Open For Bookings

As we approach and quietly pass the halfway point of the racing season, many of our thoughts turn to the breeding season and for this reason, we are highlighting our foundation stallion SKIM THE HILL.

He has a small biography on the right hand pane of this blog but we thought that it wouldnt go amiss to remind players of his achivements and what they will be getting for, well nothing as he stands for $0 at the present time.

From an outstanding pedigree boasting some of the best names to be found on both sides of the Atlantic and across the Globe, "Skimmy" is not only a son of the late Danehill he is the ONLY son of Danehill to stand in Photo Finish! His dam, Indian Skimmer, was a champion G1 winning mare out of Storm Bird by Northern Dancer who is also the grandsire of Danehill (which is an acceptable inbreeding in racing terms). Born an iron grey, Skimmy is slowing fading to become a lovely shade of dapple as can be seen above.

Skimmy ran for 3 seasons at the highest level and his race record reads: 19-6-1-2 with earnings of just over $1.5mil. Notable wins at 2yr old included the Gran Criterium (8f) at Longchamp followed 10 days later by the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket (7f). At 3yrs he won the Caulfield Guineas (8f), the Phar Lap Stakes (8f) and the Courier Mail Classic (7.5f) and in his last season at 4yrs won the Emirate Stakes over 8f. In all he won 4 G1s and is considered to be one of the best sources of consitency and longevity in the game when breeding for turf.

In his first season at stud, he attracted only 7 mares from a possible book of 15 but the following year saw him oversubscribed and we had to turn away several potential bookings. It was gratifying to see that several of the stables who sent mares to him in the first season were happy enough to send mares back to him for a second season.

We know that some players have already expressed an interest in sending their mares to Skimmy this season and we would ask that anyone interested please contact us to confirm/reserve a spot. So far the list looks like this:

1. Bally Doyle
2. Bally Doyle
3. Foxies Lodge
4. Foxies Lodge
5. Chiquita Lodge
6. Rivendell Stables
7. Huttons Horse Haven (Bedazzled)
8. Huttons Horse Haven (Saline Solution)
9. Huttons Horse Haven (Silverstone)
10. Huttons Horse Haven (Lawn Leopard)
11. Huttons Horse Haven (Olivine)
12.
13.
14.
15.

Apologies if we have missed you off but due to a system failure in the stud office (temp staff got confused between Delete and Escape!) our records have been wiped out. So we look forward to hearing from you all again to book your spot and this year its definately first come first served and good luck with your foals!

Results - Weeks 29-30

Thats the story of this weeks runners! We sent 10 runners to the track and only 5 managed to get a run but from those 5, three managed to get place cheques so cant complain too loudly!

The most relevant point here is that we changed our usual scratch instructions from "Scratch if No/No!" to "Scratch if OK-" (meaning a runner will be scratched if the Steward saw that the horse was rated only OK or worse in a race). This is not to say that had the extra 5 taken their places they would have won any money but the point is that they didnt get a chance.

Wooden Spoon continued her improvement finishing 4th in the G1 Coaching Club American Oaks and earning another solid $15,000. Two Schekles also ran in an Oaks race, this time the G3 Delaware Oaks to finish 3rd and earn $25,000. The final earner from the trio was ElectricBarbarella who ran in the G3 Sanford Stakes to get a nice $5,000 into his kitty.

Norwegian Blue ran a sluggish race to finish 5th whilst Danceswithwolves only managed 6th. Both will drop back in distance next time out.

Results - Weeks 27/28

Isn't it always the way - one week you have results that put a smile on your face, then the next - all you want to do is scream! Well thats what happened this weekend.

First off was Arod in a G2 1mile race on turf who finished 5th so it looks like he will be dropping back a few furlongs next time out (and probably in grade too).

Next up was United, one of our new purchases who managed to find a field of 4 which included the marvellous Beamington and Personally Majestic so I suppose a 4th place was the best we could hope for and he duly obliged, picking up $17,500 for his efforts. Next time out we will try for a few more furlongs as we dont think that 10f is his optimum trip but will stick to dirt and G2 races which seem to suit.

One of our 2yr olds, Union of the Snake was sent out to contest a G3 sprint over 5.5f on turf but finished just out of the money in 5th. Perhaps another furlong or so would be better and its early days yet for her career.

Rain Man was out again in an stakes race over 6f and despite rating out the back and then finishing like a train, was just denied a win to bring home a 2nd place cheque of $18,750 and keeping up his fine earnings record. Same again for him next time.

Hold Back the Rain was next up in his 2yr old G2 race over 5.5f but disappointed slightly to only finish 5th but after his first run where he came back very sore, we were relieved to see no ill effects. Perhaps another furlong or so would be of benefit and a few weeks rest before sending him out again.

Dangold, like United, managed to pull a 4 runner field and also found herself up against some of the best fillies in the game, including Queen Street, Perfect Star and Charming Lil. Still, 4th place paid $10,000 so cant complain too much! Not sure of where to go with her - may have to consult the Oracle known as Otsego soon!

Another new purchase, Notorious, was sent out to run in a SA race to get some confidence back and finished a nice 5th but probably found the 9f a bit too far. Expect to see him out again in the next few weeks but perhaps in more a sprinting role.

SpanishInquisition was scratched from his intended turf debut and we are now thinking that perhaps we should let him run without any scratch conditions just to see what happens. Volcan was due to run but an administration error meant his entry never made it to the Steward.

Overall slightly disappointing but all the horses came back sound and safe and we made a slight profit so there are always good things to see no matter how small!

Entries Weeks 27 & 28

Our travels this week are focused mainly in Australia and the US and entries look like this:

Arod - G2 8f Turf Moonee Valley
Volcan - G2 6f Turf Morphetville (Debut run for us!)
United - G2 10f Dirt Belmont Park (Again debut run!)
Union of the Snake - G3 5.5f Turf Caufield
Rain Man - Stakes 6f Turf Rosehill Gardens
Hold Back the Rain - G2 5.5 Turf Rosehill Gardens
SpanishInquisition - Starter Allowance 7f Turf (new surface)
Dangold - G2 9f Dirt Hollywood Park
Notorious - Starter Allowance 8.5f Dirt (3rd debut runner)

Hoping for some nice shows - especially from Rain Man who is back up in trip slightly and down in grade. Its also make or break week for SpanishInquisition who hasnt shown much on the dirt so perhaps a change of surface will improve him?

Also excited about the debut runs from our new purchases - Volcan, United and Notorious. Not expecting wins but each race is a learning curve for us so we are just keeping our fingers crossed.

PS Thats our travelling head lass, Helga who specialises in trips to "Down Under".

Welsh Wonder Does It Again!

As reported last week, we sent out one of our largest ever strings of horses to the races and what a set of results!

Recently, we reported on our naming policy and for those who managed to read the whole article they will remember that my second crop of foals were burdened with very unpronounceable names (and also very hard to spell!). The best of the lot has proven to be a mare with the name of Ab-Daledigaeth (Stephen Got Even x Spectacular Wiggle) and her name means "child of revenge - or very close to it! She was originally entered in a G3 3+F race over 6.5f but, after gentle nudging from the esteemed player DJ who runs the highly succesful Weeping Moon stable, we change her to the A Gleam Handicap over 7f on dirt, but still restricted to 3+F. And boy are we grateful! She trounced the field winning by over 2l and carrying 121lbs whilst the 2nd horse (Memoir of KRF Stables) only carried 107lbs. This now takes her race record to 31-13-3-4 and earning of $1,485,300 and there is still 26 weeks of the season left to break $2mil. This win may make us reconsider her next race which was due to be over the regular 6f. This week also saw a very good set of performances in by our 2yr olds, Hungrylikethewolf and Ms. Original come home 2nd and 3rd in a G3 5.5f turf event, winning $25,000 and $10,000 respectively. Both will be out again soon in similar conditions.

Another nice performance was seen by Norwegian Blue who seems to be hitting her stride (pardon the pun!). She finished 3rd on a yeilding Royal Ascot track and her efforts put another $45,000 into her account.

