| Date |
|
| 30/12/2006 |
Not a bad day for two particular Yorkshire trainers
today. At Haydock Sue Smith's Sharp
Belline put up a good performance to land the £16,265
The Last Fling Handicap Chase, whilst two races later her
Royal Emperor was a reasonable second in the £15,658
Haydock Park Graduation Chase. At Musselburgh it was John
Quinn picking up the plaudits with an early
winner in the Novices' Hurdle later doubled up when
Leslingtaylor won the £12,526 totescoop6 Introductory
Novices' Hurdle. Meanwhile on the flat Tim Pitt had
a winner down at Lingfield. Early evening racing at
Wolverhampton sees a flurry of Yorkshire winners courtesy
of Geoff Oldroyd, Linda Stubbs and Tim
Pitt. |
| 27/12/2006 |
Another festive day at Wetherby for the local
trainers with wins for Tim Easterby, Patrick
Haslam, Malcolm Jefferson (Calatagan in the
£19,518 Castleford Handicap Chase) and Richard
Fahey. On the all-weather David Barron has
a winner at both Southwell and Wolverhampton, with John
Balding also getting a winner at Wolverhampton. |
| 26/12/2006 |
Boxing Day winners galore for the Yorkshire trainers.
Pride of place goes to the (relatively) new Ferdy
Murphy / Graham Lee partnership at Wetherby
where their outsider Leading Man strolls home by 8
lengths to take the Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase Gd
3, the first 'big win' for this
partnership. The same team had taken the previous race
with Naiad Du Misselot, whilst Sue Smith chalked
up a treble at the West Yorkshire track and Kate
Walton also had a winner. At Sedgefield there
was another double for Ferdy Murphy as
well as winners for Andy Crook and Tom
Walford, whilst Tim Easterby and
George Moore both had wins at Market
Rasen. |
| 23/12/2006 |
Another quiet week coming to a close with winners at
Newcastle for Harry Hogarth and Ferdy
Murphy and at Southwell for Bryan Smart. |
| 16/12/2006 |
A quiet Saturday in the run up to the Christmas
madness and the best 'Yorkshire' result comes from
Pickering based Alan Brown who's River
Logic lands the £12,526 Betfred Poker Juvenile Novices'
Handicap Hurdle Final at Newcastle, where Mick
Easterby and Ferdy Murphy also
have winners. |
| 10/12/2006 |
The early morning sees Alan Swinbank's Collier
Hill add to his already impressive haul when landing the
Hong Kong Vase G1 at Sha Tin. The
£600,000 first prize takes this admirable geldings
earnings over the £2.3 million barrier, and absolutely
incredible achievement for a horse who started out in a
Catterick bumper ! Sent off at 11-1 (don't they learn ?!)
Collier Hill led down the straight and held off the
challenge of Kastoria to win by a nose. Kevin
Ryan's Desert Lord didn't seem to last the six
furlongs in the Hong Kong Sprint, and finished out of the
prize money, but there was small compensation later in
the day when his Harry Up won the main race at Kempton. |
| 09/12/2006 |
The big race at Cheltenham today was either the
boylesports.com Handicap Chase or the boylesports.com
International Hurdle (respectively formerly known as the
Massey Ferguson Chase and the Bula Hurdle), depending on
your point of view. Neither boasted a Yorkshire trained
winner however the winner of the Handicap Chase was
Yorkshireman Sir Robert Ogdden's Exotic
Dancer, whilst John Quinn's Crow Wood
was an honourable third in the Hurdle, albeit there were
only four runners! Quinn had a double at
Market Rasen due to winning both divisions of the
Novices' Hurdle, whilst there were also winners for Mike
Sowersby, Malcolm Jefferson, Ferdy Murphy (Kitski
in the £13,012 National Hunt Racing Handicap Chase) and Sue
Smith (Tous Chez in the £13,012 wbx.com Sea
Pigeon Handicap Hurdle). On the flat there is a winner at
Southwell for Richard Fahey and for Geoff
Oldroyd, David Barron and Karl Burke at
Wolverhampton. |
| 08/12/2006 |
A quiet week livens up a bit for Ferdy Murphy
when it is a case of close, but no cigar at
Cheltenham for the Middleham trainer and his new stable
jockey Graham Lee with Aces Four beaten into second place
by nine lengths in the opening Cleavent Novices' Chase.
Two races later the losing margin is much smaller for the
same team when New Alco runs an excellent race to be
second, beaten a short head, in the £57,020
boylepoker.com Handicap Chase L.
At Southwell there is a chase winner for Sue
Smith and a hurdling winner for Brian
Ellison whilst John Balding (who
had a double earlier in the week) scores on the
all-weather at Wolverhampton. |
| 02/12/2006 |
The best result of the day comes at Southwell where Mick
Easterby's Gentleman's Deal wins the £11,219
Southwell Handicap and there are also winners for Richard
Fahey and Mark Johnston. At
Wetherby there is a double for Tim Easterby and
winners for Patrick Haslam and Sue
Smith whilst Ferdy Murphy's L'Antartique
is second in the One Man Novices' Chase. |
| 30/11/2006 |
All but one of the 'Yorkshire' lots at the December
Sales today are either withdrawn or buy-backs so top
price falls to Gracious Air, sent from the Manor House Stud, who fetches
10,000gns. National Hunt winners at Market Rasen for Ferdy
Murphy and Geoff Harker. |
| 29/11/2006 |
Yorkshire interest at the December Sales today is
represented by the unraced three-year-old May, bred at
the Garrowby Stud, who is sold
for 130,000gns. The first jumps winners of the week with
victories at Catterick for Mick Easterby, Sue
Smith (a double) and Patrick Haslam and
at Ayr for Ferdy Murphy and Patrick
Haslam. |
| 27/11/2006 |
A good day at Tattersalls December Sales for Guy Reed
of Copgrove Stud, who
celebrated his 85th birthday last week, when his homebred
Group One winning sprinter La Cucaracha is sold to
Yorkshire based agent James Delahooke
for 525,000gns, for American clients. On the
track James Hetherton has a winner at
Wolverhampton and David Barker at
Kempton. |
| 25/11/2006 |
Sue Smith's Omni Cosmo Touch was a
reasonable fourth in today's Hennessy at Newbury. At
Newcastle Ferdy Murphy won the Novices
Chase whilst his Another Promise was second in the
wbx.com Rehearsal Chase L, with
Harry Hogarth's King Killone back in
third. All-weather racing at Lingfield saw a winner for Karl
Burke whilst Tim Pitt won the
opener at Kempton's early evening meeting. With the
withdrawal of the only Cliff Stud
lot at Tattersalls it was left to the Providence Stud to
carry the flag for Yorkshire and their top lot (excluding
buy-backs) was the 6,000 gns obtained for a son of
Robellino, bred by one of their boarding clients. |
| 24/11/2006 |
The penultimate day of the foal section of the
December Sales (yes, it does finish in November!) and the
West Moor Stud is the
only Yorkshire nursery with an offering, but their son of
Oasis Dream makes an strong 75,000gns.On the track Mark
Johnston has a winner at Wolverhampton and Mick
Easterby at Kemtpon whilst Grant Tuer and
Ferdy Murphy are successful over hurdles
at Musselburgh. |
| 23/11/2006 |
An excellent day for the Yorkshire stud's at the
December Sales with Bolton Grange
