Although TraderJack seemed to handle the ground when it was very soft at Ffos Las in the Autumn, he certainly could not cope with the Sandown going yesterday. He was perhaps a little free going to post and needed settling during the race but James Doyle said that he hated the ground which was in fact incredibly testing and he got rather tired in the closing stages.  Hopefully next time he will be less fresh and more able to cope with the conditions.  It was interesting that  Mark Johnson's Rafeej who also won on the same day at Ffos Las, was well beaten in the sprint.  We have got no runners today as I decided it made little sense in running Al Kazeem under yesterdays conditions and he will be re-routed to the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket next Saturday or the Huxley Stakes at Chester the following week.

Trader Jack runs in the Esher Cup at Sandown this afternoon against five other rivals.    He has form on heavy ground having won at Ffos Las last year when he beat Lycidas in convincing fashion, I notice that Lycidas was tailed off on Sunday when he reappeared in a Group race in Germany.  He is a big strong colt and the type to benefit from his first race and with the ground being testing, there will be a premium on fitness as several of the other runners have had a run recently. I would expect him to progress and stay further.

Trader Jack

Cityscape starts his travels again today when he leaves Beckhampton at 4.30pm to travel to Heathrow, with a two hour stop in Dubai and then onto Hong Kong. It's a demanding schedule but he seems to have coped well in the past but it is important that they travel well and take on plenty of fluids as well as food on the aeroplane. The conditions in Hong Kong are wet and muggy at the moment but expected to dry up after the weekend.  There are likely to be 14 runners and Cityscape will be the only horse flying direct from the UK.  Godolphin's African Story is an intended runner together with some of the horses that he beat in the Dubai Duty Free last month, that include Ambitious Dragon, Xtension and Musir of Mike de Kock's.

Cityscape

After heavy and prolonged rain during racing at Pontefract yesterday afternoon, the ground became heavy by Stir Trader's race.  Under the circumstances I thought he ran really well to finish 2nd even if he was beaten 14 lengths by the runaway and presumably Listed class winner !   Our runner at Windsor on the otherhand hated the ground and ran rather slowly to finish somewhere out in the gloom and there is room for considerable improvement which I hope will come on better ground. 

With the continued unsettled weather,  we are only likely to have a handful of runners but nothing until Sandown on Friday.

I was pleased with our two runners at Newbury on Saturday as they both ran well to finish 3rd in fairly competitives maiden races.  The ground was quite tiring and Captain Cat would appreciate better going in the future and Border Legend would have learnt alot from his race and will improve as expected over 10 furlongs.

Today we have Stir Trader (Ire) running for the first time at Pontefract in the 6 furlong maiden race at 4.15pm. He was bought this week last year at Doncaster Breeze Up sales and I hope the ground and course will suit him.  He should run well, although there at least two others in the race with good form and more experience than him. 

Stir Trader (Ire)

At Windsor Pick Three makes his debut in the mile and a quarter maiden race at 7.25pm. He is a big rather backward colt who will derive considerable benefit from a race or two and with the ground soft, we are going into an unknown territory. 

Pick Three

Just bought an exciting new addition to the yard from Doncaster Breeze Up sales Lot 17 a Sharmadal filly out of a mare that won two races and has bred two winners from her first two runners.   This filly is for sale.

Cityscape has been given the go ahead to travel to Hong Kong next Friday to run in the BMW Champions Mile  Gr 1 with James Doyle. He seems to be in great form but it is a demanding schedule but luckily he has developed into a relaxed traveller and seems to enjoy clocking up his air miles.

Cityscape

After a few lengthy discussions and plenty of thought, I decided that Top Offer would not benefit from running on slow ground at Newbury today and the plan is to go straight to the Guineas where I hope the ground will be riding faster.  He is due to travel to Newbury today so that he can spend some time in the racecourse stables and then walk around the pre parade ring which I hope will be beneficial for him having only run once last summer.

We are now left with two runners at Newbury having declared Camberley Two a non runner due to the soft ground. Captain Cat runs in the first division of what looks like a competitive mile maiden race.  He measures 16.1.50 hh and still has a bit of filling out and strengthening up to come but he has been showing promise and in due course, he will be suited by stepping up in distance.

