Knockdolian was very disappointing yesterday, his jumping let him down and he didn't finish his race, so ' home james' for him, he will be re-trained as an eventer. 

My only hurdler Knockdolian runs again for the third time at Ffos Las this afternoon at  2.20pm.  He has been slightly disappointing so far but perhaps there have been genuine excuses for him.  In his first race at Newbury in December he made a bad mistake and lost a lot of momentum in the straight to be a well beaten 7th, but it was a decent race with Nicky Henderson's pair Grandouet ( 5-1 fav for the Triumph) and A Media Luz ( 6-1 fav for the Fred Winter)  finishing first and second.  The ground was desperately heavy for his second race at Folkestone in mid January which he hated so I am hoping for a more encouraging effort today although it would be a pleasant surprise to see him win. He wears a tongue strap for the first time in a race which might also help. 

Just as we all thought that Spring was around the corner we had another bitterly cold morning on the gallops today with a very strong north wind blasting across the Beckhampton Downs.  First lot the horses did their  'second ' canter up the grass for the first time since October, as they gradually move up a gear, weather permitting they will do the same again on Wednesday.

Keys has been heard to give the occasional cough recently and unfortunately I have just received the news that his scope results have confirmed that he has a bacterial infection. This will mean that there won't be enough time to prepare him for The Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in less than two weeks. The bumper at Liverpool could be an alternative target for him. 

Some photo's taken of 1st lot out at exercise on Saturday 26th February

Genki, Cityscape, Camberley Two and Cry Fury

Keys

The horses all seem to be in good form and they are now doing their 2nd canter up the poly track twice a week which is bringing them closer to starting fast work in the 2nd week of March. We are unlikely to have many runners before mid April.

Mr Deer's Folly Bridge returned from her holiday at his Oakgrove Stud recently looking very well, having put on weight and grown another half an inch to over 16hh. It will be important for her to gain some ''black type'' this year if possible, before she retires to his stud near Chepstow.  Folly Bridge is by Mr Deer's stallion Avonbridge, who he bred and raced to win 7 of his 22 races and £334,000, out of Jalissa, a filly that I trained as well as Avonbribge. Folly Bridge is Avonbridge's highest rated filly with a Racing Post Rating of 96 having won 3 of her 9 races and £41,000. She will I hope continue to improve from her current rating and it will be interesting to see if she stays an extra furlong having run over 6 and 7 furlongs to date; she is suited by fast ground and a good pace.

Luckily the yard is starting to look fuller and everyone has plenty to do as the season approaches,  with only a month to Cheltenham and two months to the Craven meeting, the tempo and excitement is starting to rise.  There are 4  Juddmonte two-year-old's arriving from Ferrans on Friday evening, which is their Irish farm near Kilcock.

A colt by Three Valleys (USA) ex Magic Numbers (Dansili) who won a race over 12 furlongs in France for Pascal Bary.  Magic Numbers is a half sister to Conference Call who won 2 races,  was second in the Prix Marcel Boussac Gr.1, and is from Danehill's family. 

A colt by Dansili ex Zante (Zafonic) who is a half brother to Korithi an unraced Oasis Dream three-year-old filly in the yard.  Zante won 3 races including a Listed race and she comes from a very good family that goes back to Monroe, Peeping Fawn, El Gran Senor, Xaar and more recently both Cityscape and Bated Breath.

A filly by Beat Hollow ex Total Devotion (Desert Prince) who is a grand daughter of the amazing broodmare Slightly Dangerous, who was the dam of Commander In Chief, Warning and my first ever winner Deploy, at Haydock in April 1990.  Prince Khaled Abdullah's Rainbow Quest  who won the Coronation Stakes and The Prix De L'Arc DeTriomphe when trained by Jeremy Tree also comes from this illustrious family. 

A filly by Three Valleys (USA) ex Biloxi (Caerleon) who was unraced, but is a daughter of Wemyss Bight. This is another very good Juddmonte family that also includes the Gr.1 winners Sorbus, Zenda, Reefscape, Oasis Dream and Beat Hollow.  It will be very interesting to see how  Three Valley's first crop perform over the next few months as the reports from various sources seem to be encouraging and I am certainly pleased with the 2 other colts that we already have here (different ownership) in That's Dangerous and Ali Hope. 

Three Valleys(USA) won his maiden in May and went on to break the two-year-old course record when he won the Coventry Stakes in a canter by 8 lengths at Royal Ascot, a performance that was described by the Racing Post as '' simply stunning''.  His dam Skiable (Niniski) is a half sister to arguably the best broodmare in the world in Hasili (Kahyasi), who is the dam of no less than 5 Gr.1 winners as well as Dansili.

Three Valleys (USA) with Richard Hughes winning The Coventry

Dear Roger                                                                                                                               12/2/2011,

This is just a quick note to say thank you once again for your kind hospitality this morning. I'm not sure that you fully appreciate just how enjoyable and interesting it is for a racing fan like myself to be shown round a place like Beckhampton, with all its history, and to see at close quarters so many familiar names like Bated Breath, Definightly, Cityscape and so on. What I am sure about is that you must have many better things to do with your time than drive a fella like myself round the gallops and take him round the facilities and answer his inane questions for a good couple of hours but you couldn't have been more patient and friendly and for that I thank you very much.

Obviously, things took a rather surreal turn after I left for Newbury.   It was obviously particularly nice to meet Supreme Quest who seemed a charmer but then I'm biased. As I said, I know you'll do the right thing by her and you certainly won't get any aggravation from me as and when problems arise. The photos turned out surprisingly well, by the way.

Enjoy your holiday.

Regards,
Gus
 

High Constable, Deceptive and Starlight Walk arrived today from the Royal Stud at Sandringham, having had their winter break and they are all ready to start cantering again.  High Constable is a four-year-old gelding by Shamardal who looked to have an exciting future when he finished second at Newbury in April to the John Gosden trained Meezaan in the Dubai Duty Free 7 furlong handicap.  He beat some promising three-year-olds that day which included Gramercy, Oasis Dancer and Rebel Soldier and I was hoping that he might give Her Majesty The Queen a runner with a chance in The Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot.  Unfortunately he suffered a stress fracture to a foreleg the week before the Royal Meeting, so we are all hoping that he remains sound so that he can realize his full potential.