FRIDAY 22ND FEBRUARY

We had a very fruitful day at the sports today, with a winner and a third. METAPHORIC opened his account over hurdles at Warwick this afternoon and in doing so also booked his ticket to Cheltenham in a couple of weeks time. Having been beaten by the narrowest of margins on his debut over timber back in November, the horse then ran slightly disappointingly at Ascot, where his jumping let him down a bit and he also had to contend with very soft underfoot conditions. METAPHORIC has since undergone an intensive schooling programme at Yogi Breisner's yard and those efforts really paid off today. The ground was also much more suitable this afternoon, just on the fast side of good. The horse raced in a handy position early on and seemed to jump better as a result of his recent schooling, although he wasn't entirely fluent at a couple of hurdles along the back stretch.  Turning for home METAPHORIC began to race a bit lazily and had to be kept up to his work by Tom O'Brien, but the horse put in a great leap at the last and strode away from the field to win a shade cosily. METAPHORIC tends to need to be kept up to his work, but he has a fair amount of ability and can surely improve again for today's victory. Hopefully he will gain confidence in his jumping as he continues to get more practice over obstacles and no doubt he will be schooling again before Cheltenham. Although his original target was to be the Triumph Hurdle on the last day of the festival, it is now thought that the Fred Winter Juvenile Novice's Handicap Hurdle on the first day of  the meeting will suit him better, providing that the horse gets allotted a sensible handicap mark. All the owners that were present today were certainly looking forward to their big day out in March and no doubt many of the other members of the Royal Ascot Racing Club will be joining them at Cheltenham too.

Our other National Hunt performer, RAWDON, also ran a really good race this afternoon and finished a fast-finishing third. The horse has been in the yard for three seasons now and is a well-known and well-loved character. His resolution has often been questioned on the flat, but he seems to have taken to his hurdling career with great zest. Although he failed to make the frame on his first three outings, he ran a much improved race today, probably as a result of encountering better going conditions. RAWDON jumps very nicely and hardly touched a twig on the way round, but similarly to METAPHORIC, he found himself under pressure turning for home. He had a lot of ground to make up jumping the second last, but a good leap at the final hurdle brought him closer to the leaders and he absolutely flew up the straight to grab third spot just before the post. The horse looked very game and genuine today and can certainly win hurdle races off his current handicap mark. Robert Thornton suggested that the horse might get further in time and he was delighted with the way that he had run. Mid-way through last summer there were talks of possibly retiring RAWDON to the British Racing School, but he seems to have found a new lease of life recently and hopefully he will remain in the yard for many seasons to come.

Last Monday RAMPRAKASH made his debut at Lingfield, but found everything happening to quickly for him and the horse could never really get competitive in the race. Haven broken on terms, he was then slowly into stride and left trailing the field. He ran very green, and quite wide on both turns, before getting outpaced in the straight. Hayley Turner reported that the horse was very much unsuited by the track and that he also needed a bit further . Hopefully he will come on for the experience  and will know more next time. By stepping him up in distance he should be able to lay up with the field early on and hopefully he will race better in amongst the other runners. The horse was a bit big and weak last season and he should continue to strengthen up and improve physically as the year goes on. Although this wasn't a great showing, the horse should not be dismissed as there is defiantly more to come from him.

Tomorrow we run RED LINNET at Lingfield, where she looks to have a good chance of going one better than her debut second. She appeared to run quite green that day, but she will know more this time around and she will hopefully put that experience to good use. Always Bold of Mark Johnston's looks to be the filly's main danger and the pair are closely matched on a form line through Electrolyser, who finished second just in front of Always Bold in January, before winning RED LINNET'S race at Lingfield two weeks ago. Both horses are stepping up in trip by two furlongs and it should be a closely run contest despite the fact that there are only eight runners. Hayley Turner came in to ride work on the filly last week and she went well, with Hayley suggesting that the step up in trip would definitely be in her favour. Hopefully RED LINNET will continue our good start to 2008.

On Sunday we run MILANOLLO at Kempton Park, in a mile fillies maiden. The horse ran twice last year, but looked like she needed to be given some time to strengthen up. Hopefully she will make up into a nice three year old as she always showed signs of promise and we are looking forward to seeing how she gets on at the weekend. There are eleven runners in the race and she has been drawn in stall 5 with Hayley Turner booked to ride. The race looks like an open contest, with more than half the field yet to see a race track. Hopefully our filly will give a  good account of herself and improve on what she achieved last year.