selling star filly Wunders Dream's first foal (by Oasis
Dream) for 115,000gns, Manor
House Stud selling Dr Anne Gillespie's foal by
Galileo for 90,000gns, and West Moor Stud selling a
son of Medicean and Preference for 70,000gns. Mark
Johnston again chalks up another winner, this
time at Wolverhampton, whilst Ferdy Murphy has
a winner at Uttoxeter. |
| 22/11/2006 |
Day two of Tattersalls foal sale sees the Theakston Stud sell a daughter
of Elusive City for 24,000gns, not surprisingly perhaps
Guy Reed of the Copgrove Stud
was the buyer, at 12,000gns, of Theakston's daughter of
Xaar, he bought Peggy Spencer - the dam of his top
sprinter La Cucaracha (due to be sold next week) from the
same nursery. Foston
Stud sold a son of Verglas for 20,000gns. Another Mark
Johnston double on the track, this time at
Kempton, a bumper winner at Lingfield for Alan
Swinbank and a double at Wetherby for George
Moore, with Peter Beaumont also
having a winner at the West Yorkshire track. |
| 21/11/2006 |
The Tattersall's December Sales continues with the
five day foal sale, and on day one the top price from a
Yorkshire nursery comes from Bolton Grange
Stud's son of Dansili, sold to Glenvale Stud for
58,000gns.On the all-weather today John Norton had
a winner at Southwell and James Bethell at
Wolverhampton whilst there were National Hunt winners at
Sedgefield for Harry Hogarth, Alan Brown, Sue
Smith and Ferdy Murphy. |
| 20/11/2006 |
Tattersall's December Sales kicks off with the one
day yearling sale and the top price for a Yorkshire stud
is achieved by Oaks
Farm Stables who's half brother to Dubai World Cup
winner Moon Ballad sells for 70,000gns to the Chevington
Stud. On the track Mark Johnston, currently
well ahead in the all-weather championship, had a double
at Southwell, where there were also winners for David
Barron, Bryan Smart and Andy Crook,
whilst Barron made in an across-the-card
double with a winner at Wolverhampton's 'Regional'
meeting. |
| 12/11/2006 |
Mark Johnston's promising Empire Day
put up a good effort in France to be third in the
Criterium de Saint-Cloud G1 under Kevin
Darley today. At Cheltenham Malcolm Jefferson's According
To Pete was beaten only a neck in the valuable
intermediate handicap hurdle race whilst the John
Quinn trained pair of Caraman and Aleron were
third and fourth respectively in the Greatwood Handicap
Hurdle Gd3. Kate Walton
had a 1-2 in Carlisle's main race with Datito coming home
in front of Huka Lodge. |
| 11/11/2006 |
The National Hunt season is starting to get into full
swing and today saw Ferdy Murphy's promising
young chaser New Alco finish a good third in Cheltenham's
Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase Gd3. At
Wetherby the locals drew a blank in the first three
races, but promptly won the next three with horses
trained by Chris Wilson, Patrick
Haslam and Harry Hogarth (King
Killone in the £11,710 totesport.com Handicap Chase). On
the all-weather Tim Pitt's Eccollo made
it three in a row by winning at Kempton whilst his
trainer made it a double for the day with an additional
winner at Wolverhampton's evening meeting, where Mark
Johnston and Karl Burke also
had winners. |
| 04/11/2006 |
A quiet week ends with a seasonally appropriate bang
with two listed wins on the flat and a graded win over
jumps. Doncaster's traditional end-of-season feast is
relocated to Windsor but that's doesn't stop the
Yorkshire stables putting up a good show with Alan
Swinbank's Alfie Flits strolling away with the
Serlby Stakes L by five lengths and David
Barron's Rising Shadow landing the Wentworth
Stakes L by the somewhat tighter margin
of a head. Down at Wincanton John Quinn's Crow
Wood put up an odds defying performance to land the Elite
Hurdle Gd2 against strong
opposition, and he could well be out again as soon as a
week tomorrow at Cheltenham. Quinn had
earlier had a winner at Kelso where Ferdy Murphy landed
a treble. |
| 28/10/2006 |
Mark Johnston appears to have
another good stayer in the making in the form of
Emirates-bred Empire Day who put up a good performance to
win the Zetland Stakes L by four lengths
at Newmarket today. Tim Easterby's Somuns
picked up £1,503 for finishing fourth in the Ben
Marshall Stakes L, he'll need to do
better than that to overhaul Teleprompter (see 22nd
below!) and Julie Camacho's Rio Riva was
second in the big handicap. Over at Maison-Laffitte the Kevin
Ryan trained Advanced put up a strong effort to
be second in the Prix Seine-et-Oise G3
and he looks to be shaping into a leading candidate for
the top sprints next season. At Ayr there were winners
for Tom Tate, David Barron and Richard
Fahey whilst the locals drew a blank in the big
races at Wetherby with only Malcolm Jefferson managing
to prevent a whitewash by winning the last. Evening
racing saw a winner at Wolverhampton for Kevin
Ryan. In Newmarket's sales ring the October
Sales finally came to and end today and it was the first
horse into the ring, Merryvale
Stud's son of Kasakov, who provided the highest price
for a Yorkshire stud (excluding buy-ins) when fetching
5,500gns. |
| 27/10/2006 |
A good day at 'HQ' for the Tykes with Mark
Johnston's Piety and Tom Tate's Dr.Sharp
both winning the two main handicaps and Bryan
Smart's Doric Charm gaining valuable black type
when finishing third in the Bosra Sham Fillies Stakes L.
Over jumps there were wins at Wtherby for Grant
Tuer and Malcolm Jefferson. Mark
Johnston's Park Farm
Stud was the only Yorkshire nursery selling on Day
One of Part 3 (confused? , I am !) of the
soontoendatlastthankgod October Sales, and they managed
to obtain 15,000gns for a son of Yankee Gentleman. |
| 24/10/2006 |
The locals dominated at Catterick today with David
Nicholls, Mick Easterby, Tim Easterby (a
double), Micky Hammond and Anne
Duffield between them winning every race on the
card. |
| 23/10/2006 |
Blue Dakota, winner of the Norfolk Stakes G3 at
Royal Ascot in 2004 has been retired to stand at the Hedgeholme Stud.The
son of Namid will stand at a fee of £2,000. Two winners
today with Mark Johnston's Palo Verde
winning at Lingfield, and Karl Burke's Tartan
Special at Kempton. |
| 22/10/2006 |
Alan Swinbank's globetrotting
superstar Collier Hill adds another valuable victory to
his C.V. when landing the Canadian International G1
at Woodbine today. A powerful last gasp drive
under Dean McKeown saw the gelding come home a nose in
front of Go Deputy. Already the winning most Yorkshire
trained horse of all time this effort increases Collier
Hill's lead over his rivals even further, not bad for a
horse who started his racing career by winning a bumper
at Catterick !! Indeed it is possible that he could soon
have won twice as much as the next horse on the list,
Attraction ! Somnus' efforts this season have enabled him
to leapfrog Yavana's Pace whilst Les Arcs, Quito,
Bahamian Pirate, Fayr Jag, Continent and Amadeus Wolf are
horses still in training lying in the 11th to 20th band.
