There's something about a tough filly

It probably wouldn't be right to start this blog without mentioning two fillies who've brought much joy to the stable in recent weeks: Ethics Girl and Indira.

Ethics Girl with John and Jim Crowley at Brighton

Ethics Girl is the old-timer now really. At eight, she's the oldest horse we have in training. John bought her as a yearling at Fairyhouse for owners Lawrence Wadey, Gerry Grimstone and Bill Benter and she's been with us ever since. It's probably fair to say that she's the one horse in the yard who has never really caused her trainer a moment's consternation. She's very sound and has a wonderful temperament and those two factors combined make horses a pleasure to deal with. On top of that, she simply loves her job. She never seems to wane in her enthusiasm for her daily work or for racing itself.

Farewell to the lovely Gift Of Silence

Her win at Epsom was typically gritty and put her in good shape to contest the Brighton Cup for the fourth time in early August. She won the race two years ago and laid down another good challenge this time around. The winner took the race by three-quarters of a length and three heads separated the next four horses home, of which she ended up being given the verdict of fifth place. We were immensely proud of her effort and hope she'll be racing a few more times this summer before the ground gets too soft.

Without wishing to tempt fate, Indira seems to be another Ethics Girl in the making. She ran her first race on 12 December as a two-year-old and she has now managed 12 starts, winning two of them and finishing in the first three on another six occasions. Her brother Rhythm Stick was also a multiple winner for the stable so it's been lovely to have another member of the family and to see her thrive so convincingly over the summer.

When she was a yearling she bashed her face in the stable and ended up with a long nasty cut down her forehead. The scar's still there and it makes her look even more Roman-nosed than she was already. She's not the prettiest but she's grown into a fine-bodied animal and, as the old saying goes, handsome is as handsome does.

Jenny Norris with Clairemont Stud's Zamindar colt

Honorary mention must also go to Gift Of Silence, who won for the stable last year and has also been in the first three 11 times throughout her 18 starts. She ran another good second at Windsor on Monday but that was her last start for this stable. She has been sold privately for John Llewellyn's son to ride in amateur races and we wish the family the best of luck with her. We'll miss her but we're happy in the knowledge that she's gone to a good home and we very much hope to see her provide her new rider with his first win.

I'm obviously biased but I think John does an excellent job with fillies. He intuitively understands when to back off and give them a little break and, most importantly of all, how to keep them happy. Being turned out every day does wonders for them both mentally and physically, too.

With my hero Martin Pipe in Deauville

I'm very pleased to have Oscar back in training after a long break and he's being prepared for a bumper run while Russian Link is waiting for the ground to come right for her hurdles debut, which could be at Huntingdon on Bank Holiday Monday if we get some rain.

With the European yearling sales season having kicked off in Deauville on Saturday, I'm now entering a busy phase of the year where I'll be away a lot covering the sales for Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder and the TDN. I arrived in Deauville on my birthday and enjoyed a great evening at Le Garage with Alix Choppin, Liam and Jenny Norris, Chris Hannaford, Chad Schumer, Nancy Sexton, Ryan Goldberg and John and Angela O'Connor. The sale was phenomenally strong and I can see that continuing through Goffs and Tattersalls and hopefully trickling down to the middle and lower tiers of the market.

I was thrilled for Jenny and Liam, who took a beautiful Zamindar colt to Arqana for Clairemont Stud and sold him for €200,000, while Liam's business partner William Huntingdon also had a good sale, with his Siyouni filly selling for the same amount through Haras d'Omméel.

Luca Cumani with former assistants Ed Walker, Marco Botti,
Guillermo Arizkorreta, Simon Sweeting and John

I'm writing this blog on the rattler to London where I'm spending a couple of days as the September issue of TO&B goes to press, then it's off to Madrid to visit and interview an old friend Guillermo Arizkorreta, who is Spain's champion trainer. We got to know Guillermo when he was working in Newmarket for Luca Cumani and he is much missed in the town. I'm looking forward to seeing his stables and going racing with him at La Zarzuela on Thursday evening.

After that, it's off to Donny for the Premier Yearling Sales, which will be followed by my first visit to the Osarus September Yearling Sale in Bordeaux. There are plenty more sales to follow those which means my usual panic is rising and I'm starting to think that it will be Christmas before we know it. Frightening thought but plenty of fun to be had before then.

Minnie's Mystery and her Rajsaman colt foal

The final breeding stock sale of the year, back at Deauville in December, will include a Rajsaman colt foal bred by John. He's a half-brother to Dream Walker, Roy Rocket and So Much Water, and we'll be bringing his yearling half-brother by Youmzain home in the coming weeks. Sadly we can't keep them all, so this rather smart colt, who was born on 27 April, will be off to the sales under the guidance of the excellent duo of Gwenael Monneraye and Lucie Lamotte of the La Motteraye Consignment.

Before the sale got underway in Deauville last week I had time to visit the two youngsters and their dam Minnie's Mystery at Haras de la Cauvinière, where Minnie has lived for the last seven years.

Our Youmzain yearling colt will be arriving at the yard soon

The horses looked in great shape and it is always such a pleasure to visit the farm, which is about 45 mins from Deauville in a beautiful valley not far from Livarot. Sylvain and Elisabeth Vidal and Mathieu Alex are always extremely welcoming and have done an impressive job building it up from a small boarding farm into an increasingly influential stallion operation.

It has been wonderful to see Sylvain and Elisabeth enjoy such success this year with their homebred dual Classic winner Avenir Certain. She won again yesterday, landing the G2 Prix de la Nonette from another Cauvinière graduate, Crisolles. Both fillies are by the stud's resident stallion Le Havre, whose first crop are now three-year-olds. He already has eight black-type horses to his name, seven of whom were born and raised at the farm. As he is also the sire of Minnie's only filly So Much Water, we are really looking forward to seeing what she can do later this year.