November Newsletter

THE STORY OF THE SALES

A full-strength squad of Chris, Martin, Matt, Mick and Dave assembled at Newmarket in the last week of October for the Tattersalls Horses-In-Training Sale, and, from an initial catalogue of 1617 lots, a hundred or so potential purchases were earmarked for closer investigation.

That number was reduced by some withdrawals in the days leading up to the sale, the most high-profile from our point of view being Michael Bell’s INVEIGLE, who was near the top of our list before he blew his cover by winning impressively at Chelmsford just two days before the sale began. He’ll now stay with Michael Bell and looks like a horse with lots of potential going into his 3yo season.

Having viewed several dozen horses in the flesh, we were able to whittle down the number of possible buys still further, so that by the time bidding started we had a pretty good idea of the lots we were interested in and of how much we were prepared to pay for them.

Lot 126, KINGSHOLM, was on our radar, but he’d won at Wolverhampton seven days before going through the ring, which helped nudge his price just over our budget. James Fanshawe went to 40,000 guineas to hold on to him, and it’s not hard to see this compact son of Tagula winning more sprint handicaps next year.

On the heels of Kingsholm was another Qatar Racing-owned horse in the form of RUNNING BACK, for whom we made an early bid only to see him sold elsewhere for 17,000 guineas. Our initial budget for him would’ve got him at the price he made, but we revised our valuation after seeing him at the sales and taking a view he lacked physical scope. There followed several other lots we were interested in but had to pass over for various reasons: some received mixed reports from our vet, while others proved far too popular. Lot 323, ASIAAF, for example, looked a filly of some potential and was firmly in our sights, but as we expected, we didn’t have anything like the 165,000 guineas required to secure her.

We didn’t have to wait much longer before entering the fray, however. BLUE HERO, a two-year-old son of Air Force Blue, appealed to us as a good-looking, fluent-moving colt, and we bought him out of Michael Bell’s yard for 20,000 guineas. He’d already finished third on three occasions, showing his effectiveness on fibresand and tapeta, and Mick will be more than hopeful of winning a race or two with him over the winter. He’ll be gelded straight away and will hopefully be running before the end of the year.

We were all quite keen on lot 366, CALEDONIAN CRUSADE, a progressive middle-distance handicapper trained by David Simcock, but we weren’t alone in that, and he eventually changed hands for 68,000 guineas.

Towards the end of proceedings on day one, we also signed for FENIX, who’d shown clear signs of ability in four outings for Jamie Osborne. This three-year-old filly by the quality sire Lope De Vega looked a bargain at 6,000 guineas, and with a useful dam’s side of her pedigree she’ll be worth a fair bit more than that if she can lose her maiden tag over the coming months. The likelihood is she’ll be the first of those purchased to hit the track in our colours.

Day two dawned with a fresh set of possible acquisitions, and it wasn’t long before one of our main hopes for the week came into view. Lot 488, RHOSCOLYN, a two-year-old trained by Charlie Hills, had shaped well on his first couple of outings before scooting up in a maiden at Haydock in August, and since then nothing had gone right for him. He was hampered at York, seemed not to stay at Newcastle, raced in isolation at Newbury and got bogged down in the mud back at Haydock.

As a result his mark has slipped and he looks just the type to do well in handicaps next year. The hammer came down on him at 23,000 guineas, and we’d have been prepared to have paid more. His price was seemingly limited by the declaration he’s been heard to make a noise but our vet has taken the view that minor wind surgery (cauterisation of the palate) will have the desired effect and we’re delighted to have him in the squad for a value price. Dave will train him at his base near York and he’s an exciting prospect.

The next major item on the shopping list was lot 560, LIBERATION POINT. This well-bred son of Iffraaj had cost €160,000 as a yearling, and after two promising runs for Richard Fahey we thought he’d be rather too expensive for our “mid-range” budget. But the sales can throw up surprises.

Liberation Point had passed our vet’s examination with flying colours, and a video recap of his most recent run at Pontefract, where he’d been the only horse to threaten a useful Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner, just served to increase our enthusiasm for the three-year-old. We’re hopeful he’ll prove to be a real snip at 16,000 guineas. He heads straight to Mick Appleby and will start his life with us on the AW over the next couple of months, probably in a novice but we’ll also assess handicap options from his mark of 77.

Lot 570, BELLATRIXSA, ticked plenty of boxes, looking an unexposed filly over a distance of ground, but she was another to win in the days before the sale, which pushed her price out of our range. She went for 80,000 guineas, seemingly to join Venetia Williams, and it would be no surprise if she were to make into a useful jumper.

Some might say that aiming to improve a horse previously trained by Aidan O’Brien would be asking for trouble, but PARTY SEASON, a choicely-bred son of American Pharoah who’d cost a cool million dollars as a yearling, was next in the shop window. He’d laboured on soft and heavy ground on his first two outings, but his pedigree is very much on all-weather one, and sure enough he’d won in good style when switched to the polytrack at Dundalk.

We’d have loved to have sent him to Mick to run in the best all-weather races in Britain during the winter, but we also guessed he’d be out of our range financially. Still, O’brien horses don’t always make what you think they will and he was worth “following in” but unfortunately we were right about our pockets not being deep enough, as Party Season changed hands for 160,000 guineas, apparently to race in America, where he may well be winning graded races in due course.

The main focus of interest on the third day was lot 939, MAHANAKHON POWER, hard to pronounce but open to improvement. With a pedigree absolutely packed with stamina, he looked unexposed over a mile and a half plus and was high on our list at the start of the week. But would he prove too popular with other buyers?

Happily, in this instance, we got the horse we wanted for a very fair 24,000 guineas, and he’ll be one to look forward to in handicaps next year.

At that point our business was essentially done for the week, but we’ll be keeping an eye in the future on lot 981, RICKSEN, who had shaped nicely in three starts for Iain Jardine. There should be better to come from him for his new trainer Mark Loughnane, and he could turn out to have been well bought at 26,000 guineas. He’ll race in the colours of Laurence Bellman who we wish the best of luck with his new recruit.

Sales season is also the point of the year we say goodbye to horses we’ve had on our books and recent weeks have seen two of our less successful projects moved on. PERUVIAN LILY is a filly who’d showed plenty at home after we bought her in Ireland last year but was a disappointment on the track. We gave her a good break and brought her back in September but the result wasn’t any better so we drew stumps and sold her on. She was sold for just £2,000 at Doncaster and will continue her career abroad.

Another horse who has had his final start in the black and orange is STONE MASON. We’ll always remember him as having a huge amount of ability but not a great deal of willingness to show it! A gorgeous-looking son of Pivotal, he excited us with his work on the gallops but rarely displayed it on the track. That said, his demolition job at Chelmsford in September was an enjoyable night. He went through the ring at Newmarket for 9,000 guineas, a loss of £3000 on our purchase price just over a year earlier – if only he’d wanted it more! Still, thanks to Stone Mason, a frustrating horse but a winner and they’ll always be special to us.

AVAILABLE SHARES

Several of the shares in our new team have already sold out and we’d like to thank all of our new shareholders and welcome them to The Horse Watchers Team. Special thanks go to Laurence Bellman and Christian Cranfield who have taken shares in all of the new recruits – hopefully we can reward the support of all our new backers with plenty of winners in the months ahead.

If you would like to join us then there’s still the opportunity to do so as a limited number of 10% shares remain available in both FENIX and RHOSCOLYN. We’re confident both horses will progress and win races and feel that both were bought at value prices. If you’d like more information on the horses and the cost of the shares please visit www.thehorsewatchers.com/horses.

OTHER NEWS

With the sales taking centre stage, things have been quieter than usual on the racing front, but we still have several horses waiting in the wings. Closest to a run is old favourite BIG COUNTRY, who has a host of possible engagements over the next few weeks. It’s only two years since he was second in the Churchill Stakes at Lingfield, with subsequent multiple Grade/Group 1 winner Addeybb in third, and while he’s undoubtedly deteriorated a bit since then we think he can still be competitive off his current handicap mark. He could be set for Kempton later this month but has other options available to him.

WARRIOR BRAVE, who was bought privately from Ireland at the end of August, is building up steadily to peak fitness at Mick’s. He won’t be rushed, and we’re hopeful he can win a sprint maiden before moving up the handicap ladder. He’s bred to be useful over five or six furlongs, being by Henry Candy’s Diamond Jubilee and Sprint Cup winner Twilight Son out of a mare who won six times over sprint distances for Rod Millman. He should hit the track in December.

RAASEL has had a good rest since being purchased in August, as was always the plan, but he’s recently entered training and will be built up very steadily. He won’t run this year and we’ll take our time but if all goes well with him he’ll be an exciting prospect for useful sprints in 2021. Watch this space.

And finally, our unnamed yearling by Hot Streak, in training with Dave, has been making his first tentative steps on the road to becoming a racehorse. He was ridden for the first time in early October and has already had a look at the Willow Farm gallops, he seems very laid back and will be cantering by Christmas.

NOVEMBER MEMORIES

In each newsletter we’ll be matching a memory to a month, and November’s belongs to TWO JABS.

The majority of horses we’ve been involved with have raced only on the Flat, but Two Jabs was bought with the intention of campaigning him as a dual-purpose performer. He’d kicked off his career for Mark Brisbourne by winning a bumper at Huntingdon, but when we bought him in September 2015 he’d had 13 runs on the Flat and had yet to try hurdling.

Two Jabs settled in smoothly to Mick’s regime, and by the end of October we were getting excited about having a horse we could regularly switch between codes. With late-season testing ground prevalent on the turf tracks, we decided to aim Two Jabs at a mile-and-a-half handicap on Kempton’s polytrack in mid-November.

In what looked a competitive race he was nibbled at in the betting and sent off at odds of 13-2. Andrew “Midge” Mullen was partnering most of Mick’s horses at the time and gave Two Jabs a peach of a ride, getting plenty of cover in midfield, switching him for a run two out and putting in a power-packed drive to get him up inside the last fifty yards. The perfect start.

Novice hurdling was still the plan for Two Jabs and his schooling at Mick’s had been perfectly satisfactory, so a deputation of owners headed off to Market Rasen two months later, full of hope. There was a howling gale and the rain was horizontal. We wished Jamie Moore the best of luck and repaired to the stand.

For the first hundred yards everything went smoothly. Then Two Jabs put on the brakes and barely had enough momentum to get over the first hurdle. The same thing happened at the second flight, and by halfway he was tailed off. Perhaps this was why his previous trainer had never run him over obstacles? We didn’t ask Two Jabs to jump again.

Happily, the horse suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Back on the Flat, he returned to Kempton in March and showed real tenacity to win once more, making the running and rallying bravely to get up on the line. He subsequently made the frame in three competitive handicaps at York that summer.

Two Jabs gave us a lot of fun. He’ll be fondly remembered for the closing stages at Kempton and for the early stages at Market Rasen.