| Horse |
Trainer |
Amount |
Best Performances |
| Collier Hill |
Alan Swinbank |
£1,717,612 |
Irish St Leger G1, Rothmans
International G1, Gerling-Preis G2,
Stockholm Cup International G3
(twice), Elnadim H, Old Newton Cup H., 2nd.Dubai
Sheema Classic G1,
Deutschlandpreis Preis G1,
3rd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Rheinland-Pokal
der Sparkasse KolnBonn G1 |
| Attraction |
Mark Johnston |
£899,597 |
1,000 Guineas G1, Irish
1,000 Guineas G1, Coronation
S G1, Sun Chariot S G1,
Matron S G1, Cherry Hinton S G2,
Queen Mary S G3, 2nd.Matron
Stakes G1, Falmouth S G1
etc. |
| Teleprompter |
Bill Watts |
£760,881 |
Arlington Million G1, Queen
Elizabeth II S G2, Prix Quincey G3,
Desmond S G3, Pacemaker
International S. G3 (x2),
2nd.Queen Elizabeth II S. G2
(x2), Lockinge S G2, THF Mile G2,
3rd.Eclipse S. G1, Queen Anne
Stakes G2 etc. |
| Somnus |
Tim Easterby |
£741,423 |
Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup G1,
Prix Maurice de Gheest G1, Prix
de la Foret G1, betabet Two Year
Old Trophy, £200,000 St Leger Yearling Sales
Stakes, 2nd.Sprint Cup G1, Park
Stakes G2, Chipchase Stakes G3,
3rd.Duke Of York Stakes G2 |
| Yavana's Pace |
Mark Johnston |
£722,656 |
Credit Suisse Private Banking Pokal G1,
Prix du Conseil de Paris G2, Prix
Gladiateur G3, 2nd.WGZ
Bank-Deutschlandpreis G1, Preis
von Europa G1, Irish St Leger G1,
Princess of Wales's Stakes G2,
Hardwicke Stakes G2,
3rd.Canadian International G1, Deutsche
Post Euro Express-Pries von Europa G1,
WGZ Bank-Deutschland Preis G1,
Princess of Wales's Stakes G2, Gerling-Preis
G2 etc. |
| Fruits Of Love |
Mark Johnston |
£607,115 |
Hardwicke S G2 (x2), Dubai
Turf Classic, Princess of Wales's S G2,
2nd.Canadian Int'l G1, Futurity
Stakes G3, 3rd.King George VI
& Queen Elizabeth II S. G1,
Grosser Preis von Baden G1, Meld
Stakes G3 |
| Double Trigger |
Mark Johnston |
£559,100 |
Ascot Gold Cup G1, Goodwood
Cup G3 (x3), Doncaster Cup G3
(x2), Henry II S G3 (x2), Sagaro
S G3 (x2), St.Leger Italiano G3,
2nd.Ascot Gold Cup G1 (x2),
3rd.St Leger G1 |
| Bandari |
Mark Johnston |
£547,045 |
Hardwicke Stakes G2,
Princess of Wales's S G2, Great
Voltigeur S G2, Gordon S G3,
Brigadier Gerard S G3, Lingfield
Derby Trial G3,
2nd.Rheinland-Pokal G1, Princess
of Wales's Stakes G2, 3rd.St
Leger G1, Jockey Club Stakes G2(twice),
Cumberland Lodge Stakes G3,
September Stakes G3 |
| Scott's View |
Mark Johnston |
£525,273 |
Magnolia S L, Serlby S L,
3rd.Queen Elizabeth II Cup G1,
Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Grosser
Mercedes-Benz Preis G2 etc. |
| Bollin Eric |
Tim Easterby |
£506,196 |
St.Leger G1, Lonsdale Stakes
G3, 2nd.Hardwicke Stakes G2,
King Edward VII Stakes G2, Dante
Stakes G2, 3rd.Yorkshire Cup G2,
Great Voltigeur Stakes G2,
4th.King George VI & Queen Elizabeth II
Diamond Stakes G1 |
Today's Yorkshire runners at Aintree and Towcester
didn't trouble the judges.
|
| 21/10/2006 |
A very quiet week indicating that the flat season is
winding down is slightly enlivened with Mark
Johnston's Hinton Admiral puts up a good display
to land, in a good time, the Doncaster Stakes L, run
this year on Lingfield's Polytrack. A disappointing
display by the Yorkshire raiders at Newbury means that
the only other winners come over jumps at Kelso where Ferdy
Murphy has a double and Tim Easterby's Classic
Event leads home a Yorkshire-trained-1-2-3 in the
Handicap Hurdle. |
| 19/10/2006 |
Second, and final, day of the October Yearling Sales
at Doncaster and, if 'buy backs' are excluded, Norton Grove Stud has all
three of the highest prices by Yorkshire studs, but it is
with a daughter of Diktat that they really hit the
headlines when she sells for 42,000gns, an excellent
price for this sale. On the track Mark Johnston has
a winner at Brighton, whilst Sue Smith has
a win at Haydock. |
| 18/10/2006 |
Day one of Doncaster's October Yearling sale and the
highest price from a Yorkshire stud is reached by a son
of First Trump sent from the Evelyn Stud, who
fetched 12,000gns. A quiet day on the track, but one of
Middleham's newest trainers, Bill Ratcliffe, has
a winner at Nottingham when Bel Cantor lands the second
race. |
| 15/10/2006 |
Mark Johnston finally got his first
Group One victory of the year when his Kirkless came home
in front in the Gran Criterium G1 at San
Siro this afternoon, to give the Middleham trainer his
third victory in the race. The winner landed the spoils
by a short head from Strobilus, the pair both being
connected to Sheikh Mohammed, this and the decision that
Frankie Dettori should ride Kirkless no doubt means the
colt will be running in the dark blue of Godolphin next
year. |
| 14/10/2006 |
Newmarket's Champions Day started off reasonably for
the Yorkshire raiders with Tim Easterby's Somnus
running into a fourth place berth in the opening
Challenge Stakes G2. The next race was
the second half of the 'Autumn Double' - the £93,480
Cesarewitch Handicap and this saw a Yorkshire trained
2-3-4-5 with only the winner Detroit City preventing a
Yorkshire clean sweep, in second place was Tim
Fiztgerald's Inchnadamph, picking up £27,990
for his efforts, to add to the money he collected for
finishing third in this race last year, whilst third
place this year was taken by Tom Tate's Dr
Sharp who led for much of the race. At Catterick there
was a much needed winner for Mark Johnston when
Celtic Step came home in the nursery, whilst Karl
Burke's Bold Marc won the last. In the sales
ring it is the final day of Part Two of the October Sales
(part three starts on the 27th!) and the top price from a
Yorkshire nursery is achieved by Providence Stud for
their son of Medicean who fetched 38,000gns. |
| 13/10/2006 |
After a poor run in France last time Robin
Bastiman's Borderlescott bounced back to form
when finishing a good second, beaten only a short head,
in the Bentinck Stakes G3 at Newmarket
today, with David Nicholls' Tax Free
back in third. The quality at the October Sales is
gradually declining and the top 'Yorkshire' prices today
were both from Manor House Stud,
both sold to veteran trainer Henry Candy, and both
fetched 16,000gns ! |
| 12/10/2006 |
Richard Fahey's Anna Pavlova,
running again after only five days rest, was a decent
enough second in the Severals Stakes L at
Newmarket today. The last race at HQ saw a Yorkshire
1-2-3 in the £11,218 Sporting Index Handicap, with the
Melbourne Stud bred Mecca's Mate coming home in front for
David Barker. David Nicholls' Hamaasy
provided the sole Yorkshire winner at Southwell. Best
price by a Yorkshire stud at the sales today is achieved
by Bolton Grange
who sold a daughter of Richard Whitaker's former
charge Captain Rio for 50,000gns. |
| 11/10/2006 |
The only two Yorkshire winners today both came over
hurdles at Wetherby with the winning trainers being John
Quinn and George Moore. At the
October Sales the best price from a Yorkshire stud was
the 45,000gns achieved by Burton
Agnes Stud for their son of Singspiel, who was sold
to Mick Easterby. |
| 10/10/2006 |
The marathon that is Tattersall's October Sales
starts again today . Top price from a Yorkshire stud farm
was the 165,000gns paid for Oaks Farm Stables
son of Medicean. Other good prices were achieved by Burton Agnes Stud who sold a
son of Montjeu for 90,000gns and by the Garrowby Stud who sold a son of
Alhaarth and Nibbs Point for the same price. Just the one
Yorkshire winner today when Neville Bycroft's Dium
Mac struck at Newcastle. |
| 08/10/2006 |
Over in Ireland today the Bishop Wilton Stud bred
Frank Sonata ran his best race for a while landing the
Barathea Finale Stakes L at the Curragh,
taking a notable scalp in the form of Scorpion. Earlier
on the same card the Mark Johnston trained
Silent Waves had finished a reasonable third in the
Beresford Stakes G2. Domestically there
were winners at Musselburgh for David Barron,
Robin Bastiman and John Wainwright and
at Hexham for Micky Hammond. |
| 07/10/2006 |
A very good day at Ascot today for the Yorkshire
runners which started off in the best possible fashion
when Richard Fahey's Anna Pavlova ran
out an easy 5 length winner of the Harvest Stakes L
despite, predictably, hanging badly to the left.
