January Newsletter
It’s only right to begin this newsletter with BIG COUNTRY. The most successful horse we’ve been involved with, he won seven races and nearly £250,000 in prize-money and he raced with great enthusiasm throughout his 40-race career.
Among numerous highlights along the way were a Rosebery Handicap success at Kempton, a close second in the John Smith’s Cup at York, an all-the-way Zetland Gold Cup win and a game victory in the Listed Pomfret Stakes at Pontefract.
After a spell at Jamie Osborne’s, during which he became a stable favourite there as well, he was back enjoying life at Mick’s, and his final success at Chelmsford in December was an authoritative one under Luke Morris. His debut for us had been a romp in a maiden at Wolverhampton in February 2017 and his last race took place on the same course on Boxing Day. Big Country had a heart attack when bounding along in front and died instantly.
The plan for him to spend a long retirement at Mick’s yard when his racing days were over won’t happen now, but he’ll never be forgotten. He led a happy life and gave us all a tremendous amount of pleasure.
On a very different note, a new career is about to begin. Since the last newsletter, our yearling has become a two-year-old and he’s also acquired a name. SCALDED, a son of Hot Streak out of Beldale Memory, is continuing to please at Dave’s and the hope is that he’ll be running in the first few weeks of the Flat season proper.
Scalded is certainly bred to be quick. His sire, who was trained by Kevin Ryan, won the Cornwallis Stakes at two and the Temple Stakes at three, both over 5f, while his dam won her first two races as a two-year-old for Clive Cox, both also over the minimum trip. There will be more news on Scalded’s development in the next newsletter.
Remaining at Dave’s, things are moving along smoothly with RHOSCOLYN. He was bought at the end of October, but it was always the plan to adopt a softly-softly approach with this strong, muscular son of Territories, and he didn’t start on the road to fitness until the beginning of January.
He's doing steady canters at the moment and will have his palate fired in a few weeks’ time, after which he’ll gradually move into a full work routine. We see him as a six- or easy seven-furlong horse at this stage but nothing’s set in stone. By the start of the turf season he should be ready to go.
Several of our string have been in action on the all-weather over the last few weeks, and there were positives and negatives to be taken from BLUE HERO’s two runs at the beginning of the month.
First time out at Wolverhampton, he shaped well in finishing a length second to the odds-on favourite in a handicap over the extended mile. We wanted him to get some cover so he was dropped out last of the five runners and as a result wasn’t ideally positioned when the pace picked up, but he stuck on well and was gaining on the winner at the line.
It was disappointing, therefore, that Blue Hero could finish only a well-held fourth of five at Southwell next time. There are several possible excuses - the run might have come too soon, just six days after Wolverhampton; the Fibresand surface was particularly deep that day and some horses didn’t act on it; and more positive tactics may also have been against Blue Hero.
He’s been pleasing at home since and is likely to head to Newcastle later this week with Danny Tudhope provisionally booked to ride.
Initially we were slightly underwhelmed by WARRIOR BRAVE’s half-length defeat at Wolverhampton between Christmas and New Year but the suspicion is he bumped into a really smart one in the shape of Jim Goldie’s Water Of Leith. The pair were giving weight to all their rivals and pulled well clear in a race run at a sound pace.
The form is backed up by a solid time (Timeform had the winner running to 92 and the timefigure is just 2lb below the form rating). We were also left feeling that Warrior Brave may be better suited by a more patient ride and that view was supported by an impressive win at Lingfield on Sunday. Initially a shade keen, Warrior Brave soon switched off behind the leader and Ali hung onto him for as long as he could prior to quickening to the lead a furlong out. Idle once in front, Warrior Brave finished with plenty left to give but still won in the fastest time of the day and clocked a Timeform timefigure of 94. He’ll be up to a mark in the 90’s once reassessed and is getting better but will benefit from not being rushed so we’re shelving the initial plan of AW Finals Day and will instead map out his campaign to aim at the 5f 3yo handicap at Royal Ascot.
FENIX has had us scratching our heads. A relatively cheap purchase at 6,000 guineas, she has worked more than satisfactorily since arriving at Mick’s and she initially struck us as a middle-distance performer. Having found little on her first start in our colours we steadily dropped her back in trip given the speed she’s sown on the track and at home but it’s made little difference and we have to conclude Fenix’s attitude is holding her back. She’ll be sold at the Tattersalls Sale next month.
