September 20th Update

As promised, a bigger update on the two NH horses, Steve and I enjoyed a visit to Lambourn this week to see Toby and Clare’s current rented yard, as well as viewing the plans/site for the proposed new yard which they hope to move into by July next year. 

Surrey Lord is now back on the gallops but taking things easy after his self-inflicted injury. He still bears the scars from his fall back in August and that has put him a few weeks behind the others. The plan for him is to race in novice chases this season, starting over 2.5 miles where we feel he should be competitive off his current mark of 117. However, he is yet to school over the bigger fences so there’s still a lot for him to learn and obviously if he doesn’t take to chasing, he can always revert to hurdles. He’ll be ready to run again in about 6 weeks’ time with plenty of options at the end of October and into early November (28th at Huntingdon, 31st at Wetherby, 1st at Carlisle, 5th at Newbury and 9th at Kempton).  

Hillsyde Hope is also very well, the team have high hopes for him, but he’s not as forward as they first thought when he came into the yard. He’s very mature in his mind but physically there’s a lot more to come and Toby doesn’t feel we will see him at his best this year, plus he’s probably a middle-distance horse rather than the 2 miler we thought he was going to be. Toby’s initial thoughts are to stick with bumpers this season and keep a novice hurdling season on hold for the following season when he’ll be stronger. His debut will be in a bumper at the end of October with possibilities at Worcester (21st) Huntingdon (28th), Ffos Las (29th), Uttoxeter (30th) and Lingfield (3rd). If he stays in bumpers he’d be allowed 2 more normal bumpers, plus one graded bumper before the end of the season. However, plans are fluid and can change, and if after his debut he is more forward than we think, we could head straight to hurdling. His high knee action would suggest that he will need ‘soft’ in any going description so that may dictate where the opener will be. 

Surrey Bolt has had a good week. After his debut at Goodwood the handicapper assigned the third-place horse, Al Qayed, a rating of 82. The benchmark is one length = 1 pound for races over a mile so in the handicapper’s eyes Bolt ran to a mark of 75 which is pretty good considering it was his debut, the ground was far from ideal and Saffie went relatively easy on him. The winner, Quicken Away,  has an entry into the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, the second. Royal Acclamation. is also due to run this week. The two horse who finished either side of Bolt have run in the last few days, 4th placed Noble Traveller finished closer to the winner at Newbury, but finishing 6th in another hot conditions contest, whilst 6th placed and also making his debut at Goodwood, Momentsofsurrender, ran well yesterday to finish 3rd in a Newbury novice, beaten 2.5 lengths by the impressive winner Saint Mungo.      

No new news on Surrey King but we will have an update for the next newsletter. 

It has now been nearly two weeks since Surrey Moon had his steroid injection, and Jackie has noticed a definite improvement in his action and general well-being. For context, the benefits of a steroid injection typically last for 18–24 months. Although he could have a second injection at that point, they are generally not as effective. The good news is that we can now proceed on the assumption that we have identified the problem and start planning for his return to training. As it is now more than two months since he has been properly ridden, Jackie will need to build up his work gradually. This will involve around four weeks of walking and trotting before introducing 4–6 weeks of cantering. One of the symptoms Jackie identified was a lack of coordination in his hind legs, so regular pole work will also form part of his rehabilitation to improve his mobility and balance. At the end of this 8–10 week period, he should be ready to start faster work, and, at that point, we will consider moving him to a trainer, with the aim of getting him back on the racecourse early in the New Year. We have yet to decide as to where he should be trained but have started the discussion with the syndicate owners.    

Possible races and events.                         

October
Saturday 3rd Toby Lawes Open Day – 10.15
Saturday 17th – NH Owners Morning @The Lawes’ in Lambourn