The next was the £46,740 ladbrokes.com Heritage Handicap
and this saw a Yorkshire 1-2 with Mark Johnston's
Peppertree Lane comfortably holding off Richard
Fahey's St Savarin, who nevertheless picks up a
nice £13,995 for second place. Today also saw York's
final meeting of the season and in the opening race Mark
Johnston's Hinton Admiral ran well to be second,
albeit someway behing the winner, in the Rockingham
Stakes L. The main race on the card was
the £22,670 Coral Sprint Trophy Handicap and this saw
yet another Yorkshire one-two with David Barron's
Rising Shadow coming home a neck in front of Richard
Fahey's Knot In Wood. So a day of mixed fortunes
for Mr.Fahey! Tim Easterby's Bollin
Derek won the last. Over jumps Micky Hammond's Tee-Jay
won at Hexham and John Quinn's Caraman
at Bangor. |
| 06/10/2006 |
A poor show at Tattersalls today from the Yorkshire
nurseries - technically the highest Yorkshire price was
the 120,000gns achieved by Oaks Farm for a
daughter of Sadler's Wells, although this was actually a
vendor 'buyback'. A good day's racing at York today, but
only one local winner with John Quinn winning
the last race, Richard Fahey's Flying
Clarets picked up second place and this pushed the Malton
trainer over the £1m mark for the first time. |
| 05/10/2006 |
At Tattersalls today the best price for a Yorkshire
bred horse was achieved by Bolton Grange's
Cape Cross half sister to Wunders Dream (sold by
Trickledown Stud) who fetched 170,000gns to the bid of
John Magnier. Little domestic track action today although
over in France David Nicholls' Strike Up
The Band made all under son Adrian to land the Prix de
Bonneval L. |
| 04/10/2006 |
Day two of the October Sales and the plaudits again
fall to Oaks Farm
selling (as agent) a daughter of Sadler's Wells and
Infamy for 300,000gns and an own brother to Gypsy King by
Sadler's Wells for 240,000gns. A light racing program saw
just two Yorkshire trained winners today - both at
Nottingham - with Bryan Smart and Tim
Easterby winning the opening two races. |
| 03/10/2006 |
Day one of the Tattersalls October Sales (Part One)
and the highest price from a Yorkshire stud comes at
80,000gns for Oaks
Farm's son of Galileo from the family of Pearl
Bracelet. On the track there are wins at Catterick for Tim
Easterby, Patrick Haslam, Jedd O'Keeffe and Ann
Duffield, whilst Mark Johnston had
a winner at Leicester. |
| 01/10/2006 |
A mixed day for the Yorkshire sprinters. Early
morning UK time saw Tim Pitt's Les Arcs
finish an honourable, but well beaten, seventh in the
Sprinters Stakes G1 in Japan. However
come the afternoon it was a different story entirely at
Longchamp where Kevin Ryan's Desert Lord
came home in front by a neck and a head to land the Prix
de l'Abbaye G1 with fellow Yorkshire
raider Moss Vale, trained by David Nicholls back
in third, and the winners stablemate Amadeus Wolf in
fifth. This was an incredible performance from Desert
Lord who has never raced above Group Three level before
and, despite some good placings and top handicap wins,
has never even won a black type race before. Owned by a
group of 12 including landlords from Wakefield and
Warwick the six year old gelding could next go to Hong
Kong. There was even a good Yorkshire sprinting result in
Ireland when David Nicholls' Peace
Offering won the Abergwaun Stakes L at
Tipperary! Over jumps at Kelso there were wins for Micky
Hammond, Patrick Haslam and Malcolm
Jefferson. |
| 30/09/2006 |
An excellent day for the Tykes - on their own patch,
at 'HQ', on the Polytrack, and even across the Channel !
The ball started rolling in decent enough fashion at
Newmarket when Mark Johnston's Road To
Love was third in the second race, the Joel Stakes G3.
In the next race, the Sun Chariot Stakes G1,
the Yorkshire bred (at the Star Cottage Stud)
Soviet Song was a decent enough second. Next up was the
£93,480 Cambridgeshire Handicap and this was captured in
striking style by the Alan Swinbank trained
Formal Decree who came from last to first under Jamie
Spencer. Part owners of the winner are former Yorkshire
training duo Lynda and Jack Ramsden and
this explains why Dean McKeown was 'jocked off' the
winner when Spencer's original mount Cesare was withdrawn
- the former champion jockey being married to the
Ramsden's daughter Emma. Later on the card there were
good placings for John Quinn (with
Fractured Foxy) and David Barron (with
Skhilling Spirit). More big money was on offer at Redcar
where things also started well when the Noel
Wilson trained Nanton won the £18,696
Straight-Mile Championship Final, to give the trainer the
biggest win of his nascent career, and only 10 days after
claiming him out of Paul Cole's yard!. The next race was
the £113,560 totepool Two-Year-Old Trophy L and
here a rather more experienced trainer, Neville Bycroft,
also landed the biggest win of his career when Danum
Dancer came home in front to win easily, Kevin
Ryan's Evens And Odds also picked up £10,740
for finishing back in fourth. Incredibly Bycroft picked
up the winner as a foal for a mere 1,000 guineas, and he
is owned by a syndicate of Doncaster taxi drivers. The
last three races on Teeside were also won by locals
courtesy of Alan Swinbank, Julie Camacho (Elkhorn,
winning his fourth race in a row at this course in the
last six weeks!) and Mick Easterby. Down
at Kempton Kevin Ryan's Mutamared confirmed his Steward's
Cup form to win the £24,928 Sports Betting With
digibet.com Handicap on the all-weather. The big race
results don't stop there however as over at Longchamp the
advance Yorkshire raiding party was represented by Tom
Tate's Welsh Emperor who ran arguably the race
of his life to be joint second in the Prix de la Foret G1. |
| 29/09/2006 |
Newmarket Day Two and although there are no Yorkshire
trained winners today there is still plenty of prize
money taken back up the A1 with Karl Burke's Aahayson
starting the ball rolling by picking up £24,600 when
finishing third in the Tattersalls £250,000 October
Auction Stakes. The next race is one of the premier
juvenille races of the season, the Middle Park Stakes G1
and here Kevin Ryan's admirably
consistent Wi Dud puts up a strong performance to finish
second, with Bryan Smart's Hellveyln
faintly dissapointing back in fourth. Mark
Johnston has an all-weather winner at Lingfield
whilst there are jumping winners up at Hexham for Sue
Smith, Ferdy Murphy (a double), Patrick
Haslam and Alan Swinbank. |
| 28/09/2006 |
The first day of the Newmarket meeting sees a good
win for John Quinn when his faithful
servant Fantasy Believer steams home in the Rous Stakes L
for his first ever listed win at the age of
nine. Up at Ayr Yorkshire trainers win five of the seven
race with wins for Bryan Smart, Kevin Ryan, Mark
Johnston, Mick Easterby and James
Bethell. |
| 24/09/2006 |
Just two third places for the Yorkshire runners at
the Ascot festival today - Peppertree Lane for Mark
Johnston in the £43,624 totesport Heritage
Handicap and, more significantly, Fayr Jag for Tim
Easterby in the Diadem Stakes G2,
in which stablemate Somnus a faintly dissapointing sixth.
