First up, my apologies for the lack of an article in May. Things all got rather busy (see below) and I ended up with loads of admin to do, which in turn set back other tasks. It does mean that I have plenty to tell you about though!
It has been great to see spectators back on the racecourse. Even though owners were allowed on the course first, the atmosphere is very different and much better, when there are a few punters on the track cheering on their selections!
BG Racing – On The Track
It has been a frustrating couple of months for us with Dynamic Kate. After her really promising 4th at Taunton in March, we had high expectations for her when she raced at Fakenham the next time; although she was 4th again, this time it was a disappointment rather than an encouragement. She seemed not to handle the track very well, and she was not well positioned in the race. On top of that, she seemed to be having a few problems with her breathing at the business end of the race.
To give her the best possible chance of this not troubling her, we ran her again on a very flat track, and on good ground, at Uttoxeter recently. Sadly this did not work at all, and she ran poorly with our jockey, Jamie Moore, reporting that she was making a noise when breathing. She has since been given a breathing operation,x which will hopefully help put her in a position to unlock the potential that she obviously has.
Our other horse, Far Too Beautiful, demonstrated both the ups and downs of ownership in the last few weeks. After weeks of trying to get her used to going in and out of the stalls, we finally sent her down to the “stalls whisperers”, at Witheford Equine. They really know what they are doing as, having worked with her for just a couple of hours, they sent her back and she was absolutely fine! Craig Witheford came up to Lingfield to load her for her debut run, a four runner novice event and, with his help, she went into the stalls, good as gold and stood quietly until the race.
We were hoping that she might be able to battle another horse for 3 rd and 4th, but we got more than we dared to hope for as she battled on gamely, and asserted close home, to win the race a shade cosily by a length or so. We immediately started to dream of big days in listed and group races; obviously there is a long way to go before those dreams can be called a reality! It prompted a very busy couple of weeks for me as, unsurprisingly, a lot of people were keen to get involved in the ownership of a winning horse. It meant lots of admin issuing share paperwork, but no complaints on that score!
We were brought back to earth with a bit of a bump (in her case literally), when we took Far Too Beautiful to Chepstow for her 2nd run. She got upset in the lorry when stuck in traffic, and contrived to bang her head and cut her face. This meant that we were all sat at Chepstow with no runner to watch, as she had to be withdrawn. Thankfully it is not serious and we hope that she will now have her 2nd run at Kempton on 30th June.
At The Stables
It has been great to get shareholders up to the stables for a morning on the gallops; I have visited both of my yards, Neil Mulholland in Bath and Michael Attwater in Epsom. It is a great experience to come and look around the stables, and to get to watch the horses exercising; I love to be able to share that with as many of the BG Racing owners as possible.
Podcast
I have still been recording the “Inside The Rails” podcast every month, and I would love to get your feedback on it if you give us a listen. We interviewed trainer Amy Murphy in April and Euros Lynn in May. Euros is the director of the movie Dream Horse, which tells the story of Dream Alliance a Welsh Grand National winner who was brought up on an allotment in a Welsh village. You can listen to the podcast by searching for “Inside The Rails” on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify, or any other podcast app that you may use.
Any Questions?
I hope you have had the chance to watch some live racing, and that you enjoyed Royal Ascot. As ever, if you have any questions about racehorse ownership, or about anything I mention in these monthly articles, please feel free to get in touch. I am always happy to chat about racing and, hopefully, I will be back next month!
