Good morning peeps...
David & Noel with their new purchase a Kodi Bear filly
It’s been a busy and rewarding week for the team, with new purchases, gallops mornings and some excellent racing to round things off!
Tattersalls book 2
Monday 13th October
David and Noel with new purchase, 2024 Kodi Bear X Angel Grace
A few lots later, we struck again this time purchasing a Havana Grey colt. This one stood out straight away — a lovely mover with plenty of quality. Noel has always wanted to get a Havana Grey as Havana Greys are firing in winners left, right and centre at the moment! It’s great to have such a nice example joining the team.
David and Noel with new purhase, 2024 Havana Grey X Anna Sophia
Owners’ Morning
Thursday 16th October – a morning at harry derham racing
It was great to have the owners of Casual Observer, Jackie Hobbs, Sergeant Fury, Jasmine Bliss and Recite A Poem, down to Harry Derham’s yard on Thursday – it was a great turnout on a such beautiful morning.
I had a sit on Jackie Hobbs, she is in a very good place, looks great and is pretty much ready to ‘rock and roll’. We have a race pencilled in for her at Newbury on 6th November, where we are hopeful to get her started over hurdles. We will however take it one step at a time with her as she has got plenty of quality about her, it will be interesting to see where her journey takes us over the years to come. Jackie Hobbs is a filly we hold in very high regard, if the ground is too quick at Newbury and we have to wait a little longer that is absolutely fine. Overall, we’re really excited to get her started this season.
Jackie Hobbs and her owners at Harry Derham Racing
Casual Observer has definitely grown and matured very well, we’re very pleased where we are with him. He won his last start for us at Ffos Las, then picked up a little injury so we couldn’t run him again last season post his win. He is now off a mark where we are definitely at the right end of the handicap to go jumping fences, this will be a natural progression for him as we’ve always seen Casual Observer as a chaser – he has got plenty of scope.
He is the type of horse we may run over a shorter trip first time out as he can be a bit gassy. However, after looking at Casual Observer on the gallops, he is much more sensible in his work at home and since he has gone back to Harry’s. He is a proper soft ground horse so we imagine we won’t see him out on course until the middle to the back end of November as we’ll need plenty of rain before we get him started. He’s in a good place and we’re really looking forward to seeing him out on course, I definitely believe he’ll be finishing off a handicap mark higher than 113 this season – another exciting one to look forward to.
Casual Observer and his owners at Harry Derham Racing
Sergeant Fury update
Click the video to see the update of Sergeant Fury
Owners’ Morning
Friday 17th October – a morning at Alan King racing
On Friday morning, we headed to Barbury Castle to see our team of four horses at Alan King’s.
Baron Noir was an absolute champion last year — winning two bumpers for us at Plumpton, finishing third in a Listed race at Newbury and then winning again at the Punchestown Festival. That day at Punchestown was one of the real highlights of last season, with over 70 owners packed into the parade ring jumping up and down like absolute lunatics — it was brilliant!
He’s matured unbelievably well over the summer months and looked fantastic at Alan’s, doing a piece of work in front of the owners. Noel thought it was the best he’d ever seen him work, which is very exciting for the season ahead.
Baron Noir will start as soon as the ground comes right — likely over two miles in a National Hunt maiden or novice hurdle. For now, we’ll hold off making firm plans until we get some rain.
Click the video to see Baron Noir on the gallops!
Helnwein didn’t manage to get his head in front for us last season, but he ran some excellent races — including finishing second in the £75,000 Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock. We’re going to start him off this time in the £150,000 Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in mid-November.
He’s a strong-travelling horse and it’ll be interesting to see how he goes there. He’s definitely one we’ll look to send back over fences at some point this season, but the Greatwood looks a lovely target to kick things off. After that, we’ll take stock and decide which direction his season will go — but it’s a great race to aim at early on and we’re looking forward to seeing how he shapes up.
Click the video to see Helnwein on the gallops!
Out in De Wild, I got to have a sit on this fella myself. With the other horses at Alan’s we pretty much know where we are, so it’s always nice to get on the younger ones and get a feel for how they’re coming along.