A curtailed Musselburgh saw two Yorkshire winners, sort
of, with the James Bethell trained King
Harson and the Mick Easterby trained
Mezuzah dead heating for the third and, as is transpired,
final, race on the card. Good news for Robert
Gray as it was announced today that the dozen
horses owned by the City Racing Club who all be
transferring to his Malton yard, this follows rapidly on
the heels of the news that Viking Racing were moving all
their ten horses out of Gray's hands. |
| 23/09/2006 |
No Yorkshire trained winners at the Ascot Fesitval
today but the Tykes acquited themselves reasonably well
with Mark Johnston's Kirklees running
his usual consistent race to be third in the Royal Lodge
Stakes G2 and Tim Etherington's ever-improving
Fullandby finishing second in the £62,320 totesport.com
Heritage Handicap. The star at Haydock was the David
Barker trained Sierra Vista (raised at the Melbourne Hall Stud) who
won the £19,431 Lester Piggott "Start To
Finish" Handicap. At Chester Alan Dickman's Porcelain
won the opener, and David Nicholls' Circuit
Dancer the last. Over jumps John Quinn's Aleron
won the £28,184 Blue Square 'Exclusive Prices' Handicap
Hurdle at Market Rasen with Richard Fahey's Ball
O Malt back in second, Fahey's Freeloader won the
penultimate race and Mick Easterby's Mischief
Man the last. |
| 19/09/2006 |
'Millions' day at The Curragh, and although there
were no Yorkshire runners in the fillies race there were
five in the feature race, the Shelbourne Hotel Goffs
Million, and the Mark Johnston trained
Drumfire came home in third to pick up £91,724 - nearly
three times what he got for winning the Solario
Stakes G3! Closer to home there was a
double for Richard Fahey at Beverley, as
well as a winner for Alan Swinbank
whilst Anne Duffield and Lynda
Stubbs scored winners all the way down at
Brighton and Mark Johnston had a winner
at Newmarket. |
| 17/09/2006 |
A much quieter day sees most of the Yorkshire
interest still focussed on Scotland, but this time at
Hamilton's meeting where David Barron's La
Matanza (bred at the Hedgeholme Stud)
wins the opener. Later on the card Mark
Johnston's Hinton Admiral is the facile winner
of the £12,464 totesport.com 2yo Final Nursery Handicap
by three lengths whilst Tim Easterby's King's
Revenge wins the last. Over fences John Quinn's Kings
Quay wins at Plumpton and John Wainwright's Hilltime
at Uttoxeter. |
| 16/09/2006 |
Ayr may well be in Scotland, but today the Ayr Gold
Cup belonged well and truly to Yorkshire, with White Rose
trained horses occupying the first four places in this
historic race. In front on the line was the Richard
Fahey trained Fonthill Road, so often the
bridesmaid (including in this race last year) who picked
up £75,214 for his efforts. In second place was Robin
Bastiman's Borderlescott, followed by the Kevin
Ryan duo of Advanced and Coleorton Dancer. The
day in Scotland had got off to a reasonable start when Kevin
Ryan's Roxan, off the track since Royal Ascot,
was a good second in the Firth Of Clyde Stakes G3,
despite missing the break, Karl Burke's Zanida
was further back in fourth (her stablemate Akarem was a
decent enough fifth in the Irish St Leger G1 later
in the afternoon). The next was the £15,580 Ayrshire
Handicap and this fell to Richard Whitaker's Vicious
Warrior, homebred at his Hellwood
Stud. A couple of races after the Gold Cup Chris
Thornton's Let's Roll won the £11,659 Carricks
Darley Hay Architects Handicap, for the second year in a
row, whilst the final race saw another Yorkshire 1-2-3-4
with, appropriately enough, Richard Fahey's Freeloader
coming home in front. The Yorkshire trainers drew a blank
at Newbury (although Alan Swinbank's Formal
Decree was a decent enough third in the John Smith's
Heritage Handicap), but not so the breeders with the Burns Farm Stud bred and
owned Dixie Belle, the rank outsider at 50-1, coming home
strongly to land the Dubai International Airport World
Trophy G3, she will no doubt be an
excellent recruit to the Burns Farm broodmare band in due
course. At Warwick George Moore's Numero
Due made it two in a row by landing the £11,218
Interchangefix Handicap whilst there were local winners
at Catterick for David Barker (a 1-2 in
the opener with Cape Sydney the winner), Mark
Johnston (Ava's World in the maiden) and John
Quinn (Fractured Foxy in the nursery, her third
win in her last four races). James Bethell's Abstract
Folly was the only Yorkshire winner at Wolverhampton's
evening meeting. |
| 15/09/2006 |
And so another weekend approaches and, as is
traditional, the quality of racing takes a noticeable
step up on Friday. Yorkshire get off to a good start at
Newbury where Mark Johnston's Teslin
wins the £11,218 Haynes, Hanson & Clark Conditions
Stakes, which he took last season with Winged Cupid. Two
races later David Barron's Carnivore
(bred at the Garrowby Stud) is
also a winner. Earlier Johnston's Prince
of Light had run sixth in the Dubai Duty Free L which
sounds like a set back on his road to recovery until you
realise that only two necks and two heads separated the
first five, furthermore you would have to think that his
optimum distance would be further than the seven furlongs
here. The second day of the Ayr Gold Cup meeting sees a
winner for Richard Fahey when Utmost
Respect keeps his 100% record when landing the Nursery,
whilst in the Ayr Silver Cup John Quinn's Zomerlust
is second and David Barron's Rising
Shadow third. Later on the card Kevin Ryan's Wigwam
Willie wins the mile handicap. |
| 10/09/2006 |
A quiet day, comparatively speaking, with the
highlight coming at Goodwood where the Mark
Johnston pair Crosspeace and Road To Love
finished respectively second and third in the Select
Stakes G3 in the finish of the day, the
distances being two necks. Hopefully Crosspeace will make
his mark at group level before the end of the season.
