Happy New Year !
Happy New Year to you all and may all your dreams come true in 2026.
The New Year of 2025 started with optimism despite Surrey Quest falling just 3 days prior in the Mandarin but that was a prelude to the ups and downs of what was to come in the next 12 months. Quest did bounce back with a good third in the Edinburgh National but then fell again, at the first, in the Scottish National, and hasn’t really been the same since. He’s had wind issues, a shoulder issue and suffered from a huge lack of confidence and it is quite possible we may have seen his best performances. Hopefully 2026 brings the best out of Quest although all his wins have come in an odd numbered year!
Early in 2025 we saw the debut of the Sea Presenting and she shocked us with a very gutsy performance at Warwick, finishing a close 3rd, she was then in the frame for her next two races before injury struck and she missed an intended date in the Mares Novice Final, at the time it wasn’t too bad a miss as there was always the 2026 version, she had another great 2nd place on her return but then the lowlight of the year, why is it always the good ones. She’ll be missed but not forgotten.
February saw our first winner of the year with Surrey Shadow producing a workmanlike performance to win at Southwell. He was much better at Doncaster in the Silver Lincoln, a very close 4th and a rise to an official rating of 88, but another lowlight was his fall from grace, A few issues in racing and it just seemed he just didn’t enjoy it anymore, and was sold for a paltry sum in the October HIT sale. For a horse that had a lot of potential it was a very disappointing 6 months and left many of us scratching our heads at his decline. The other horse to sell in the sale was Surrey Fire who was clearly unfit when he made his 2025 reappearance off a mark of 83. However, he showed a liking for all-weather racing and won twice to give the owners some cheer, despite finishing the year 2 pounds lower at 81. With worries about the state of his legs, he was sold at the bare minimum we were prepared to sell at, I know there was some who wished to retain him, but the trainer wasn’t confident he could take another season, and we think the right decision was made. Our other older flat horse was Surrey Noir who didn’t improve for the change of scenery moving from Newmarket to Chantilly. He raced at a very cold Deauville in January and then after a poor run at Machecoul in February we decided to retire him to a retraining home sponsored by France Galop in Strasbourg.
Selling flat horses is always contentious as we have several differing opinions in each syndicate, however, from experience, selling a horse at the end of its three-year-old career always seems to be the best option. Surrey Force is a great example; we had several owners who were anti selling but his performances since have been awful making the £40k we received him a great result. The adage of selling a horse when you least want to is probably the sagest advice.
We had three two-year-olds going into 2025 who we were excited about seeing on the track with Surrey Moon slated to appear early summer, but both him and Surrey Etoile suffered from juvenile tendonitis and the wait continues. Surrey King did make his debut but hated going into the stalls and then hated coming out of them! So much is expected of all three this year, as well as Surrey Bolt who is probably our best-bred purchase and seems to be moving in the right direction. For those four it’s an important year, and maybe the fortunes of those could be an indicator of how Surrey Racing operates in 2027 and beyond.
The highlight, without doubt, has been Surrey Lord. A difficult horse, too clever for his own good, who is quirky and likes to do things in his own way. Early in 2025 I thought Surrey Shadow would be a world beater, on the other side of the spectrum, I was very worried about Surrey Lord especially after his poor performance at Southwell in February and watching his lacklustre gallops in the summer I couldn’t see where the improvement would come from. Credit to Toby who took over the riding duties on him at home, instilled some discipline and we’ve seen a vast improvement on the track, winning 3 of his last 4 races, rising 20 pounds in the official rating and despite still being quirky there should be more to come. He saved the best for our last run of 2025, a winner at a premier raceday, hopefully a lot more of them in 2026!
It’s never straightforward, races hardly ever go to plan and unfortunately the worse can happen. We hope all the horses come back safely in 2026 and beyond, and make sure you celebrate the wins with gusto – many owners never have a winner, they don’t happen often and should be treasured when they do.
Best wishes for 2026
Possible races and events.
January
Monday 19th – Surrey Quest – Lingfield
Saturday 24th – Owners visit to see Surrey Moon and Surrey Bolt
July
Sunday 5th – Surrey King - Hamburg