All-Weather Season Review

When the last newsletter was published in November, shortly after the Tattersalls Horses In Training sale, we were about to embark on a winter all-weather campaign, with Intervention, Whittle Le Woods, Night On Earth, Baldomero, Seagulls Nest and Hathlool comprising The Horse Watchers’ team based with Mick. Raasel had just reeled off five consecutive wins and we were full of hope for the coming months.

Fast forward to the spring and it’s safe to say those expectations have been surpassed. Horses running in our colours notched a total of 19 wins during the 2021/22 All-Weather Championships with the six-strong squad at Mick’s supplemented by Sammy Sunshine, who joined us in January and has been expertly handled by Rebecca Menzies in County Durham.

We’ll start this recap with Night On Earth and Whittle Le Woods, who share a number of the same qualities and have absolutely thrived since joining Mick in the autumn.

NIGHT ON EARTH, purchased for 18,000 guineas on the final day of August last year, has had 13 outings since, winning on four occasions, all over five furlongs, and making the frame another six times. His first two victories in our silks were characterised by a sharp turn of foot from off the pace, but as we’ve got to know him better we’ve realised his dazzling speed can be utilised at least as well under more positive tactics.

For his last two successes Night On Earth has made most of the running, pinging out of the stalls and controlling those races from the front. At Kempton, under the excellent Adam Farragher, he had things sewn up by halfway, scoring in convincing fashion. At Lingfield three weeks later he faced a much sterner task against smart opponents and off a 7lb higher mark, but with the promising Benoit de la Sayette giving him an exemplary ride, he broke smartly and dug deep to fend them all off.

When we bought Night On Earth he hadn’t run on the all-weather, but he’d handled Chester’s tight turns so adeptly that we thought the likes of Lingfield and Wolverhampton would suit him down to the ground. Next up, good-quality sprints at the likes of Chester and Epsom should be tailor-made for him, and he has already translated his improvement to the grass with an excellent third at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting.

The tough, game and consistent WHITTLE LE WOODS, bought for 20,000 guineas in October, gave his all on each of his 11 starts during a winter campaign that included four wins and four second places.

Whittle Le Woods doesn’t possess Night On Earth’s brazen speed, but he stays a bit further and seems equally effective over six and seven furlongs. He’s tactically versatile, too, performing to his best when ridden up with the pace or held up. His last three victories were gained by a neck, a head and a neck again, underlining his will to win in a driving finish.

The highlight of his all-weather season was a hard-fought victory at Wolverhampton in March, in a well-contested handicap in front of the ITV cameras. Theodore Ladd, a key member of Mick’s team, gave him a dynamic ride and the pair held on grimly as the favourite Zarzyni finished fast.

Whittle Le Woods is heading for the sales at Tattersalls next week but before then will have one more go in the orange and black at Chelmsford on Thursday when we expect him to go close after shaping nicely from a wide position at Lingfield on Good Friday. We didn’t enjoy a huge amount of luck on Friday but it was the day that saw Mick crowned champion all-weather trainer once again, a tremendous achievement for him, Jonny and the rest of the team at Langham. From the inception of The Horse Watchers, our success has gone hand in hand with theirs.

INTERVENTION is just the type of horse that Mick has made his name with in that he has one or two quirks but that hasn’t stopped him having a stellar winter. With five victories and three second places he took the prize for the winning-most horse during the all-weather season and in doing so secured a nice £10,000 bonus. A large factor in purchasing him was a belief he had the credentials to land that prize as although he joined us from Ireland towards the end of 2021 with a record of 0-21, he had some strong form in competitive races and we were hopeful Mick’s regime would bring about an upturn in his fortunes.

Sure enough, he won on just his second start in our colours, stable apprentice Freddie Larson riding him to perfection at Wolverhampton, and after one or two bumps in the road he rattled off three more wins and a second place during a memorable ten-day period in February/March.

The last of those victories came at Southwell under Jason Watson, who has been a crucial component in our recent success, riding with skill and confidence and giving us intelligent feedback both post-race and after morning workouts.

Despite surging up the weights, Intervention managed another win at Wolverhampton in April and we’re hopeful there’s still some mileage in his new mark. He’s durable and sound, and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in a big field back on turf - hopefully starting at Haydock on Saturday.

We were expecting the switch to grass would suit HATHLOOL in the ten-furlong handicap at Doncaster’s Lincoln Meeting. Only ninth of 12 that day, he clearly didn’t give his running, but he’s still an unexposed handicapper with untapped potential.

Hathlool managed to score three times during the winter, at Chelmsford, Wolverhampton and Newcastle, despite overracing on each occasion. Because of the narrow margins of his victories, his mark has risen just 8lb from 70 to 78, which ought to be workable, and a close eighth in a blanket finish at Lingfield on Good Friday only served to underline that he should be winning again soon when things fall right for him.

Hathlool was bought on the strength of two encouraging turf runs in Ireland so it’s unlikely he needs the all-weather to perform to his best. He’s crying out for a well-run race, probably at ten furlongs, and he’ll be out again soon.

