Mark Walford Stable Tour: March 31

After Mark recorded four winners and a place in the space of just three days he was in a buoyant mood welcoming Racing Manager Craig Talbot to the stables this week. 

With Candescence coming second on Saturday and Ghadbbaan winning on Sunday it has been a fantastic start to the flat season. 

Here’s the latest on all our runners at Cornborough.

Mark Walford has the team in fine form

Battle Angel

She is living outside now in our new boxes. She picked up a splint before she was due to run last time which caused her to not be declared. She still has a touch of heat but she is sound as a pound. Forty per cent of horses get a splint during their time in training so she is fine. She has just been ridden and she is fine. We are not far off a run now. She may need her first one but we are about two weeks off and we are looking forward to it. We will make a firm plan and make sure she is ready for it. We have some much to look forward to with this filly. She will mix flat and hurdles. She is a good filly. If we can win over both codes again it would be great.

Candescence

Candescence is fine after her performance at Wolverhampton. She has a little overreach after the race but she is fine. Apart from that she has come out of the race really well. It was a great run and I am so pleased we ran her over 6f. We thought she would need it and it would be an interesting experiment and we will keep her to that trip now. I think she just idled a little which cost her the race. Dougie suggested cheekpieces but it was her first run and I will leave them off for now. It was a hell of a run. If we could get a lead into the race she would be even better. She will have her joints looked at, she will need 14 days and we will go again. We would look for cut. But if we don’t get it we can go to Wolverhampton and Kempton. It was great to see her back to her best.There’s a good race in her.

Diamant Sur Canape

I think we will run him in a hurdle and then let him have a break. He’s a good mover and goes well on the gallops, he just needs to learn to race. He ran in the bumper at Doncaster and as soon as they got racing he was a little but like ‘oh no what do I do next?’. We’re just teaching him to race. He’s a lovely horse, a proper horse. He will be in a hurdle in two or three weeks. I am not sure what to expect after his debut. I am not going to say he is going to run well, but he needs the experience. Jamie rode him in work this week and he worked really well with a good work horse. It’s what’s between his ears at the moment that needs work. But he’s a lovely horse, you don’t work at home like that without being decent.

Event of Sivola

He ran a great race in fifth on Sunday and he just wanted a bit further on that ground. He has come out well and he is looking great. While we have some cut in the ground we need to get him out. We either need to go further or find softer ground. Hexham would be perfect for him. The race he ran in on Sunday was as good as you get at that grade. Horse and jockey did nothing wrong at all. Lets get him in an easier grade, softer ground and if we could win two more with him I would be pleased. He has a win and a second this season and if they could all do that we wouldn’t be unhappy.

Ghadbbaan

It blew me away how easy he won. We thought he was a 2m horse but we are in no rush to put him back up to 2m. We will - and we know he can - but there’s no rush at this stage. I don’t think they went quick enough for him. He picked up and it was never in doubt from two out. He was fantastic. It never looked in any doubt once he picked him. It was a really competitive race and they will all be winning through the season. Now we have the dream of him being the Yorkshire Wonder Horse. We have him in Pontefract next week so as long as he is bouncing we will see him there where we have Jonny Peate booked or the next day at Catterick where we would have Jason Hart on board. We could go up 4lbs so it makes sense to run him before his mark goes up. 

Kodimoor

He is back in training and is about three weeks off a run. He seems well and is building up his fitness. He isn’t showing his spark yet but that doesn’t worry me at this stage as he comes to himself when the sun really starts shining. That said, his work is good, there’s nothing wrong with him and as soon as we get him turned out a bit he will find that spark again. We do a bit of everything with him to keep him interested. As long as he wants to race we will keep him going. I am sure he will pinch another one at somewhere like Beverley.

Moonlight Glory

We were over the moon with her second at Hexham and the winner has gone on to win a big race since which is fantastic, franking the form like that. We still believe if we had got a run that day she would have won. We haven’t had her in work that long. We expected her to need it so we were delighted. Her jumping was superb and Jamie got on with her really well. We are aiming for Sedgefield or Newcastle next week. If the rain comes we will get two or three runs into her before the ground goes hard. I would love to get a win into her before her summer break. I think we have improved for the race and she will probably be going off favourite next time. The hard work is done, we just need to tick her over to next week now.

Who’s Ur Dandy

She has really grown over the winter and she did her first piece of serious work this week and we are really pleased with her. She is off a really low handicap mark and we will be going off a good mark first time out. She should go close. We will take her to Malton next week and then she will be 10 days off a run. We will go for a mile and see where that leaves her. We think she is probably a 60 odd rated horse.