March 17th Update
We trust you enjoyed and had success at Cheltenham this past week.
It was nice to catch up with some of the Surrey Force syndicate owners on Wednesday evening at Kempton. We knew this was an educational run for Force so we weren’t expecting too much but it was good to see him looking well and very relaxed in the parade ring before the race. In his first race he was very sluggish from the stalls, a tick in the improvement column as he was much better away this time, settled into a rhythm and held his own until fitness told at the end where he weakened in the final furlong and was 6 lengths back in 6th. It makes sense now to have another run to get a competitive handicap mark so Lingfield on April 8th looks the best option. The track won’t suit, but a mile around the tight turns will be another educational step forward and after that we can plan to hopefully move through the handicap with the aim of a big prize of a decent mark later in the summer.
Surrey Quest was still scoping dirty last Monday even though he seems very well within himself so he’s had another very easy week, He will be scoped again tomorrow but that rules him out for at least the next couple of weeks. Toby still likes the idea of the BET365 Gold Cup , Scottish National or even Punchestown at the end of April/early May and we had the discussion whether we could go to either of those without a run especially as a mark of 135 should be competitive. However, Toby doesn’t want to commit to a plan until Quest is back to full health and in training again.
There’s no new news on the rest, along with the scope tomorrow for Quest, Surrey Fire will probably be scanned this week, so we’ll bring the owners the news as soon as we know. Surrey Shadow has been doing faster work on the Cambridge Road gallops, while Surrey Noir has been resting from his flu jab.
A year ago today we were drinking Guinness in an Irish Bar in Paris before cheering on Surrey Mist who came a very respectable 4th in the Group 3 Prix Exbury (won by the same horse yesterday btw) in St Cloud. We can’t wait to have those days again this summer!
Have a super week
Possible races and events
April
Wednesday 3rd – Surrey Force – Kempton
Monday 8th – Surrey Force - Lingfield
Monday 15th – Surrey Noir - Windsor
Wednesday 17th Surrey Shadow Beverley
Saturday 20th – Surrey Quest – Ayr - Scottish Grand National
Tuesday 23rd Surrey Shadow - Yarmouth
Saturday 27th – Surrey Charm – Leicester
Tuesday 30th – Surrey Charm – Yarmouth
May
Thursday 9-11th – Arqana Breeze Up Sale
Tuesday 21st – Surrey Racing Golf Day – Silvermere Golf Club