Weekly Update 18.01.2021
Last week was lower key compared to previous weeks in the club, but even a quiet week can be busy by some standards. We have one runner in Mizen Master but we are preparing for a busy end to January and start to early February with more horses due to run and no less than 3 horses due to make their debuts for the club; Sweetasteoflove, Furax and the long awaited debut of Lets Go Lucky, who the club have owned for a year but due to injury has not been able to run. Our members are also pouring over the Tatts and Goffs catalogues for the upcoming Jan Sales, looking for a permanent Southern horse.
Mark Walford Horses Update
All our horses that were having their winter breaks are now back and beginning their work! This means Mehraki Star, Kodimoor, Janeymac, Clifftop Heaven, Candescence and Testing Times are all back in work! Below you can see Candescence and Testing Times back at Mark’s from this week. Members and followers of the club alike can expect an exciting Spring with so many horses aiming to begin their 2021 campaigns at this time!
Para Queen will have a month to 6 weeks break away from the yard and a holiday to enjoy herself. She had a long campaign from the resumption of racing in 2020 until her last race with us. She will be back in the yard at the end of Feb/early March.
Lets Go Lucky will have a race plan decided next week with a race in the first week of Feb on the all weather being the goal, more details to come!
George Baker Horse Update
We said goodbye to Kayarnah this week after her 6th placed finish at Wincanton earlier in the month, as the club’s lease of her has now ended. Kayarnah will now have a break until the spring regardless as she will prefer better ground than what traditional is around in the depths of Winter. The club are looking at all possible options with George Baker to continue our relationship, more updates to come in the future.
Irish Horse Update
Sweetasteoflove is doing great and is likely to be entered for a race over a mile at Dundalk for their 22nd Jan meeting. Look out for the entries section update, as excitement grows for Sweet’s debut run.
Micky Hammond Horse Update
Furax’s debut excitement is reaching fever pitch and we received the good news that he now has BHA clearance to race in the UK. Craig and Micky Hammond have already begun to look for races for Furax in early/mid Feb. Members have also been researching Furax’s French form in my depth and can see from some of the horses he has raced against: Quel Destin, Torpillo and Fakir D’oudairies that the club has every reason to be excited. We receive the below two pictures of Furax at a very snowy backdrop in Micky Hammond’s yard.
Racing Updates
Mizen Master
Mizen Master finished a very respectable 3rd of :8 in the Pertemps Network Selling Hurdle at Leicester on 13th January 2021. Members who watched his run will know the ground conditions at Leicester were extremely difficult and bottomless which meant there were 4 finishers in the race. However, Mizen Master was rallying and staying on towards the finish to attempt to close on 2nd place so it was a performance with merit. We will now look at future options and races for Mizen Master, but he has finished in the places on both races for the club so far.
Future Horses, Runners & Plans
As at the time of writing Event of Sivola is due to run in the 1:55 3m3f (3m2f197y) Retraining Of Racehorses (ROR) Handicap Chase (Northern Lights Staying Chase Series Qual') (Class 4) (5yo+ 0-120) at Ayr on 18th January. There are only 7 runners in the field with EOS being ridden by his regular jockey Tommy Dowson. EOS is up in class but carries a very low rate, conditions and distance will suit EOS and he goes with a good chance of at least being placed. More to come on EOS’s performance in the next weekly update.
For the remainder of the month and into February we can expect to see Furax, Sweetasteoflove and Lets Go Lucky on the track and entered for races. Exciting times ahead as these are new horses for the club and will be making their debuts in the Battenberg silks! In Furax’s case it will be his UK Debut full stop!
As mentioned in the introduction, we are now searching for a permanent Southern horse to be based with a Southern trainer full time. There is a special group set up for this with some current members involved, but all new members are welcome as well! We are searching the sales catalogues for a good horse at a reasonable price. Please use the contact us or get in touch via social media if you want to be involved in the new horse or any of our horses! We have share options available in the majority of club horses!