25th January Update

Just the one runner last week, with Surrey Quest performing very well in the Surrey National in extremely boggy conditions at Lingfield. He travelled and jumped nicely, Quest looked the winner from a long way out only to stop suddenly when an extra effort was needed in the home straight, which has been the story of the season, it was the same in his opener at Uttoxeter when he hurdled superbly only to hit the proverbial brick wall. Unfortunately, his soft palate was flapping throughout the race and when that extra effort was needed, he couldn’t get any air into his lungs.  The soft palate is a muscle so there is a chance that Quest could come on from the race, but it’s more likely that having just had his third wind operation that there isn’t a lot that can be done which is a real shame as he enjoyed the race, was fresh and well afterwards.  We’ll give him a run on better ground next time in a lower grade race to see if that makes a difference, and if it’s the same again, we will be looking for a nice home for him to enjoy his retirement.  

Injuries are part and parcel in all sport, and we all know the risks involved with horse racing, but it does feel that we have been dealt an incredibly bad hand in the past few weeks following Sea Presenting’s fatal injury.  Surrey Etoile’s suffered a very severe and complex fracture in the long pastern bone of the right front leg, with multiple cracks running in different directions, we didn’t quite realise the severity until we received the surgeon’s report. However, the fractured bone pieces were put back into their normal anatomical position, and he has had several different size screws inserted to pull the broken bone pieces tightly together. The ‘good’ news is that the after surgery the fracture lines are well aligned with no significant gaps or steps in the bone and so the healing potential is excellent. The prognosis at this stage is fair to good, for a similar injury some horses return and perform well; others stay sound but are best suited to lower-level racing or a second career.

A few owners visited Newmarket yesterday to see Surrey Bolt and Surrey Moon. Surrey Bolt’s injury sits in the favourable end of suspensory branch injuries, which has a very good chance of healing and likely to be sound with cautious management. Most horses with the same injury go on to race normally with no recurring issues, especially if the rehab isn’t rushed, and with him being an unraced 2-year-old there is no need to push on. A trainer erring on the side of caution rather than chasing an early start can often add years, not months, to a career and we know Tom will do the right thing. For now, it’s 4 weeks on the walker and then 6 weeks trotting so at least 10 weeks before he’s back on the gallops, but it shouldn’t impact when he makes his 2-year-old debut later in the summer. Tom has been impressed with his work so far, there is a touch of class about him, and feels he’ll start over 7 furlongs but likely to be a miler in his main 3-year-old season.  We’ll arrange an owners visit for early April when he’s back working again.      

Surrey Moon is growing and gradually improving all the time. The owners were surprised to see how much he has grown since they last saw him, with more to come. Having said that, Tom feels Moon is a slow learner and it’s taking time for the penny to drop. He’ll debut on the grass late April over 8-10 furlongs. Moon’s half-sister, All Moonshine, didn’t debut until late November (in her three-year-old season) but won her 2nd (of three races) this month and is rated 80. She possibly may be of a similar profile although from a different sire and therefore more suited to slightly shorter distances.    

Thankfully (touch wood) no such injury concerns with Surrey King, probably helped by Hughie handling the young horses in a way that we sometimes feel is ultra conservative. It is frustrating as an owner to be paying monthly for what seems a long time before seeing the horses on the track, especially if they get injured in that period, but hopefully that frustration is forgotten when the horses have a sound career and we see winning performances.       

Surrey Lord is enjoying a few weeks off after already having 6 runs in his breakthrough season. We now know he doesn’t like soft ground, so we’ll wait until we get ‘spring like’ weather and then he’ll run again in, hopefully, another decent Saturday race, The handicapper has given him 1 pound back to he’s now rated 117 which we feel is competitive. If we were to pick one race that could suit, a 2m 5f (0-130) on Newbury’s Greatwood Gold Cup Day on the 28th Feb may be the one, but Toby will advise in a few weeks’ time.  

Possible races and events.                         

February
Saturday 28th – Surrey Lord - Newbury
May
Wednesday 20th – Surrey Racing Golf Day – (Silvermere Golf Club tbc)
July
Sunday 5th – Surrey King - Hamburg