June 15th Update
There were a whole load of emotions on show on Thursday at Newbury for Surrey Shadow’s chance to get back into the winner’s enclosure. The ground wasn’t ideal, good to firm, but with rain due we made our way to Newbury in the hope that the rain would be heavy enough to soften the going. As we tucked into the Newbury buffet, light rain falling, there still wasn’t any change in the going and we feared it would be a wasted trip, and despite wanting to run, as always, all decisions are made in the best interest of the horse. The first race went off in the rain which seemed to be getting heavier with them syndicate owner’s present now talking about biblical proportions and looking up ‘how to build an Ark’ on websites! The rain was heavy enough to prompt a going change and Tom, after walking the course was happy to take the chance.
Shadow was very relaxed in the parade ring and looked fantastic, Jockey Neil Callan said the easier side of good conditions were perfect for Shadow, he had a good draw, and it started to feel like the stars were aligning, game on!
However, despite being last off the bridle, Shadow didn’t pick up at all and left us all shaking our heads in disbelief. Neil got off the horse and didn’t know what to say, trying to find reason for the poor performance but Shadow seemed to be limping, Tom noticed a nasty deep cut on his hind leg which the vet had to attend to straight away. The cut was glued, the leg bandaged, and Shadow sent back home but the early prognosis was deeply worrying, if a tendon was damaged then his race career was over, and you could tell from Tom’s demeanour he was extremely concerned, well and truly back down to earth. Thankfully, the vet’s initial view the following day was that he thought the tendon had remained undamaged, but we won’t know for sure until a scan this week. Fingers crossed, but best case is a few weeks on the sidelines and back later in the season to hopefully draw a line through the last two races. We still are adamant that if he gets the right conditions, he’ll be extremely hard to beat off this mark.
His stablemate Surrey Moon has grown a fair amount physically in the past few months, however, he’s ‘up behind’ and looks to have another 3 inches at least to grow. That said he’s being doing a lot of canters on Side Hill over a mile left-handed, and Bury Hill, a mile right-handed. He naturally finds both easy and he’s shaping up well for a horse in this part of his journey. He won’t be rushed and will probably have a couple of easy weeks within the next month to allow more growth and then be trained for his debut this summer with the aim to have at least two runs as a two-year-old.
The two other youngsters are very well. We look forward to seeing Surrey Etoile in Chantilly at the end of the month, Tim again remarked this week on the amount of growing he has done and doesn’t think the horse owners will recognise him when we see him. He’s still a backward boy but he’s ticking over, doing the job fine, and all going well will probably debut in October. He’s training with a bungee to teach him to use his back and hind end which helps with his size, we can’t wait to see how he has progressed on the 28th.
Surrey King is back working without any issues and continues to look the part. Palace Pier added two new winners to his record with A bit of Spirit and Sirius A. His son A Bit Of Spirit showed an excellent attitude to win a competitive novice over an extended six furlongs at Shadow’s meeting at Newbury. Showing great early speed, the Clive Cox-trained colt travelled strongly at the head of the field and when challenged by Godolphin’s Time To Turn, who already had the benefit of a run, he showed a great willing to hang on in the final strides. The pair pulled well clear of the field, with five lengths back to the third. Hughie really does like him King so don’t expect a debut anytime soon!
We had dinner with Toby and Clare last week and gave them the feedback from the owner’s season review and got their thoughts of where we are. All the horses are out in the paddock and not due back into training until July.
Surrey Quest had a slightly chequered season, starting late due to injury, falling in 2 of his 4 races and then a combination of soreness and quicker ground finished the season. Toby would hope that with a smooth run that he will have 3 runs before Christmas but the first two will be over hurdles. Confidence is one reason, but also, he could be more effective (and 5 pounds better off) over hurdles, so we’ll have a chance to ascertain that as well as hopefully giving him a couple of confidence boosters. After those runs, we can assess where we are and then next race which could be over jumps or hurdles.
Surrey Lord has done well physically but he’s still not quite right mentally, Toby still has every faith in his ability and thinks he has a great opening mark to continue novice handicap hurdling in the new season. That’s where he will start but he could also be chasing in the first half of the season as he could be more effective over the larger fences. He still thinks 2-2.5 miles is the right distance until there is evidence that he’s finishing off his races better.
Sea Presenting is over her injury and some of last season’s targets remain the same for next season. She’s likely to be starting off in a maiden or a novice hurdle to get a win under her belt. She will have needed this summer to grow and strengthen, that increased physicality coupled with such a strong attitude should see her perform well in some decent races.
We may have a runner by the time you read this newsletter next Sunday as Surrey Fire could be running at Pontefract on Sunday although it would need a change in the weather forecast over the course of the week. Fire is capable of a couple of wins and in view of David Egan’s comments after his last race, Hughie would like to move him up in distance and with this in mind there are a couple of options, with a 2m 2f race at on Sunday 22nd or a 2m race at Chelmsford on Tuesday 1st. Good luck to connections if they are travelling to Yorkshire next weekend.
Finally, no runners at Royal Ascot for us this year but don’t forget the tipping comp, £20 for fun, get in touch with Nicky on hassle04@icloud.com to join, open to anyone!
Possible races and events.
June
Sunday 22nd – Surrey Fire – Pontefract
Saturday 28th – Owners visit to Chantilly
July
Tuesday 1st – Surrey Fire - Chelmsford