There was another group placing, but this time on the
other side of the Channel when the David Nicholls
trained Peace Offering was second in the Prix Du
Petit Couvert G3 at Longchamp. Alan
Swinbank's Shiwawa won the second leg of the
bumper at Stratford, but his best results today came in
Sweden where stablestar Collier Hill won the Stockholm
Cup International G3 by a staggering
nine lengths, whilst stablemate Hartshead was a good
third in the Nickes Minneslopning L. |
| 09/09/2006 |
St Leger Day at York, unfortunately there are no
Yorkshire trained runners in the big race but Sixties
Icon put up an impressive performance worthy of the final
classic, the runner up The Last Drop is partly owned by
former Yorkshire trainer Jack Hanson. The
day got off to a good start for the locals with John
Quinn's Fantasy Believer winning for the third
time in his last four outings when landing the £31,160
Portland Handicap, a result which saw him shoot up the
betting for the Ayr Gold Cup. The Yorkshire runners were
faintly dissapointing in the Champagne Stakes G2
but in the next race, the Park Stakes G2,
the Tim Easterby trained Somnus (Scampston bred and Sledmere raised) ran his best
race of the season to be second, picking up £21,520 for
his efforts. This was a good performance for Somnus
considering the going and he must be in with a chance in
the Diadem and/or Foret, especially if the going is
softer than today. Later on Mark Johnston's Nakheel
made his belated seasonal debut after injury problems and
was a reasonable fifth in the Strensall Stakes G3,
he's a big horse and had been off the track for 327 days,
it would be no surprise if he runs a much bigger race
next time out. The highlight down at Goodwood was David
Nicholls' Tax Free running his usual good race
to land the Starlit Stakes L in a close
finish, whilst at Chester there were wins for Mark
Johnston (Plane Painter), John Quinn (Caribbean
Coral, another Quinn horse with a shout in the Ayr Gold
Cup) and George Moore (Numero Due). |
| 08/09/2006 |
Day one of the St Leger meeting at York. Events get
off to an excellent start when Kevin Ryan's Wi
Dud puts up an convincing performance to justify
favouritism when landing the second race, the Flying
Childers Stakes G2 - Yorkshire's 15th
Group win of the season. The next is the Park Hill Stakes
G2 and this is won by Rising Cross (bred
by Cumbrian resident John Wills, who was one of the
partnership that ran the Thornton
Stud for a number of years) with Richard
Fahey's Anna Pavlova running another good race
to finish second with Patrick Haslam's Maroussies
Wings a slightly disappointing fourth. Mark
Johnston's Voodoo Moon is second in the £22,670
Carrie Red Fillies Nursery whilst the next is the
Scarbrough Stakes L which sees a win for
the David Barker trained, Burns Farm Stud raised
Celtic Mill, with David Nicholls' Strike
Up The Band back in third. Elsewhere Mark
Johnston's Piety is a winner at Sandown. |
| 07/09/2006 |
A quiet week so far (although plenty of minor
Yorkshire winners) steps up a gear today with a Yorkshire
1-2 in the main race of the day, the Fortune Stakes L
at Haydock, where David Chapman's Quito
comes home a neck in front of James Bethell's Mine,
the combined age of this two campaigners being a youthful
17! His antics over the last week have put Quito in
thirteenth place in the Yorkshire 'all time winnings'
list, only £45,000 behind 10th placed Bollin Eric ....
watch this space! The other winners at Haydock were John
Quinn's Leslingtaylor and David Barron's
California Laws, whilst Mark Johnston's Hearthstead
Maison won at Chepstow on his debut and stablemate Crime
Scene won the main race at Southwell, where Kevin
Ryan's Blades Girl was also a winner. |
| 02/09/2006 |
Yorkshire narrowly missed out on clean sweeps in both
of the major races at Haydock this afternoon. First up
was the £51,816 Old Borough Cup in which Mark
Johnston saddled first, second and fourth in the
form of Peppertree Lane, Quizzene and McEldowney, seeing
nearly £70,000 going to Kingsley House owners. Next up
was the main race of the day, the Betfred Sprint Cup G1,
which produced, and it pains me to say this, a Lancashire
trained winner, but the remaining places were filled by David
Chapman's Quito, Kevin Ryan's Amadeus
Wolf and Tim Easterby's Somnus, a former
winner of this race. Quito acquited himself particularly
well only being beaten by a neck. The next was the
Betfred Superior Mile L and this went to
David Barron's Zero Tolerance, another
stakes win to add to his York victory at the Dante
meeting. At Kempton Kevin Ryan's We'll
Confer was a good third in the second race, the Sirenia
Stakes G3. The following race was the
September Stakes G3 and this saw a
Yorkshire 1-2 of sorts with Kandidate, trained in
Newmarket but jointly bred by the Providence & Foston Studs, coming
home in front for his first group win after numerous good
group placings and listed wins, closely followed by Mark
Johnston's Crosspeace in second. The first three
races at Thirsk saw no Yorkshire trained winners before
the poor going saw the cancellation of the rest of the
card. |
| 31/08/2006 |
Useful sire Elmaamul, who has stood at Beechwood Grange Stud
since 2003, was put down today at the age of nineteen due
to a heart condition. Alan Swinbank's Collier
Hill was beaten by a neck today at Salisbury. There were
winners at Redcar for Tim Easterby, Brian Ellison
and Mick Easterby and at
Beverley for Alan Brown, Kevin Ryan, Neville
Bycroft, James Bethell and John Quinn. |
| 30/08/2006 |
One of the best prices for a yearling at the
Doncaster St Leger Sale this year is reached today by a
Piccolo colt out of Bonica sent up from Oaks Farm Stables
who fetched 56,000gns. Indeed two Yorkshire stud can
claim the credit as the colt was bred by Mrs.Trotter at
her East Layton Stud.
Oaks Farm also sold, as agent, a 60,000gns son of Markof
Esteem. Just the one winner today when John
Quinn's Leslingtaylor won at Leicester. |
| 28/08/2006 |
For once a fairly good Bank Holiday for the Tykes.
Performance of the day came at Ripon when Alan
Swinbank's Stevie Gee confirmed both his promise
and the betting market by taking the main race of the
day, the Ripon Champion Two Year Old Trophy L in
good style, making the step up from Nursery company with
ease. The locals were dominant at the 'Garden Racecourse'
with Julie Camacho taking the £12,464
Ripon Rowels Handicap and other winners for Nigel
Tinkler, Karl Burke and George Moore, indeed
only the Billy Nevett Memorial Handicap fell to
'outsiders'. At Epsom the Yorkshire raiders won both the
main races with Bryan Smart's Bond City
landing the £18,696 totesport.com Sprint Handicap and Mark
Johnston's Nero's Return the £10,804 Totepool
Amateur Derby Handicap, earlier Tim Pitt had
won the opener with his promising juvenille Spirit Of The
Mist. The Tykes were equally rampant at Newcastle with Tim
Easterby's Rosbay winning the £11,218 Blaydon
Race Nursery and other winners for Tom Tate, Karl
Burke, Alan Swinbank and David Barron. Over
jumps Sue Smith won the last at Cartmel.
The links page has been
re-verified and a lot of bad links either removed or
corrected. |
| 27/08/2006 |
A fairly poor day domestically with Princess Taise
failing miserably at Goodwood, and only one local winner
at Beverley thanks to David Nicholls who
actually scored a 1-2-3 in the penultimate race with
Danzig River being the winner, earlier his Bahamian
Pirate had landed third place in the Beverley Sprint
Stakes L. There was one other Yorkshire
trained winner today when Linda Stubbs' Hurry
Up Helen won at Yarmouth. However the best performance of
the day came at the Curragh where Kevin Ryan's Desert
Lord was narrowly beaten by a head into second place in
the Flying Five G3, his third 'black
type' placing in a row - surely this son of Green Desert
will get his head in front next time? |
| 26/08/2006 |
Almost September and the juvenille races are getting
longer, this is traditionally a strong time of the year
for the Mark Johnston team and thus is
was no surprise when he finally clocked up his second
group winner of the season when Drumfire landed the
Solario Stakes G3 at Sandown. The winner
(who was actually beaten over the same distance last time
out) led for most of the race before being overtaken but
put up a gutsy performance to claw back the lead in the
dying strides. Entries for this son of Danehill Dancer
include the Dewhurst and the Racing Post Trophy. At
Goodwood John Quinn's stalwart Fantasy
Believer landing the £11,218 South Coast Handicap, and
in the following race Karl Burke's Akarem
landed more black-type by finishing third in the March
Stakes L. There was another stakes
placing at Newmarket with Brian Ellison's filly
Sunderland Echo being placed third in the Hopeful Stakes L.
Over jumps, or more specifically hurdles, there were wins
for John Wainwright and Sue
Smith in the last two races at Cartmel. Evening
racing at Windsor sees Kandidate, jointly bred by the Providence & Foston Studs, finish
third in the Winter Hill Stakes G3,
whilst at Market Rasen there are winners for Sue
Smith and John Quinn. |
| 25/08/2006 |
The calm after the Ebor storm, but there's still good
racing to be had and Mark Johnston's Champery
grabs his first bit of black type by finishing third in
the Stonehenge Stakes L at Salisbury,
the winner, Streets Ahead, is jointly owned by former
Yorkshire trainer Lynda Ramsden and
trained by her former assistant Andrew Balding at
Kingsclere. Kevin Ryan's filly Golden
Dagger won the maiden at Newmarket and the Hambleton
trainer made it a double two hours later when Orpen
Prince won at Chester, where earlier Alan
Dickman's Inter Vision was also a winner. In the
following race Tim Pitt's Blue Rocket
put up a decent performance to be second in the valuable
juvenille conditions event. |
| 24/08/2006 |
The final day of York's Ebor Meeting proves to be the
best of the week for the locals. Kevin Ryan's We'll
Confer picks up £15,896 for finishing a mere fourth in
the £300,000 St Leger Yearling Sales Stakes, the opening
race of the day. Two races later 'we' finally get on the
board in one of the Group One's (we didn't even have
runners in the other two) when Ryan's Amadeus
Wolf is second in the Nunthorpe Stakes G1,
further cementing his challenge for Champion Three Year
Old Sprinter honours, he should be even better over the
extra furlong so hopefully he'll put up a good show in
the Haydock Sprint Cup and/or the Diadem Stakes.
Incidentally the winning horse Reverence is owned and
bred by the Middlebrook family, who used to keep some
horses at the Theakston Stud
although I'm not sure if this horse can yet be acclaimed
as 'Yorkshire bred' ! Richard Fahey's Bolodenka,
so strong in Ireland last time, is a good second in the
next race, the £25,908 Addleshaw Goddard Handicap. The
following race is the City Of York Stakes L
and here David Chapman's stable star
runs his usual good race to come home in front, with Tim
Easterby's Somnus back in fourth. Finally in the
Galtres Stakes L Richard Fahey's Anna
Pavlova puts up an excellent performance to win her first
piece of black type, the Park Hill Stakes back here seems
the obvious next target. Roll on Doncaster ..... at York!
Up at Musselburgh there are wins for David
Nicholls, Kevin Ryan, Karl Burke and Jedd
O'Keeffe whilst evening racing at Redcar sees
winners for David Barron, Tom Tate, Brian Ellison
and Julie Camacho. |
| 23/08/2006 |
Another reasonable day for the Tykes at the Ebor
Meeting, without actually winning any of the major races.
The lesser fancied of Kevin Ryan's two
runners, Wi Dud, put up a spirited performance to be
second in the Gimcrack Stakes G2,
picking up a more than useful £30,536 for his efforts.
No Yorkshire winner of the Ebor, but Tim Pitt's Not
For Me, who ran well in France last time, picked up yet
another black type win for the young Bawtry trainer when
taking the Roses Stakes L, with Richard
Fahey's Smart Instinct back in third. The winner
may well go for the Flying Childers next, which will be
run at the Knavesmire instead of Doncaster this year due
to the refurbishments. Finally David Nicholls' Buachaill
Dona landed the last race, the £16,193 Eventmasters
Handicap, with John Quinn's Fantasy
Explorer back in third. At Leicester today Alan
Brown won a nice double as a result of taking
the last two races with Sudden Impulse and Miss Mujahid
Times whilst there were winners at Hamilton for David
Barron and David Nicholls. |
| 22/08/2006 |
An up and down day for the locals on the first day of
York's Ebor meeting. The opening race, the £19,431 The
Sportsman Racing Handicap, saw a Yorkshire 1-2 with Mark
Johnston's London Express just holding off James
Bethell's Stretton by a head, and also surviving
the ensuing Stewards' Enquiry after the winner swerved to
the left in the closing stages. Johnston horses
disappointed in the next two races with Golden Quest
finishing sixth in the Lonsdale Cup G3 (two
ahead of stablemate Winged d'Argent) and St Leger hope
Soapy Danger could only managed fifth in the Great
Voltigeur Stakes G2, although it later
became apparent that he had damaged his near-fore,
possibly a fracture of the fetlock, this is obviously a
terrible blow for connections. There were no Yorkshire
hopes in the International Stakes G1 which
saw a Sir Michael Stoute 1-2, but Kevin Ryan's Gweebarra
was a good second in the Acomb Stakes G3,
albeit finishing some way behind the winner. The next was
the £16,192 Irwin Mitchell Solicitors Nursery Handicap
and the winner of this was the Theakston
Stud bred Dubai Builder, an excellent high-profile
result for this local stud, Mark Johnston's First
Mate was third in this race. Finally there was another
local winner in the last, the £16,192 Patrington Haven
Leisure Park Handicap, with Richard Fahey's Knot
In Wood just getting ahead where it mattered. Evening
racing up at Perth sees Kevin Ryan win
the opening Novice Hurdle. |
| 20/08/2006 |
The final of the Lady Riders' Derby at Bath today did
not see a Yorkshire trained winner (although David
Nicholls' Incursion was in second) but the
winning jockey was Yorkshirewomen Annie Elsey,
a vet near Malton and daughter of former trainer Bill
Elsley. This marked her 25th victory and, having
reached that milestone, she promptly announced her
retirement from the saddle! At Pontefract the local
winners were provided by Kevin Ryan, Brian
Ellison and Nigel Tinkler. |
| 19/08/2006 |
Yet another Yorkshire trained group winner today when
Tom Tate's Welsh Emperor, appearing
trackside for the first time in three months, relished
the soft going to take the Hungerford Stakes G2 in
good style at Newbury. Hopefully it will soft for the
Prix de la Foret, which appears tailor made for him.