There will soon be some major changes to our website as we will be updating the technology on the site very shortly. The new website is set to include video as well as some other interesting features and we hope that it will be an improvement on our already popular outlet. Secondly, you will be getting  a new writer of the current news section as I am sadly leaving Fitzroy House this weekend. I have had  a brilliant three years here, with many highlights including winning the Derby and also RED EVIE'S many triumphs. Mr Bell has yet to appoint a new Assistant Trainer, but he has had some excellent responses from people wishing to fill the position and I'm sure that he will get someone very capable. Meanwhile I am off to start a new venture, training from Andrew Reid's yard in Mill Hill, North London, which is obviously a great opportunity. Hopefully Fitzroy House will continue to gain many successes, although with a bit of luck not at the expense of any of my runners! Finally good luck to all the entrants in the 'Six To Follow' competition which will be starting up again shortly.

SATURDAY 16TH FEBRUARY

We had our first winner of the year on Wednesday, when TOP DRAW opened her account at the third time of asking. The filly had shown lots of promise last season, when  finishing fourth in both starts and she made no mistake this time, winning comfortably by a length. The horse jumped well from the stalls and was able to hold a prominent position just in behind the leader. She was always travelling well under Jamie Spencer and when the field turned into the home straight she always looked in command. She did not have to be put under maximum pressure to win on this occasion, so there should hopefully be a bit more improvement to come for her. The filly now qualifies for a handicap mark, so it will be interesting to see how the handicapper assesses her.

On Monday we are back at Lingfield with debutant RAMPRAKASH. Like his namesake, he is very handsome, but he was a bit too big and weak to do himself justice last year, which is why he hasn't been seen out to date. He certainly wasn't the most expensive yearling to pass through the sales ring, but he has developed into a big, strong colt and he has a lovely long stride on him. We aren't expecting miracles on this his first outing in public, but he looks fit and ready to give a good account of himself and his owners will be hoping that the horse shows sings of promise, as they have been very patient waiting for him to make his debut. Hayley Turner has been booked to ride and RAMPRAKASH has been drawn four of the seven declared runners.

Later on in the week, we have made entries for RAWDON and METAPHORIC. METAPHORIC holds entries in a two mile novice hurdle at Doncaster on Wednesday and another novice hurdle at Warwick on Friday. Tom O'Brien came into school the horse yesterday morning and he was very pleased with how the horse has come on for his recent intensive jumping training. RAWDON also schooled yesterday morning and he has been entered in a handicap hurdle over two miles at Warwick on the same day as METAPHORIC. RAWDON seems in good form with himself and will hopefully be able to get competitive of f a mark of 97.

The older horses all went up the Al Bahathri this morning and they all seemed to really enjoy the chance to stride on a bit. The horses are starting to look quite fit now and they have been enjoying sunshine that we have been getting in Newmarket over the last week. This morning started off very cold, but it is now a gorgeous day outside and long may it last! The two year olds had their first canter up Warren Hill grass this week and they all behaved very well. There are a lot of distractions for them when cantering up the grass, as there are no rails and there are often groups of people standing close to the canter, but they all seemed to handle the occasion well and it is good practice for them, for later on in their careers.

 

SATURDAY 9TH FEBRUARY

On Wednesday RED LINNET made her debut at Lingfield and ran a really nice race to finish second. She had been showing a bit of promise on the gallops at home, but we thought that she might need the experience on this occasion. Having broken well from the stalls RED LINNET travelled well until the pace picked up, when she got caught a bit flat-footed. She soon got into top gear though and ran on well all the way to the line, to claim second place. This was a really pleasing performance from the filly and she looks as though she should have a bright future. On this evidence she shouldn’t be far away next time.

TOP DRAW had an entry at Southwell yesterday, but we thought that the surface might not suit her, so she has been entered in a race at Lingfield on Wednesday over seven furlongs. She has been working well with RED LINNET and AMBER MOON so we are hopeful that she will put up a good show.

RAWDON held an entry at today’s National Hunt meeting at Warwick, but we decided not to declare him, as the going is too soft at present. The horse is in good form, but we will wait until the better ground arrives until running him again. Our other hurdler, METAPHORIC, returned home from his spell at Yogi Breisner’s, where he had been sent to brush up on his jumping skills. Hopefully that intensive schooling will have given him lots of confidence and it will be good to see how he goes on the track next time. He seemed in fantastic form going up Warren Hill on his first day back and it would be nice to see him reach his full potential over obstacles.

The rest of the string are getting settled back into the routine of cantering and they enjoyed using Warren Hill grass canter earlier this week. This morning first lot all had a canter up the Al Bahathri poly track, which is a great gallop for letting the horses stride on a bit, without putting them under too much pressure. It was a beautiful sunny morning and it is days like this that make the long winter months all seem worth it. There are only about six weeks now until the start of the flat season and people are already starting to think up short lists for the six to follow competition, which seems to be gaining in popularity every year. We will once again be posting details of how to enter on this site.