Thursday, January 20, 2011

Grumble and crumble

The February issue of Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder magazine has just gone to press so it's time now to turn my attention to the pedigrees of 62 two-year-olds (not, sadly, in this yard). Assessing them and offering my half-baked opinion on precocity/potential race distance/etc is a job I look forward to at this time of year.

I'm also looking forward to going to see Jack Irish, now a yearling, on Monday. I haven't managed to get up to Norfolk to see him for at least two months so I know he will have changed much in that time. Despite the fact that Jack won't be joining this yard until at least November, the smart money's on him making it to the racecourse before big brother Oscar.

Ruby In The Dust (above) is a little filly Stephen McCormick and I have been keeping close tabs on. We're planning to race her together, initially in bumpers, with anyone else who wants to join the syndicate. The trainer has been characteristically pessimistic within my earshot but I like to think he's just doing a good job of expectation management, and nobody needs that more than I do. But from what Steve and I saw last Saturday, which was only a slow canter round the very long Southfields canter on Racecourse Side, Ruby is not a forlorn hope and we're starting to get quietly excited. We both need something to cheer us up after the disappointment of Anis Etoile's retirement.

I have to say that when Ruby is ready to make her bumper debut we'll be avoiding Newbury if they stick to the kind of prize-money levels on offer there yesterday: £1,300 for the winner of the bumper at a Grade 1 track. Shame on them. We've heard from Charlie Mann about boycotting Fontwell for running bumpers for the same level and Newbury has to be next on the list.

Embarrassment has stopped me from revealing the full results to John's pedigree quiz last Friday bar the fact that Juddmonte, like pretty much every horse they ran last year, were the runaway winners. Well done to Camilla Milbank and Kevin Sommerville, aka the Oasis Dream Team - Prince Khalid would have been proud. The rest of us have some homework to do.

Massive well done also to John for managing to get the hat-trick up with lovely Rhythm Stick on Monday, and to team Wadham for their three winners, one a debutante flat filly, this week.

Time to sign off as Bethan and Owen Byrne have promised me shepherd's pie and crumble and that's too good an invitation to turn down.

PS. Keeping everything crossed for Peddlers Cross and Soldatino on Saturday and very much hoping that they do not go for the same race.

No comments: