We have enjoyed a good, solid start to the current season with winners both on the turf and the all-weather. The weather has not been kind to anyone though and the snow that blighted us a few weeks ago melted to cause all sorts of problems with going conditions at the few tracks that have hosted racing on turf. Hence we have not had runners in vast numbers yet, but I'm sure that will change as the season wears on.
Azrael became our first turf winner of the 2013 season when winning with style at Yarmouth under the excellent Ryan Moore. Azrael was breaking a two-year duck with the victory - he carried high hopes with him after some nice wins against favoured opposition as a two-year-old, but had minor, niggling problems as a three-year-old which interrupted him somewhat. Last year he was slow to come to hand, but began to show glimmers of his old form so it was very satisfying to see him return to winning ways. He should continue now on his upward trajectory and we look forward to some nice days out with him later in the year.
Our first two-year-old runner, Royal Warrior, also made a winning debut at Southwell on April 3rd and was quickly joined to complete a double by Darakti, another horse enjoying his first taste of victory. Darakti, as his name would suggest, is by Rakti and has great scope about him. He has thrived over the winter and, like most of the sire's progeny, will be better with age. He always needed a trip and opportunities for such are very limited for two-year-olds, so the fact he got to a racecourse at all last year was quite an achievement. It provided valuable education for him and, now the time has come for him to race over longer distances, he is ready to increase his potential. Bougaloo, who also ran on April 3rd, finishing 2nd, is a very similar horse who should be seen to much better effect this year. He has been a problem child in the past, but extensive schooling with the Maestro Gary Witheford seems to have ironed out his peculiarities and I would fully expect to see him winning races before too much longer.
It was disappointing that Loma Mor blotted her copybook and had to be withdrawn at Wolverhampton on April 6th as her attitude towards her new career has been exemplary at home. She is definitely one of our nicer, more precocious babies and Silvestre de Sousa reported that she had given him a great feel to post and he'd got quite keen on her chances. However when loaded into the stalls, she entered a little too quickly, banging her nose on the front. She reversed away from the gate to feel the back gates locked against her and simply panicked. She has been a model pupil at home, frequently loaded into the stalls before and since her run without any drama whatsoever, so we must hope this to be an isolated incident. She is none the worse for her exertions (it was quite alarming watching her on the television screen) and will be back on track before long. She's a very laid-back filly who practically eats her own body weight daily, so I wouldn't be surprised if she has forgotten the whole thing already
This weekend holds just two entries for our horses, Masterful Act, who has won three races already in 2013 by a cumulative margin of 38 lengths and risen 22lbs in the handicap will contest the Queen's Prize at Kempton while Spark of Genius who did not appreciate the camber of the track last time at Lingfield (where she was 2nd) will run at Doncaster. It is her first run for us on turf, but we don't have any worries about her handling the surface and hope she runs a big race.