We took a punt in buying RAASEL at the sales last August because he had a suspensory issue, but he’s been brought along very steadily and - touch wood - seems perfectly sound at the moment. He was promising in two outings for Marcus Tregoning as a two-year-old and if all goes to plan he’ll soon be contesting good-quality sprint handicaps.
Sometimes lengthy discussions and debates are required to try to establish a horse’s ideal distance requirements, but they shouldn’t be needed in the case of Raasel, who looks and runs like a 5f performer through and through. Initially disappointed that he met with defeat on his first run for us at Chelmsford last week, we’re much happier having let the dust settle and reviewed the race in more detail and think we still have a promising sprinter on our hands. Given he’s been off a long time prior to this run, Raasel won’t be rushed into his next start.
LIBERATION POINT also continues to make steady progress towards the track and is likely to start off his career in the black and orange silks next month with a race at Newcastle his likely target.
Mick has taken things gently with him since he arrived from Richard Fahey’s, but in the last couple of weeks Liberation Point’s work has moved up several notches. Jonny, who rides him regularly at home, draws comparisons with Pearl Nation, a real favourite of ours from a few years back. Like Pearl, he’s a big, gross horse who takes plenty of work, and both of them have a power-packed galloping style.
Liberation Point is from the family of the smart stayer Torcedor and the four-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Yeats, so it’s hoped he can progress as his stamina is drawn out this year and the race at Newcastle should provide a suitable foundation for what will hopefully be a productive campaign.
And finally, there’s very not much news on MAHANAKHON POWER at the moment. He’s had his feet up for a couple of months but is due into Mick’s yard soon. Depending on how quickly he gains full fitness, he could have a run on the all-weather before the turf racing starts again, but the main aim for him will be middle-distance staying handicaps on the grass. More about him next time.
In the meantime, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve agreed a sponsorship deal with Timeform for 2021. The Horse Watchers have strong historical links with Timeform, three of us having worked there for a combined total of several decades! The Timeform logo will appear on our silks and there will be regular news and features about our horses on the Timeform website at timeform.com
JANUARY MEMORIES
Over the years, much of the action concerning our horses in January has revolved around Southwell. When the Fibresand there is replaced by Tapeta later this year, it will mark the end of an era for trainers, owners and punters who specialised in getting to grips with the unique demands provided by a surface that some horses loved and others loathed.
When we bought Mithqaal in August 2016, part of the reason was that he looked an ideal type to cash in on the programme of winnable races at Southwell during the winter months. His sire, Speightstown, was a noted source of Fibresand winners, and we’d had plenty of success with another of his sons, Pearl Nation, who had won three of his first four races on the surface in our ownership.
If Mithqaal had been slow to come to hand at Mick’s we’d have waited until the all-weather season to unleash him, but by the end of August he was working the house down. We took him to Southwell for a racecourse gallop in mid-September and he gave his workmate 30lb and a sound beating.
Ten days later he snuck into Newmarket’s Silver Cambridgeshire at the bottom of the weights and won it in clear-cut style under Danny Brock. The perfect start in our colours.
Initially Mithqaal didn’t build on that success. A below-par run at York next time possibly came too soon after Newmarket and after two more defeats at Chelmsford we decided to freshen him up with a short break. We knew Southwell would suit him, so that was the place to send him to revive his fortunes once he'd recharged his batteries.
A maximum field of 14 was declared for the feature event over 7f on the track’s pre-Christmas card, but Mithqaal went off the well-backed 11-4 favourite and bolted up, relishing the Fibresand every bit as well as we’d hoped. Moreover, in clocking just 36.5 seconds for the last three furlongs, he put up one of the best time performances of the winter. The form looked particularly strong for the time of year.
Mithqaal’s next race pretty much picked itself. He was clearly in his element at Southwell and there was a handicap there over a mile in the second week of January. He went off a well-backed 4-6 favourite and won comfortably once more.
Thereafter our problem with Mithqaal concerned lack of opportunity. Most of Southwell’s programme caters for low-grade horses, but with an official rating in the mid-90s Mithqaal was now ineligible for the vast majority of races on his favoured surface. When we were approached by an agent on behalf of an American owner, therefore, we didn’t have to think long before accepting the offer, and Mithqaal was sold privately to continue his career in the States.
We didn’t have Mithqaal for long but he packed plenty into a few months in our ownership. Besides winning the Silver Cambridgeshire, he was unbeaten at Southwell and if the fixture list had provided more openings for horses of his ability he’d have continued plying his trade there for longer. As it was, the money generated from his sale was reinvested into the likes of Saaheq and The Great Wall.