Excitement is building ahead of the flat season and Mark Walford was kind enough to update members on where we are with all eight horses we have in training at Cornborough during a stable visit this week.

Battle Angel, 4yo gr f

Jumps form: 16

Flat form: 04342150

“She is almost ready to make her seasonal debut. She had a racecourse gallop at Southwell and she needed it. It’s brought her forward and we are aiming for next week at Newcastle. I am going to do an endoscope on her to check her lungs before she runs like I am with all of ours. We have a long season ahead with her, she is a top of the ground horse and we are excited to get her out. She will do some summer jumping and some flat so we want to get off to a good start with her, but she seems good. She’s been in good form with herself and we are actually going to put her in one of our new outside boxes where she can live outdoors near enough all the time. For a horse like her who is a bit buzzy, it does her the world of good. We will mix flat and jumps, but she is not a winter horse at all. We will aim for Market Rasen, they have some nice money there and maybe the Sunday Series too. Running her over 2m on the flat is not for her. She obviously gets it over hurdles, but we will stick to a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half on the flat. She has a turn of foot, she is not slow. We have a lot to look forward to with her. We will get her to peak at the height of summer, that is when we will see the best of her. She is one who will need three weeks between races.”

Candescence, 4yo ch f

Form: 133/922236-

“I am very pleased with how she’s been working this week. She was very enthusiastic and it was her first proper piece of work. We are hoping for Doncaster on the opening weekend of the turf season but I wouldn’t say we are nailed on for it. We are going to take her away for work in a week’s time and see where we are with her. This year we need to be careful of the ground. We want to avoid fast ground at all costs and if that means going on the all weather so be it. We will aim for the York race she came second in last season and then target the Sunday Series races with good prize money. We will keep it to 7f or a mile. She’s a fast filly. She wants to jump out and bowl along. She needs to be in a rhythm. She can’t be restrained. She needs to be allowed to run along, be it in first or seventh. There’s a good race in her I am sure.”

Diamant Sur Canape, 4yo b g

Unraced

“He just did a little cough after exercise on Wednesday so we are getting that checked out but I rode him myself and he is a pleasure to be on. He looks magnificent physically, he has muscled up really well. He has taken the training great, but mentally he is just a bit of a baby. If he scopes okay we will go for the bumper at Doncaster on the 18th. We considered going straight for a hurdle at Hexham, but I don’t want his brain to be overloaded with too much to think about at this stage. At least in a bumper all he has got to do is get around. Quite honestly I don’t think we will win a bumper, but he will run well enough. If he finished half way I would be pleased. But whatever he does, this will be a decent horse, I am so sure of it. I liked him from day one and I am sure of it even now. He jumps superb. This year is about making him. I won’t do anything daft with this horse, he’s too good. We need to get experience, have a summer off and then we have a nice horse to work with. It’s an education to racing this year, we will see the best of him when he is about six or seven. We will have a decent horse here. He’s remarkable at jumping. If you see where he takes off and where he lands it’s incredible. He has so much power. The season after next he will be over fences and that is where you will see the best of him.”

Event of Sivola, 8yo ch g

Form: 4322F152-14P82

“We were absolutely delighted with his run last week and he will go for the Northern Lights staying chase final. We were under no illusions about him being back to his best last time, but he really should be for his next run. We go into that race now off a nice handicap mark. Hopefully we will get in, there’s not a huge amount of horses qualified though so we should get a run in there. A bit of cut in the ground would be ideal, but we know he can go on decent too. We may keep him going a bit longer this time. I feel with a lot of our horses we missed a decent part of the season, we have had a lot of snotty noses and they have missed out, but he has had a win and a second. If they all did that each year you would be happy. We may step him up in trip. A lad like this who can go on better ground can be kept going a little longer to maybe May or June.

Ghadbbaan, 6yo ch g

Form: 051344225376-

“We are on target for Doncaster on the first weekend of the flat turf season and he will need that run. We are going for the day out and he will come on for that. We have been really pleased with him since he came to us. He’s a lovely straight forward horse and he loves his work. If you look at his form, that’s what he is. He won’t be different this year. Once the paddock is a bit drier here he will go out and he will love that. We may eke out a little improvement, but I would think he will show the same level of ability as last year. We will aim at all the staying races at York, if he could win a little staying race there it would be lovely. He has placed form at York so that would be good. We have done some jumping with him, but we will park that for now and if he is running well on the flat we will stick to that. He is a top of the ground horse.”

Kodimoor, 9yo ch g

Form: 03150300048427666-

“He will be returning for his 78th start quite soon. He’s a little legend this guy, he’s part of the furniture around the yard. He’s been in good nick, he came in a bit later than the others but will be ready in mid April for somewhere like Beverley which really suits him. He can have their hearts broken at half way because he can go at such a gallop that by the time they turn in he only has a few left to beat. I don’t see a reason why he won’t win a race. He’s also a horse who you can get out and run plenty. They’re the type of horse who will win for you. We had toyed with the idea of hurdles at one point, but that is on the backburner now. If he went a 7f pace but over hurdles I don’t think we would find a jockey brave enough. We will mess around with all sorts of headgear and tracks, we mix up his training too and he thrives. We are getting there fitness-wise, four weeks and we will be there.”

Moonlight Glory, 7yo b m

Form: 0P655511308-58536

“We are almost ready for her debut for us. We have had a lovely clear run with her. She hasn’t missed a day and is a really straightforward mare. We are planning on running her over fences so we will take her to Malton this week. This will just give her a pop. We have schooled her here and she has done it absolutely lovely but I just want to make sure we have everything covered. We’ve got fences here, but they have five in a row there and it’s like racecourse conditions. If she comes through that well we will run her at Hexham or the 21st at Southwell. She’s just a lovely straight forward horse. If we have a downpour and the ground turns heavy she will revel in it. The plan is to get a couple of runs into her now before summer. I think she will win one this time around. She may need her first run, but we will give her June and July off then and get her ready for October. She’s just easy to train. I couldn’t speak more highly of her. I am not saying she’s a superstar, but she will win races for a few years hopefully. For the money that was paid, she was probably worth double.”

Who’s Ur Dandy, 3yo ch f

Form: 890607-

“She came in a little bit later than the others but she has grown and strengthened up a lot. It’s unbelievable actually. She has grown somewhere between two and three inches over the winter and she looks like a different horse. She will be a later one to start but we will go for a mile. She’s not slow. She’s moving well and I think she wants some decent ground. We are off a really low mark. We will know after two or three runs what we have got with her. First she can have for fitness, then she needs to show us something after that. From what I am seeing at home this year though I am happy. We saw glimpses as a two-year-old. She did some amazing work at Malton with Zumurud and I was so pleased with that at the time. It’ s not like she hasn’t run with promise at home. We will look at three-year-old races locally. I hope she is a 60 horse, off her current rating she doesn’t need to be that good to be effective.”

Mark Walford Stable Tour: March

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