Quiet Times....But Off To Norfolk For A Day's Racing

No I've not fallen alseep. Although with the two-year-old racing slow to gain pace this season there is a chance many readers have given me a nudge. No point writing if there isn't much of interest. This new week seems relatively quiet but there will be a few posts along the way. I will be venturing to Great Yarmouth tomorrow to see one of Julia Feilden's horses The Ducking Stool compete on a windswept coast. I actually have apart share in four of their charges this season and been invited to the course and you may just see me in the paddock. Should be fun. 

5:00 Lingfield (21st February) Free Racing Tips

A 0-70 rated handicap for four-year-olds plus. A pretty poor affair. Five horses take part: all fillies and mares. This isn't a race type I would take any great interest and this post is to detail a humorous story rather than a fill-your-boots tip. The horse in question is Meddling, trained by Julia Feilden. I know one of our regular readers will be rolling his eyes as I mention this individual, trained from Exning, just outside Newmarket. I am an avid reader of Julia's blog, and a superb read it is, too . I remember her excellent horse Spirit Of Sharjah, who competed at Group class at two and had an official rating of 107. What a wonderful specimen. Aged nine, he has since retired and owned by none other than Richard Perham. His name will be familiar to readers because he used to ride professionally for Richard Hannon. These days Richard works for the British Riding School, coaching fledgling jockeys. In addition, he's a regular presenter on At The Races. It proves that the racing world is small and interwoven. 

I've been following the progress of Meddling. This daughter of Halling was purchased in December by Feilden for 15,000gns. Now four years old, she's said to be going well at home and the stable fancied her last time at Wolverhampton when a 25/1 shot. By all accounts it was a disappointment, finishing last of seven runners. The interesting part of the story is that this chestnut filly used to be trained by Sir Michael Stoute. Although fancied on a number of occasions, this April foal couldn't find the winner's enclosure. Feilden has decided to step this filly up to 1m 2f in an attempt to find improvement. I imagine this has as much to do with her breeder suggesting a test of stamina could be the key. Evidently, he told this to Sir Michael Stoute. He never got a reply! 

Most punters have given up the ghost. I assume the stable are testing the water today but a drop in weight, after the trainer said Meddling was well handicapped, could give hope. I would have to take a watching brief and cross my fingers for the Feilden team.  

Julia Feilden - Unleashing The Saturday Beast

Since stable star Spirit of Sharjah retired last August, we have been lacking a horse to represent us on Saturdays when most of the big races take place and at the bigger meetings. Rather than sit around complaining, we went out and bought a replacement for him and that horse is now ready to hit the track for us.

Luhaif (pictured, far right) may be a new face to the yard but he wasn't altogether unknown before joining us. He spent last winter racing in Dubai for Mick Channon and whilst out there, my son Ross was lucky enough to ride him out most days and got to know him well. It was never the intention to buy him but when he came up for sale in October, we had a look at him but thought we'd never be able to afford him. Luckily for us, he seemed to go unnoticed in the auction ring and we got him for a great price that was, most importantly, within budget.

Since joining us, Luhaif has been gelded and seems to have thrived for the change with an improved attitude to his work and a better action when he strides up the gallop. He's in a valuable handicap on Saturday at Lingfield with the aim of trying to get him qualified for the All-weather Championship finals day on Good Friday. He has some useful form in the past but is rated quite high as a result so the weekend will show us what kind of level he is at. I certainly hope he can land us a big race sometime through the year.

Julai Feilden's blog is an excellent read. If you are interested in trainer comments via their websites, blogs & twitter links then visit Horse Trainer Directory. It is a sister site to High Class Equine and brilliant free resource. Why search the Internet when one website leads to your favourite horse trainers.