Trip to the seaside

by Hayley 

A glorious weekend, the sun was splitting the rocks and unless you're one of the unlucky ones who suffers terribly with hayfever, like myself, then I'm sure you had a fabulous time whatever you were up to. With the weather set to stick around for the main body of the week, the ground everywhere will be quick and suited to the horses we call 'daisy cutters'. The way a horse moves is a massive indication to the going they like/act best on. If a horse skims across the ground, 'cutting the daisies', you would expect them to like the going to be on the quicker side, ie. firm, good to firm. If a horse has a high knee action, pulling their front feet up out of the ground should be easier for them when there is some give, a bit of juice, therefore they would usually prefer good to soft, soft etc. It's not a hard and fast rule (because there's no such thing with horses), it gives you a good clue and something to work with, but of course not all horses make it obvious what they want and need, that's one of the many conundrums left to the trainer to solve!

On the whole, the weekend runners were pleasing. On Friday we had four runners. The two year old filly, You Little Beauty, was never a horse that we had earmarked as one likely to win first-time-out (as mentionted on Ann's Thoughts) and, as we thought, she ran a little greenly and will have learnt a huge amount from her first foray. We look forward to seeing her progression throughout the season. Arnold ran well again to be third and Ninepin Bowler ran well for a long way. Only beaten six lengths, he will come on for that effort and should hopefully give his owners a bit of fun this year. Another returning from a fairly lengthy lay-off was Miss Bates, who made a solid reappearance up at Ayr. 

Sunday saw Bibbidibobbidiboo head to Pontefract in hopes of completing a hat-trick. It wasn't meant to be this time, but she did not disappoint us in defeat, finishing a good second with half a stone more on her back and a wide draw to contend with. She is clearly in great form and is repaying her owner for her patience.

Last time out winner 'Nifty Niece' is headed to the seaside, where she is due to run at Brighton tomorrow. She will leave this afternoon, in the capable hands of Les and Pradeep, staying overnight to give her chance to relax after the long journey. Fingers crossed for a win and a stick of Brighton Rock!