Another win for Land of Winter

Thursday, 04 November 2021

Congratulations to Paul Smith and Rae for Land of Winter's breathtaking win in the 2m handicap at Nottingham yesterday.

Last month the five year year old son of Camelot ran in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket on ground that was not ideal for him. He appreciated running on his favoured soft ground yesterday and showed his class by the manner in which he won.

Under Rossa Ryan he raced prominently for the first couple of furlongs and then settled into fourth in the leading group. The further he went the stronger he travelled and then they switched over to the near side of the track with half a mile to run. He hit the front two furlongs out and with a furlong to go he was well clear. The official winning margin was two and a quarter lengths but only because Rossa was practically pulling him up at the line ! This was an impressive performance and no doubt the handicapper will think so too !

Land of Winter takes his racing well and often the day after a race is seen bucking and squealing in his box. By the style in which he won, there will be a fair amount of bucking and squealing today !

Copyright: Steven Cargilll Photography

New beginnings

Saturday, 30 October 2021

During recent weeks we have been busy launching our new syndicate for 2021/2022. At this present time (and still without a name !) this new venture follows the same model as last years Chestnut Tree Syndicate with the purchase of three yearling fillies for ten shareholders.

All ten shares sold quickly and Rae found three very nice fillies for the syndicate at the October Yearling Sale. A daughter of Decorated Knight out of a Danehill Dancer mare was real value money. The mare is Maid to Master who is a full sister to the four time Group 1 winner and Champion two year old, Mastercraftsman.

The next one is a compact, good moving grey filly by Havana Grey out of the Fasliyev mare Inagh River. This one looks a proper two year old (pictured).

Finally, the most expensive of the three is a Profitable filly out of the Showcasing mare Showbird. She is a strong looking filly with a lot of speed in the pedigree.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new owner Steve Currie who has joined us in the syndicate in his first venture into racehorse ownership. So wishing all of the members the very best of luck with their new horses and hopefully there are plenty of fun days ahead.

Comings and goings

Friday, 29 October 2021

The last month has been a busy one. With the turf season drawing to a close thoughts turn to the yearling sales and planning for next year. It is a time of change, with several of the older horses including our stable star Aramis Grey enjoying their well deserved holidays out in the field before returning for a winter campaign.

A couple of the later maturing two year olds had their first run. Both Bella Veneta (The Chestnut Tree Syndicate) and Famous Footsteps (Rachel Flynn) went off to Kempton to make their debut. Both fillies ran super races and had a good experience so lots to look forward to there.

With the office desks overflowing with sales catalogues, Rae has been busy at Tattersalls. Last month the Irish September Yearling Sale (relocated to Newmarket) was Rae's first port of call. He purchased two lovely yearlings, a Golden Horn filly for the Top Hat & Tails Syndicate and a Showcasing filly for Mr Colin Joseph. Both have since been broken and ridden away and are going nicely in their early training. At the October Yearling Sale Rae was active again and purchased a strong looking Oasis Dream filly out of Book 2 on behalf of Paul Smith and himself. We also acquired two others, a Book 2 filly by Australia out of Jane's Memory (who Rae trained) and a Tamayuz filly from Book 3. Rae also bought three fillies for our new syndicate but more about them in our next article !

Exciting new syndicate proposal !

Saturday, 02 October 2021

Tattersalls October yearling sales start next week and we are looking for the next stars of the future. We are putting together one of our three horse syndicates for 2021/2022. Previous years have been very successful, unearthing the likes of Cry Havoc (3 x winner rated 88) and the prolific and consistent Aramis Grey, a 5 x winner for The Musketeers. Last years Chestnut Tree Syndicate of two year olds include the promising Mizzen You, who was second on debut.

Our proposal this year is for a ten share syndicate with each shareholder putting in a one off fee up front to cover purchase costs and one year of training fees for three horses. Rae plans to purchase three yearling fillies over the coming weeks. Those of you who have been involved before will know that we plan to have a range of events for the ownership group in the course of the year including yard visits, opportunities to meet your horses and days racing. If you are interested in coming along to the sales we can also arrange that. Interested ? Then please do get in touch !

Feel free to call Rae (07711 301095) or Linda in the office (01638 661508) if you have any questions. Hoping to hear from you very soon so that we can begin the search !

Our stable star does it again !

Wednesday, 29 September 2021

The Musketeers Aramis Grey followed up her win at Lingfield earlier this month by posting another win at Wolverhampton last night to take her tally to four wins this season. 

We are running out of superlatives to describe this filly. If we could clone her and have a yard full of horses with her attitude then Rae's job would be an easy one. Under top weight of ten stone she started 9/4 favourite for this Fillies' Handicap run over 6f and 20 yards. Under her regular partner Callum Shepherd she raced in her favoured position towards the rear of the field. Turning into the straight she mounted a strong challenge and quickened well to go on and win comfortably by one and three quarter lengths. Jockey Callum Shepherd is building a great relationship with her and knows her very well so thank you to him for the ride.

It was fantastic that the West Midlands branch of The Musketeers were at Wolverhampton to see the race in person ! Congratulations to all of the members and we hope that there are many more great days ahead.