5 January 2022
That was a chilly one this morning, a bit different to the mild weather we have seem to have had all winter. It looks as it will be cold for the next week. We have only been able to school on the grass in the top field once so far this season, and the fences on the grass have not been jumped yet. This is due to the ground conditions, it started off to firm and then we finally got the rain, but now appears the frost! The ground was frozen this morning resulting in another jumping session around the loop with Paul doing the steering. Guetapan and Peter’s Portrait were getting their eye in before hopefully running in the next week, Western Zephyr and Haas Boy have not jumped huge amounts out on the round gallop but jumped nicely and it was great to see two of the newer horses, Hector Javilex and Rare Edition, jumping so well. Carlow Farmer was on hand to give a lead if needed, he was very fresh and seems to have come out of his race well and with boosted confidence which is great to see. Gaelic Park and Everyonesgame popped down the road to Adlestrop for a gallop and we were pleased with how they went.
An exciting new Racing Club horse appeared yesterday, a 5yo half-sister to bumper winner Litigate and the Cheltenham Festival winning and high 140’s rated Indefatigable! We are told that they think she will go very close in a bumper, and we are sure to make our own mind up about this once she is fit and ready for some fast work. We are also in the process of potentially sourcing a second horse for the racing club, which will hopefully mean plenty of fun days out! Please do get in touch if you would like some more details regarding our Racing Club, racingclub@charlielongsdonracing.com.
Byzantium Lad did not run a proper race at Southwell, the ground was too quick for him, and he needs a more galloping track. On a track like Southwell if you have one slow jump you can lose your position quite quickly. He was pulled up by Paul and saved for another day. The Wise Traveller ran a much improved race at Southwell to finish 3rd under David Bass and raced with more enthusiasm. He enjoyed his jumping and stayed well. Shah An Shah was disappointing under Aidan Coleman and did not run much of a race at Hereford, it was reported his wind was bad and he was sent straight down to Ben Brain this morning for him to have a look at it.
No runners today, but Largy Nights, under Paul, and The Mighty Arc, with Sean Quinlan, head to Chepstow tomorrow. The going has been changed to Heavy, therefore we will monitor this. On Friday, Guetapan Collonges is declared at Wetherby in a Handicap Chase with Will Kennedy riding.
We have two entered up at Newcastle on Saturday, Illegal Model and Glebe Road, if declared these will go up the night before. Almazhar Garde, Castle Robin and Glebe Road are all in at Ludlow on Monday, while Peter’s Portrait is in at Taunton. It will be great to see Peter’s Portrait back on the track after being off for over a year. At Doncaster on Tuesday Glebe Road, Glencassley, Everyonesgame and High Yield are all entered, and Castle Robin and Illegal Model are in at Exeter.
I hope the transition to normality after the Christmas period has not been too bad, and you all manage to wrap up warm this week!
