better again. That was a good performance. I was going to run him last weekend but the ground at Ascot and Haydock went against him. There’s a high-class handicap at York’s next meeting so we might go there if it’s decent ground. Later in the year maybe he’ll be an international horse – certainly in a normal year we might be looking at Dubai or maybe out to Saudi if we can get him qualified.
RAYONG
Rayong runs at York over five furlongs on Thursday and they’re always tough handicaps in which to be competitive. He is useful on his day and needs some cut in the ground but he’s better than he was able to show at Wolverhampton when we ran him in March.
RED FASCINATOR
She won on her second start at Ripon last year and may just need the run at York this week and little bit more time as she hasn’t really come in her coat yet. She’s been eased a bit in the weights to 87 but we’ll see how she gets on up at seven furlongs.
SHALLOW HAL
He’s another one who did well over the winter, winning three times in total at Southwell. He might have to pay the price for that a bit for the moment but he’s run well at York before and goes there in good heart.
SIGNIFICANTLY
He’s obviously been very frustrating given he’s been second so many times but he’s just a consistent horse and arguably matched his Newmarket second to Creative Force when second again at Hamilton. We’ll keep going with him.
SPYCATCHER
He’s a nice horse with Highclere and he goes to either Newmarket (7f King Charles II Stakes) or Newbury (6f Carnarvon Stakes) this weekend. We’ll run him in Listed company and that should make our mind up whether or not he’s good enough to run in something like the Commonwealth Cup or the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot. He won at Pontefract and ran another improved race when third to Rohaan at Ascot last month, where he hung in the closing stages. I think there’s more to come.
WIZARD D’AMOUR
He might not be particularly well known yet but he could be one of our best horses with a bit of luck. He’s a three-year-old Dutch Art colt and he runs at Carlisle next week all being well. He’s only had the two runs and I thought he was a little bit unlucky not to win at Thirsk the other week (third to George Peabody).
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
We haven’t had a two-year-old winner yet but the first three colts we ran all finished second and hopefully it’s a matter of time. We have a lot to get rolling over the next few weeks so hopefully it's onward and upwards.
AASSER
He’s a lovely colt by Dabirsim for Mohamad Saeed Al Shahi and his half-brother won a Listed race as a two-year-old in France. He could be quite sharp hopefully.
BLUSHING BRIDE
She’s just arrived with us, she’s a Garswood owned by Cheveley Park Stud and she’s a full-sister to Significantly. She goes well.
COME QUICK
He’s already gelded and probably isn’t going to be a star but he ran well first time out when beaten a short-head at Pontefract.
DIAMOND FOR REEL
She’s a nice grey by Highland Reel and while potentially a bit of a slow-burner, I’ve quite high hopes for her. She’ll want a bit of time.
DIAMOND PEARL
She’s by Ardad and ran quite well first time out at Musselburgh, finishing third. She’s quite a nice filly and will win a little race, despite having a bit of a temperament on her.
EL CABALLO
He’s by Havana Gold and was a good second to a Richard Hannon colt called Armor first time out at Doncaster at the end of April. Armor was favourite for the Lily Agnes before they took him out on account of the ground so he’s obviously well thought of. A part of me wanted to run him at York but I was going to run over six furlongs and when I looked at his pedigree again he’s got so much speed.
FAST BEAUTY
She’s by Kodi Bear and has a bit of size about her, she might run in the next couple of weeks all being well.
FRISKY
She’s a Cheveley Park-owned daughter of Bated Breath, out of Thrill. We hope she could be alright when we see her on the track.
GIFTED GOLD
She’s a lovely chestnut daughter of Galileo Gold and she’s a half-sister to Threat who won the Gimcrack for Richard Hannon a couple of years ago. She looks a nice filly.
JAKKS GROOVE
He’s owned by John Dance and is a nice colt by Profitable. He’s a half-brother to Astro Jakk who’s won five times for us.
KORKER
He’s a son of Dandy Man and is showing the right signs you’d look for in a sharp two-year-old. He makes his debut at York which is never easy and I’d never suggest they will win first time out there but he’s a nice colt.
HOOKED ON YOU
She’s a daughter of Starspangledbanner out of Plying, which makes her a half-sister to Alcohol Free. She looks a cracker and John Dance bought her at the December sales.
LAST CRUSADER
He’s an Oasis Dream colt we have for Clipper Logistics who could be a really nice type.
LUCKY LOOSER
He’s by Iffraaj and one of several we’ve been sent by owners Ecurie Normandie Pur Sang who bred and owned Dabirsim. So it’d be nice to have some lucky and a few nice winners for them this year.
PINK STORM
She’s a nice filly by Aclaim who has run a couple of time already, finishing third at Newcastle and Nottingham. I’d be disappointed if she can’t win a race when stepped up to six furlongs. She might run again this weekend at Newmarket over six.
ROYAL EMERTHER
He’s a Mehmas colt we like the look of. He’ll probably go to Carlisle on Monday and it’s a track I like to run juveniles at – we’d had some success there over the years.
SKY WATCHER
She’s a daughter of Galileo Gold and one of several for Nick Bradley Racing. She might be one for a little later in the year given what she’s showing at home.
SNOOZE N YOU LOSE
She’s a filly by first-season sire Ribchester who had a winner the other day. She’s going well but will want a bit of time I’d have thought.
SOPHIE’S STAR
She was fourth on her debut at Ripon last Friday, I thought she might show a bit more but she’ll improve I’d have thought. I don’t think it was a bad race.
UNNAMED (DABIRSIM x TWILIGHT TEAR)
She’s another lovely by Dabirsim and was a sales-topper at Arqana. She’s with David Redvers and partners and she’ll be nice without being an early, speed horse as such.