It was a good week last week, but also a frustrating one as we had four seconds at Goodwood starting with two 2 year olds who bear striking resemblances to relatives Barry trained. LLanarmon Lad, who looks so like his sire Red Clubs, ran a cracker to very nearly win first time out. Darryl gave him a lovely ride as he was slowly away and he cajoled him into the race rather than rushing him off his feet. The result was a nose second to a horse of the Hannon's who had experience and that they like. Because of his tardy start he had to make his move on the outside and was flicking his ears near the finish. Maybe if he'd been in between horses the result could have been different, but nevertheless we were thrilled with him.
Amber Silk, a relative of High Heeled whom she is not dissimilar to, was trapped on the rails in her race and the winner got first run. While you couldn't really say she would have won she showed plenty of promise and is one to look forward to next time out. West Leake Hare ran an incredibly game race to be just touched off in the nursery. He is a really enthusiastic horse who loves his job and can continue to give us lots of fun this season. Red Jazz was our other second of the week. It was great to see him back to somewhere near his best, and hopefully this is the start of a productive second half to his season which will almost certainly involve travelling abroad and hopefully culminate in a trip to Hong Kong in December.
Other runners from Goodwood to mention are Slumber and Redwood. Neither ran up to form and we have drawn a line through their efforts. Where Slumber goes next has yet to be decided, but Redwood will be aimed at the two Canadian races he ran in last year almost certainly followed by other races abroad. Maybe he is one of those horses who travelling seems to improve, rather like in recent years Pheonix Reach, Jim And Tonic and Doctor Dino.
Sharaayeen was involved in the horrible race where Ryan Moore was badly injured and Pat Eddery lost a nice horse. Richard was amazed he didn't come down and as a result wasn't hard on the horse. Our thoughts are with Ryan and all those connected with Pat's horse.
Away from Goodwood we had a very productive week. It was lovely to see Mrs Dee Bee come back from her horrible experience at Windsor and win at Nottingham. The ground was probably too firm for her, but she is very honest and tries hard. Hopefully she can win a few more, especially when there's some rain. Prime Defender always pops up when you least expect it, and his win at Doncaster put a smile on everyones face. He looked like he really enjoyed himself and hopefully this is a resurgence that can take him back into top class company. We will probably try to make hay with him while he's on form. Fityaan won cosily at Newmarket, although we may not see him again in this country as he is pencilled in to go out to Dubai very soon. He is the sort of horse who could do well out there. At the beginning of the season we probably would have expected Sea Odyssey to have won by the end of July, and although it has been a long time coming he did it nicely at Lingfield. He is moving better now than he had been, and we are going to try and achieve a quick fire double with him at Brighton on Wednesday by using Matthew Lawson's claim to negate any penalty.
On Sunday Balty Boys scooted up at Newbury. We have always really liked him and were slightly disappointed with his run at Newmarket. He has a lot of speed and we will probably keep him to 6 furlongs for the time being. He is not in the Gimcrack, but is in the Mill Reef and the Middle Park, plus a host of sales races. Red Art probably should have won at Chester, where the winner got a good ride. He is such a tough little horse and could be the type to run well in the upcoming sales races.
Hopefully we can keep up the good work this week and have more winners. There are no runners on Monday and only Mount Crystal goes on Tuesday when she runs at Ffos Las. As mentioned earlier Sea Odyssey runs at Brighton on Wednesday, while at Kempton we have Brimstone Hill, Na Zdorovie, Port Hollow and Whistle on By. All of the Kempton runners should have good chances, especially Na Zdorovie who ran such a promising race first time out.
On Thursday Red Marling is in at Chepstow and Folkestone, while Brimstone Hill also has an entry at Folkestone. At Haydock Pivot Bridge, Early Applause and Whistle On By are in, while at Sandown Fadhaa, Protractor and Squires Gate have entries.
At Haydock's evening meeting on Friday we have Glen Moss, Brimstone Hill, Lucky Legs, Whistle On By, Squires Gate, Pivot Bridge and Protractor entered, while at Newmarket Brimstone Hill, Cryptic Choice (by Johannesburg, pictured below nearside) and Protractor are in. Pivot Bridge is also entered at Lingfield on Friday.