Merry Christmas
It was great to go racing again this week and we had a decent syndicate owner turnout for Surrey Force’s debut at Kempton. Force was very relaxed beforehand and looked a picture in the parade ring, he doesn’t appear to be fazed by much although Kevin thinks he’s a little lazy (laid back maybe) at home. We expected him to be slow into his stride and get outpaced at the start but Callum Shepherd pushed along and he settled into a pretty handy midfield position. He was one paced at the business end of the race to finish 5 lengths down in 7th but hopefully he’s learnt from that and will make be sharper next time. Of the 6 in front of him, 3 of those had already raced, and 2 of the 3 unraced had been gelded which would have given them an advantage. The following morning Force was very well, ate up everything and even went out for a hack. He’ll have a quieter 4-6 weeks now although he’ll still be trotting up the Newmarket gallops and the aim would be another all weather run in March to prepare for the turf season.
We had a look at the RPR ratings of all our horses after a first run, there was certainly an anomaly with Surrey Blaze who was awful for his first 3 runs and then won 5 times. Surrey Gold and Surrey Mist are a similar type of horse to Force and both had won by their 3rd race, the top 2 were out of Le Havre’s (same as Force).
In other news the injury jinx that has followed us all year hasn’t abated. Surrey Fortune came back from a tough piece of work with sore shins which is not unusual in young horses and a period of rest resolves the issue. However, this happened to Fortune earlier in the year and although he recovered after a period of rest it does suggest that he is still physically immature. Accordingly, we are going to give him a complete rest for 6 months and have him ready for the start of next season in September. We are in a similar position with Surrey Lord, they are both very good prospects and to have them back for an end of season bumper doesn’t seem worth the risk. As frustrating as it is (and we have racehorse owners in both horses) we can give them a good break and have them raring to go next season, they will still only be 5 and they both have a whole career ahead. Fortune will go and stay with Jackie in Cornwall as she’s an expert with horses who have sore shins, plus she can hand them back in pretty good fitness as we have seen with Surrey Quest.
Quest may run before the year is out so we’ll speak with Toby just before Christmas. If Quest is to run at Newbury on the 30th there’s a pretty short entry/declaration period.
It’s been a fun year although we have been desperately unlucky with injuries and niggles. Obviously Surrey Knight was a real blow, such a talent, from the uncle of Paddington, we will never know what may have been. To follow that up with Surrey Mist meant that we had no Saturday horses for the summer which was a real shame. Mist will be scanned early January so fingers crossed a new year brings better luck.
On the flipside, having Surrey Quest back after a poor injury troubled season was like having a new horse, he’s got a few more wins in him before the handicapper catches up. His run at Huntingdon was a first Surrey Racing run for Toby Lawes, how long will his 100% record last! This year we also saw debuts for Surrey Fire, Surrey Force, Surrey Belle and Surrey Noir.
The win rate for the year currently sits at 15% which will be our 2nd lowest so that is disappointing as we do have high ambitions and standards. Obviously the highlights were the 4 wins, one each from Surrey Noir, Surrey Charm, Surrey Belle and Surrey Quest but aside from that I think that two others stand out. The two seconds on the Nottingham card, Surrey Fire’s promising debut and Surrey Charm proving she’s a battling mudlover! Despite the weather the owners enjoyed the day which was helped by the welcome we got from Nottingham racecourse, other courses should take note. The other highlight seems a long time ago but back in March we visited Paris on St Patrick’s weekend to see Surrey Mist come 4th in a Group 3 where we spent the Friday evening (17th) drinking Guinness in silly hats in an Irish Bar. We went to the races on Saturday at St Cloud followed by an evening watching the Ireland v England 6 Nations game. Fingers crossed Mist will be back for more of the same next year.
Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and we’ll be back with a newsletter on the 31st to wrap up the year.
Possible races and events
2023
December
Saturday 30th – Surrey Quest - Newbury