Captain Cat

Border Legend runs for HM The Queen and it would be a very exciting birthday present for her should he be capable of winning first time out.  He is a big gelding who was only lightly trained last year but his work has been encouraging and progressive and like Captain Cat his future is likely to be over 10 or 12 furlongs.

Border Legend

Nothing really went right for Genki yesterday at Newmarket with the heavy showers of rain, the ground had become rather loose on top.  He does not seem to mind soft ground or fast ground but if he starts to slip and lose his footing, he then loses his confidence, this has happened in the past particularly at Ascot after heavy rain.  The slow early pace made the race a bit of a muddle and it would appear that they went faster over the first two fences in the Grand National than they did over the first two furlongs in the Abernant.  Hopefully the race won't have done him any harm and he could run either at York or Newcastle.

Today we send four runners to Newbury with Newnton Lodge running in the 7 furlong handicap at 2.40pm. He is in good form and looking particularly well and I hope that the ground won't inconvenience him. He is rather headstrong and needs to settle and having run rather disappointingly last year at Leicester, today is somewhat of a fact finding mission.

Newnton Lodge

Selfara runs in the Coln Valley Stud Maiden Fillies Stakes which is for unraced fillies and therefore a little difficult to predict the quality of the opposition. She is a filly with a wonderful temperament and she looks particularly well in her coat.  Her work has been encouraging but she has a habit of being rather slow out of the stalls.

Runway Girl  is having her first race in the  3.50pm a mile and a quarter fillies maiden race, I would expect her to need the experience and improve as she is still rather green and inexperienced.

Inchina returns to Newbury having run a race full of promise on the course in October.  Being by Montjeu she should be suited by the underfoot conditions and the extra two furlongs and her work has been encouraging this spring, but I would also expect her to improve for the race.

Inchina

Supreme Quest was due to go to Bath this evening but she is unlikely to be suited by the soft ground as she has such a fluent and easy action so she has been declared a non runner.

Supreme Quest

The old boy is in rude health having spent many hours working up Genki's Hill (formerly known as Hamburger Hill) which is a gallop that has been named after him. It is extremely steep and he goes very slowly up there several times a day but it has helped him develop muscles in his quarters and across his back.  In the past, I have always felt that he would need his first race as he is such a lazy worker at home, but in fact he seems to run well at the beginning of the season as he did last year to win this race.  He will be unsuited if there is a lack of decent pace as he likes to come from the back of the field.

Genki

Having virtually waited all winter for some rain, it now seems to be thrashing it down every half an hour which is much needed everywhere but I am hoping that the ground at Newbury does not become too testing for Top Offer on Saturday. The last thing you need in a build up to a Classic is having a race on testing conditions a fortnight before.  In between heavy showers, we had a good work morning here with both George Baker and James Doyle riding work. I am looking forward to the weekend as we have some interesting runners at Newbury both on Friday and Saturday.

It was very exciting to see Rosslyn Castle win his race in such good style, he behaved well before the race and he gave us the impression that a mile and a half will suit him in due course.  I did not get the impression that it was a strong race and it will be interesting to see how the placed horses run in the future, but I would imagine he will be given a handicap mark in the 80's.  Most Selkirk's improve and he would have learnt plenty by going round the sharp turns of Windsor.

Tantamount ran as expected at Wolverhampton and should start life with a rating around 70 and I hope will be suited by a more galloping track. 

Our first runners today on the turf of the season since Trader Jack won at Ffos Las in November, the first swallows was also spotted on the gallops this morning and I don't suppose they appreciated the -3 temperatures overnight.  Rosslyn Castle runs in the first division of the maiden race at Windsor at 3.30pm and he is ridden by James Doyle.  His only start last year at Sandown he was 40/1 and showed his inexperience but ran on stoutly in the closing stages to finish 4th. Todays trip should suit him and I am hoping that he will run well.

Rosslyn Castle leading

Tantamount goes to Wolverhampton to run in the 3.45pm a maiden race over an extended 8 furlongs where he will be ridden by Harry Bentley who had a good season, like James Doyle riding in Dubai.  Tantamount was unsuited by the heavy ground on his debut at Haydock but he does come from a family (his dam won over 2 miles) and he would appreciate stepping up in trip in the future. He is in good form but lack a turn of foot over this trip.