The Team Reach 50 Winners Over The Weekend

The team reached a huge milestone over the weekend in reaching 50 winners so far this season. This really is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved to reach a number like this. Everyone who knows the racing industry knows this doesn’t come easily and to achieve 50 winners in Ed’s fourth year of training with the number of runners he has had is absolutely fantastic; it makes for a very healthy strike rate of 19%! None of this would be possible from every single person and horse involved, firstly our amazing horses who try so hard and are the reason we do what we do and make the tough days that little bit better. They are such an incredible athlete and each have their very own individual characters which differ from each one to the next. They each have their own way of doing things and it takes time to understand each one properly. This plays a vital part in having winners and treating them as individuals, although they head to the gallops in a string they will have a rider which Ed feels is best suited to that particular horses needs and the horse will have their own instructions for what they are doing on the way to the gallops for their warm up as well as how Ed would like them to go on the gallops. This is communicated to the staff who are one of the vital cogs in a successful racing yard from our riders who ride the horses on a daily basis throughout the year in the wind, rain and sunshine. The communication fed back to Ed after each horse has been exercised is vital for Ed to know how the horse is feeling underneath the rider, although Ed watches the horses train each day during each lot it is so important for the riders to feedback how the horses have gone and how they are feeling. The yard staff play a huge role in communicating with Keith, Ed’s assistant, and Ed in case there is something a miss during morning stables from when each individual horse has been checked at 5am.  Of course our owners are one of if not thee biggest cog as without them we wouldn’t have the winners. We appreciate our owners hugely as they are so supportive and loyal, we all strive for the best results possible for each horse and without their support we wouldn’t be able to achieve results and targets like this. Not only are our owners so supportive with their own horses but also with other horses that are racing from the yard. We all strive to be the best team we can but and as a team I mean our owners, staff and horses. To add to our tally of 50 winners we also have had 51 seconds, can you imagine if they were converted into winners!

We had two winners in the previous week who took us over the 45 winner bracket and on the way to the magic 50 mark. We had Minstrel Knight running at Haydock who absolutely loved the soft going and won by about five lengths, he showed his true class and the ability he has, a great win for his owners and to add another win on the board for himself this season too. The young gun running that week wasn’t going to be outdone by his slightly older stable mate, who also won his race in equally fine style as Minstrel Knight and won by several lengths. This was a very impressive performance by Kirkdale who was only on his fourth start of his career and for his owners Clarendon Thoroughbred’s our in-house syndicate to have a win was brillaint. He will now enjoy time in the paddock before starting his three-year-old campaign next season. The two boys wins set it up very well for the horses for the weekend.

We had three horses who took our current number of winners of 47 before the weekend to 50 by Saturday evening. Secetarius who was running for the first time for the yard and a new owner to the team having previously run in Ireland won very well at Newcastle under a brilliant ride from Callum Rodriguez on Friday afternoon, he settled into his race very well and let the race unfold in front of him before Callum then made a move on the field and Secetarius responded and galloped through the line well, we look forward to seeing him running again.

The second winner of the weekend was Naepoint who was running at Redcar under Paul Mulrennan who had won on him in his previous start. Ed was unsure about the ground as it was riding very soft and looking at him walking around the parade ring you would have thought he was in the wrong race as the other horses we very strongly built heavier horses. Naepoint danced his way through the race and above the soft going and lead from the start to the finish making it look very easy. He has been a fantastic horse for his owner and the team this season having won three times.

 

Rogue Sensation wasn’t going to let the side down for the girls and truly showed the boys how to do it with the way she won on Saturday evening at Redcar. She was our last runner of the day on Saturday and having been a very busy day with 11 runners at four different meetings it was now up to her if we were going to see the magical number of 50 on the weekend or if we were going to need more patience. She didn’t have a very good draw having been drawn on the outside at Southwell which is never an easy position to be in, especially as you’re soon into the bend and don’t want to be left on the outside making up extra distance. PJ McDonald who was riding her rode her very positively and had a great position on her sitting second in the field. She was galloping very openly and as everyone turned in to the home straight and started getting stuck into their horses PJ was just using hands and heels to guide her to the finish line where she finished several lengths in front of second place let alone the rest of the field. She broke the racetrack record for a two-year-old with the previous recording having been set in 2022 and she was a whole second faster. Celebrations all around from the whole team to reach a target that Ed had set himself at the beginning of the season to reach 50 winners.

Not only did we see three winners over the weekend but Elim who was running in the listed race at Ascot also picked up third place which was a great result, she has been so consistent this season having been placed in the majority of her starts which is an achievement in itself at the level of race she runs in.

A lot of the horses who ran that the weekend are going to be wound down now and then will enjoy their very well earned time in the paddock while the autumn sunshine is out. It is vitally important for the horses to have a good break after their long season to allow them to chill out mentally and physically. We have a few more weeks of the turf season where we will see our soft ground horses coming into their own with the ground having been so soft recently, lets hope it doesn’t get too soft and meetings get called off!

As I write this update we have literally just had another winner! Sea The Dream wins very comfortably at Pontefract to win for his owners, he has been such a legend this season making it a hattrick of wins for them this season. He is such a bonnie horse who has a huge amount of character and really tries his best.

The horses continue to look a picture not only at the racetrack but also at home, their coats are holding on well especially as the temperature drops over night as well as the evenings drawing in. As a very busy couple of weeks come with the sales at Tattersalls in full swing as of tomorrow when the sales officially start for Book 1 we very much look forward to seeing the horses to continue to train with the races in mind in the near future as well as the two-year-olds who will be having the debut runs on the all-weather to learn about what their job is before winter sets in.