When he was down with Noel, he was fresh and well — just a little on edge and probably needing to relax a bit. He’s only been back at Alan’s about a week to ten days, but he’s definitely settled now. He’s really taken to the routine at Barbury Castle beautifully.
I took him for a couple of canters up the hill gallop and he was an absolute pleasure to ride — led the string, walked home with his head down completely relaxed. It was lovely to see.
We rate this horse quite highly and will look to get him out in a bumper towards the back end of November. We couldn’t be more pleased with how he’s settled in at Alan’s and he’s an exciting prospect. Could he be one to follow a similar path to Baron Noir last year — win a bumper, head to Newbury and maybe even on to Punchestown? That’s certainly what we’ll be hoping for. His first run will come in a bumper late November and we’ll make plans from there — but he’s definitely one we’re holding in that same exciting category.
Click the video to see Out In De Wild on the gallops!
Ski Lodge is very much the same — he finished last season on a high, winning his last race at Haydock for us under Alan King’s new stable jockey, Tom Bellamy. He’s an exciting prospect and will be going chasing this season.
He’s a bit like Casual Observer, as we mentioned earlier — one we’ve really been waiting for this season to come around with. We’ll start him off on a mark of 115 and three miles to three miles-plus will be his trip as the season goes on. There’s plenty to look forward to and we think he should be quite progressive over fences this year — it’ll be interesting to see where he can take us!
Interestingly, his homework which was always just okay at home, seems even better this year. He’s a big horse who’s taken plenty of time to mature, but he’s ready to get going now. He’s another one for proper winter ground — so get the rain dance on!
Click the video to see Ski Lodge on the gallops!
All in all, it was a brilliant morning and fantastic to see so many of the owners down at Barbury Castle. Alan was on top form, as always, and it really feels like we’ve got a great bunch of horses from the King yard to look forward to this season.
FRIDAY 17TH OCTOBER
NO FLIES ON HER
For the afternoon shift I headed north to Uttoxeter, where we finally got No Flies On Her on track for her debut with us. We’ve had her for nearly a year and a half now and it’s been a long road. Unfortunately, last summer when she was at grass she got sick and although she was in training all last season, we had to bite the bullet and not run her in the end. So it was great just to get her started today.
Jack mentioned early on in the parade ring that the race wasn’t really going to be run to suit, as there wasn’t much pace on. We decided to sit and suffer, focus on getting her settled and finishing off well. She ran a nice race to finish 6th, beaten only 10 lengths in a very slowly run affair. She was probably beaten the same distance she gave away turning into the home straight, so all in all, it was a pleasing start.
Whether we go over hurdles or back for another bumper, the next few weeks’ training will tell us more — but we feel we’ve turned a corner with her now. It was lovely just to get her on track, which in itself felt like a win. Her owners have been extremely patient, and sometimes with horses that’s what it takes — patience is usually rewarded in the end!
Ian Cox, Mike Roberts, Nichola Sparks, Jack Hogan, Mark Jones, Angela Roberts and Mike Nkrumah
Diary Dates
JUST 3 PLACES REMAINING
November 23rd to 26th November – Golf Trip to Vilamoura, Portugal.
We’ll be playing – Old Course, San Lorenzo, Quinta South Course and laranjul.
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Have a great week.
David/Noel
Next Week…
Upcoming Gallops Mornings
Tomorrow marks the start of a very busy week for myself, Noel and everyone at Noel Fehily Racing. We’re kicking things off with a big team of owners heading down to Gary Moore’s to see Hurricane Pat, Hansard and Double The Dance on Monday morning.
On Tuesday, we’re heading west to the yard of former Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls to visit our Grade 1 winner Tahmuras and Insurrection, who was one of our biggest prize money earners last year. A morning at Ditcheat Stables is always one of the real highlights of the year.
Wednesday morning takes us deep into Somerset to Harry Fry’s yard for a morning on the gallops with the owners of Star Walking.
Then on Thursday morning, we’re off to another historic racing yard — Nicky Henderson’s Seven (Wheel)Barrows. where we have Kado de Joie in training. It’s always a special experience visiting Nicky’s yard, seeing his superstars and getting a full tour of the amazing facilities.
A Special Sale at Cheltenham
David Maxwell winning at Cheltenham
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