So will BALDOMERO, who has made a promising start in our colours having been bought from Joseph O’Brien for 32,000 guineas in the autumn. Gelded and brought along steadily in his first few months at Mick’s, he hit the ground running with a narrow defeat at Kempton in February followed by a win there the following week in a £20,000 handicap under an astute Luke Morris ride.

Wolverhampton’s valuable Lincoln Trial is a race we like to target - Supersta failed by a whisker to win it in 2016 and Big Country went one better two years later - and this year’s renewal fitted nicely into Baldomero’s schedule, coming ten days after the Kempton win. A furlong out, two lengths clear, it looked as if the race was in the bag, but Baldomero was reeled in late by the fast-finishing Notre Belle Bete, nonetheless picking up £12,000 for second place.

We’re still learning about Baldomero, but he’s already rated 102 by Timeform and we’ll be surprised if that’s his limit. Like Hathlool, he was compromised by the steady gallop at Lingfield on Good Friday, finishing a close fifth. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do on turf, and he’s likely to be plying his trade over the coming months in good-quality handicaps between a mile and ten furlongs. He’s another who could line up at Haydock on Saturday ahead of a possible outing at Newmarket’s Guineas meeting at the end of the month.

The only member of our winter team not to get on the scoresheet was SEAGULLS NEST. She ran creditably on several occasions, notably when second under Rossa Ryan at Newcastle, but she injured a tendon soon after her last run in March, and, as the recovery process would probably be very lengthy, she has been retired and found a good home.

Elsewhere at Mick’s, SAATTY (back from a small knee operation) and LIBERATION POINT are limbering up in readiness for a spring campaign, and Saatty will start his season at Chelmsford on Thursday. We expect the run will bring him on but he seems well at home. RAASEL is just back from his reappearance at Musselburgh on Easter Saturday where he finished a promising fifth in the valuable five-furlong handicap we won a few years ago with Saaheq. After looking dangerous at halfway, Raasel faded late on, and the run should put him spot-on for next time which will likely be a valuable handicap at Goodwood at the end of the month. Beyond that we’re hoping he’ll contest some top 5f handicaps before perhaps trying his hand at something better!

One of the most upwardly mobile trainers in the last few years has been Rebecca Menzies, and we were delighted to join forces with her in January with the purchase of SAMMY SUNSHINE for 5,000gns at the Thoroughbid All-Weather Sales.

Sammy won’t be the most talented horse ever to run for us, but she lacks nothing in guts, showing real determination to come out on top first of all at Kempton under Adam Farragher, and then at Wolverhampton under Oisin McSweeney. Sadly she burst a blood vessel at Chelmsford on her most recent outing and may be off for a short while, but hopefully this is just the beginning of a successful partnership between us and a trainer going places.

Things have been quieter for our four horses trained at Upper Helmsley, but it will not be long before the pace quickens in North Yorkshire. 2021’s major success story, RHOSCOLYN, won’t find it easy to repeat last year’s exploits which included three handicap wins, a second in the Golden Mile and a third in the Group 3 Supreme Stakes, but he’ll be representing us on some of the biggest stages this summer.

Following on from an encouraging reappearance at Thirsk, Rhoscolyn has two entries later this week with the Group 2 Bet365 Mile at Sandown one possible race for him if cutting up to a small field and a handicap at Haydock on Saturday his other option. We’ll decide where he goes on Wednesday morning but top handicaps and, given the right conditions, Listed and Group races will be on the agenda too. Rhoscolyn has given his owners tremendous fun to date, and we’re hopeful he’s not reached his ceiling just yet.

Rhoscolyn’s new stablemate STARSHIBA is one we’re really looking forward to campaigning this year. Bought out of David Elsworth’s stable last autumn, he’s ticking along nicely with a view to making his reappearance in a few weeks. Starshiba’s strike-rate thus far is a modest 1-13 but he has some quality form (a short-head second to Perrotto at Goodwood last June, for example, was boosted when that horse followed up in the Britannia at Royal Ascot) and we think he’s well handicapped.

Starshiba is bred to be smart and, although he’s now a five-year-old, we think his best days are still ahead of him. He could start off over six furlongs at Thirsk or over seven at Doncaster, both at the end of April and pleased Dave in a piece of work on Tuesday morning.

TIGER TOUCH disappointed in three runs for us last year after coming over from France, but all is not lost. Plenty of French recruits need time to acclimatise, and with another winter behind him there’s a good chance Tiger Touch will start showing his true colours. If that proves to be the case, his current mark of 67 will prove to be lenient. Expect to see him out again by the middle of May.

Finally, an unknown quantity. Our unraced two-year-old ZEBADAAY, a half-brother to Richard Fahey’s useful sprinter Show Me Show Me, has been gradually going through his paces at Dave’s. He’s a very laid-back type but he should be ready to run some time in May. Dave’s first two-year-old runner of the season, Star Of Lady M, made a winning debut at Redcar, following up at Ripon, and the signs are that he has a talented bunch of juveniles this year. There’ll be more news on Zebadaay in the next newsletter.

Until then, for more information on how to get involved with The Horse Watchers, follow us on Twitter at @Horsewatchers1 or contact us via the website.