Bringing home some 4th placed money were Two Sheckles ($7,500), Danceswithwolves ($2,500) and Elidor ($3,750).

Slightly disappointed by the runs of Gonewiththewind, Royal Ensign, The Foggy One, Electrical Barbarella, Knight of Ni and Planet Earth. SpanishInquisition (Ab-D's full brother) was scratched due to the conditions.

That means this week we added $243,750 to our accounts meaning we have finally managed to break the magical $1millon mark for the season! Phew that was hard work, but it does mean a big stable party for all the hard work shown by our staff.

New Arrivals

This week we welcome three new horses to our stables - Notorious from The Raja Stables with both United and Volcan shipping from Hopeful Farms.

Starting with Notorious - a bargain basement buy at only $1,000 which reflects his runs to date of which there have been 14 with only just $1,000 in return. We feel that Tory needs a bit of a rest and hence has been turned out with the stable goat, Finbar, for a few weeks R&R before returning to training. He is a half brother to one of the stables most loved runners, Sendintheclowns who, whilst he didnt set the track alight was a loveable rogue and did manage to earn over $1millon despite his fragile legs! Hopefully a bit of TLC will bring out the best of Tory too.

Moving on to United. Unusally for us, we have gone for an older horse and United is now 6yr olds but surprising has had only 17 runs earning just under $200,000. A closer inspection of his record however shows that he was off the track for all of his 4yr and 5yrold seasons for reasons unknown. His first two runs back for Hopeful Farms didnt show much but we know there is more to this old horse and a bit of inspirational entering could be the key! So look out for him over 12f+ on dirt in the lower grades.

From one old timer to a debutant. At only 2yr olds and having only had one lifetime start Volcan is by the smart sprinting sire, Missy's Bridle who stands at Golden Acres Farms in Australia, out of one of Bally Doyles foundation stock, Lady Lava who also is the dam of Arglwyddes Clegr who is now retired to our broodmare ranks. Whilst LL never set the racing world on fire, her breeding suggested that a match with Missy's Bridle would be the way forward and we were very pleased to be able to bring Volcan to us. Only time will tell us about his ability but we are hoping for a smart sprinter later in the season.

We are grateful to Hopeful Farm for allowing us to purchase United & Volcan at (hopefuly!) the bargain price of $450,000 for the pair.

Entries - Weeks 25/26

Whats 3 x 5? C'mon quickly!!

Yup FIFTEEN and the signifcance of that number is that last week we sent out three runners and this week five times that amount!

Here are our entries:

Princess Stakes - Two Sheckles

Queens Vase - The Foggy One

Vagrancy Handicap- Ab-Daledigaeth

Coronation Stakes - Norwegian Blue

Blue Diamond Preview - Ms. Original

Blue Diamond Preview - Hungrylikethewolf

Bashford Manor Stakes - ElectricBarbarella

Neartic Stakes - SpanishInquisition

Grand Prix de Paris - Knight of Ni

Astoria Stakes - Planet Earth

Detonator Stakes - Royal Ensign

Kensington Stakes - Gonewiththewind

The Debonair - Arod (SCRATCHED DUE TO RUNNING PREVIOUS WEEK)

Triscay Stakes - DancesWithWolves

Poker Handicap - Elidor

As for our chances - who knows! The Law of Averages though must come into play - ie the more runners I have the more chances I have of a good return! But this is racing so its more likely that we wont get much.

We are also expecting our two new purchaes - UNITED and VOLCAN to arrive this week from Hopeful Farm. As soon as they do, we will be posting more information.

Review - Weeks 23/24

Three was our lucky number this week - we sent THREE horses to post and two of them returned with THIRD places!

As expected, Rain Man came home in the money running a respectable 3rd to FDL Stables well bred colt All for Dansilver earning another $10,000 to his collection. Arod surprised a little by filling the same spot in his race and bringing back a cheque for $13,400. The Reflex looked in contention for a place spot in her race but just faded in the last 1/4mile or so but as she wasnt last we will forgive her!