Earlier there had been a solid run at the Berkshire track
for Karl Burke's Vale Of Belvoir who
took a hefty step up in class to be second in the
St.Hugh's Stakes L. Racing at Ripon saw
a treble for Richard Fahey as well as
winners for George Moore, David Barron and
Mark Johnston. Indeed the only race at
Yorkshire's 'Garden Racecourse' that didn't go to a local
trainer was the feature £37,392 Great St Wilfrid
Handicap, and even this saw Yorkshire trained horses fill
all the places with Tim Etherington's Fullandby
coming home best of the locals to pick up £11,196 for
second place. Evening racing saw a sole Yorkshire winners
with John Quinn's Rust En Vrede winning
over hurdles at Market Rasen. |
| 18/08/2006 |
Yorkshire's best result today came at Newbury where
only two runners yielded first and third places in the
feature race, the Washington Singer Stakes L with
Mark Johnston's promising (not to
mention hardworking!) colt Dubai's Touch, who was having
his seventh run of the season, coming home in front with Tom
Tate's Celtic Sultan a useful third. Johnston
had earlier won the opener at Newcastle where
there were also winners for Karl Burke and
Neville Bycroft. Evening racing at
Catterick saw a barrage of local winners supplied by Kevin
Ryan, John Quinn, David Nicholls, Karl Burke (a
double on the card and thus a treble for the day) and Chris
Fairhurst. |
| 17/08/2006 |
The Jacob's family of Newsell's Park will be putting Patrick
Haslam to the top of their Christmas Card list
(unless Mark Johnston wins the St Leger
with Soapy Danger perhaps!) as the Middleham handler
saddled his second group winner for the family at
Deauville today, this time with Maroussies Wings who
landed the Prix Minerve G3 in fine
style. This follows on from the victory of Kinnaird in
last years Prix de l'Opera G1 on Arc
day. Already placed in the Musidora and Ribblesdale this
season she will eventually prove be a valuable addition
to the burgeoning Newsell's
Park broodmare band. Another Yorkshire black-type
perfomer today was Richard Fahey's Kings
Point who was third in the Sovereign Stakes G3 at
Salisbury, with Mark Johnston's Prince
of Light again not running upto his best form. At a more parochial level there were winners
at Beverley for Mel Brittain, Richard Fahey, Tom
Tate and Alan Swinbank today,
whilst Sandown saw an impressive 7 lengths win for Mark
Johnston's well bred Mariotto, with stablemate
Teslin back in second. Evening racing
was at Musselburgh where there were winners for Karl
Burke, James Bethell, John Weymes and David
Nicholls. |
| 15/08/2006 |
The honour of Mark Johnston's 100th
winner of the year fell to Coalpark who won at Carlisle's
evening meeting. Incredibly Johnston has risen to second
on the trainers table despite only chalking up two group
wins - both thanks to Soapy Danger. Interestingly no
Yorkshire trainer has so far this season trained more
than one individual group winner, despite (in order) Kevin
Ryan (no group wins and the highest person on
the list to have not won a group race), Richard
Fahey (no group wins), Tim Pitt (2
group wins - both with Les Arcs), David Nicholls (3
group wins - all with Moss Vale and all overseas), David
Barron (no group wins) and Karl Burke (no
group wins) all appearing on the Top 25 trainers list.
Yorkshire trainers not on the list with group wins this
season are James Bethell (Strawberry
Dale), Tim Easterby (2 with Fayr Jag)
and Bryan Smart (Hellvelyn). This is the
13th consecutive year the Johnston has
chalked up a ton of winners, and there was added poignancy as the winner was led up
by Johnston's former apprentice Keith Dalgleish who's
very promising career in the saddle was sadly cut short
by weight problems. Richard Fahey, Bryan
Smart, Ian McInness and David Nicholls also
had winners at Carlisle with Nicholls' making
it a double for the evening having had a winner at
Nottingham 45 minutes earlier where Linda Stubbs had
won the opener. |
| 13/08/2006 |
A good day in Ireland today for the Yorkshire runners
as at the Curragh Bryan Smart's Hellvelyn
was second in the Phoenix Stakes G1,
albeit suffering a reversal of his Ascot form with winner
Holy Roman Emperor. Later on the card David
Nicholls' Moss Vale grabbed his third group race
of the season when winning the Phoenix Spint Stakes G3.
Even further afield in Cologne Alan Swinbank's Collier
Hill ran his usual good race to be third (only a short
head behind the second) in the Rheinland-Pokal der
Sparkasse KolnBonn G1. Closer to home at
Redcar there were wins for Alan Swinbank, Mark
Johnston (99 and counting), Richard
Whitaker and Garry Woodward. |
| 12/08/2006 |
A quiet week, albeit with quite a few Yorkshire
winners from meagre opportunities. Mark
Johnston's Kingsley House team caught a bad case
of seconditis today with hot favourite Princess Taisie
filling the runner-up spot in Newmarket's Sweet Solera
Stakes G3, following on from stablemate
Crime Scene who had filled the same position in the
previous race. Things were no better at Ascot with
McEldowney finishing second in the Shergar Cup Stayers
Handicap, although he did at least perform best of the
Yorkshire runners on this peculiar card. Another hot
Johnston favourite Road To Love was well beaten in the
Rose Of Lancaster Stakes G3 at Haydock.
Things went better closer to home at Redcar with doubles
for John Quinn and Brian Ellison
and winners for David Nicholls and
David Barker. Evening racing at Ayr sees
Mark Johnston finally get his winner to
put him on the 98 mark for the season and other winners
come courtesy of Chris Thornton, Alan Brown (an
incredible 8 wins from his last 16 runners) and Ian
McInnes. |
| 07/08/2006 |
Post Goodwood Monday blues (How long till
York?!?!) are alleviated somewhat when David
Barron's Rising Shadow wins the £11,218
Armstrong Memorial Handicap at Ripon, the richest race of
the day. George Moore, Tom Tate and James
Bethell proceed to win the next three races on
the card to make it a good day for the locals after a far
from promising start, with Mark Johnston's Codeword
hopefully finding the rain not to his liking in the
opener. Evening racing sees a win at Windsor for Karl
Burke and a double at Carlisle for Mark
Johnston with other winners in Cumbria from Mick
Easterby, Ann Duffield and Tim Easterby. |
| 06/08/2006 |
The best result today came in defeat when Kevin
Ryan's Amadeus Wolf looked like he might manage
to win the Prix Maurice de Gheest G1 at
Deauville before fading towards the end to finish a still
respectable third. The shorter Nunthorpe Stakes at York
may well see him improve on this position. Over at Galway
Richard Fahey's Bolodenka registered his
second win of the festival when landing the £44,896
Michael McNamara & Co. Builders Dublin & Galway
Handicap in good style, with Kevin Ryan's Uhoomagoo
back in fourth. Ryan finally managed a
winner after a gap of nine days when his Gweebarra won at
Chester where Tim Pitt's Chicken Soup
won the £10,039 BMW Mile Handicap by a more than useful
five lengths. |
| 05/08/2006 |
Saving the best to last there were four Yorkshire
trained winners at Goodwood today. Mark Johnston continued
his excellent Goodwood when his Prince Of Light, so
disappointing earlier in the week, showed his true form
to land the Vodafone Thoroughbred Stakes L with
a strong front running performance. Two races later Robin
Bastiman gave hope to all small owners and
trainers when his Borderlescott won the £62,320
Steward's Cup Handicap, by far the largest win of his
career, in an exciting finish from the Kevin Ryan
trained Mutamared. There is every chance that
his gallant horse is capable of making the grade in group
company if he continues to progress at this rate. Johnston's
Mariotto was a promising second in the maiden
and then David Nicholls', who seemed to
be having a poor Goodwood by his standards, proceeded to
win the last two races with Northern Fling taking the
£10,687 Nursery Handicap and Lucayan Dancer the closing
£9,716 Apprentice Handicap. Over in Newmarket Tim
Easterby's Ponty Rossa completed a hat-trick of
wins when landing the £12,954 Nursery Handicap. The
Yorkshire trainers were also prolific closer to home with
wins at Thirsk for Mark Johnston, Karl
Burke, James Bethell (Granston
in the main race), Tom Tate and Mick
Easterby who's Compton Plume won the Lady
Amateur's race giving his grand-daughter Jacqueline
Coward, Yorkshire Champion Ladies Point-To-Point rider,
her first win under rules. Evening racing at Hamilton saw
winners for Alan Brown, David Barron and
Alan Swinbank. |
| 04/08/2006 |
Another good day for the Tykes down in Sussex with Mark
Johnston chalking up yet another Goodwood winner
when Crosspeace (who won on Tuesday) landed the Glorious
Stakes L by a neck. Later Johnston's
Dubai's Touch was a decent enough third in a
weak looking Richmond Stakes G2. Opinion
of the Johnston juvenilles thus far? - a higher number
than usual of good horses, but no superstars yet. This
may actually play into his hands as the superstars have a
habit of being whisked away at the end of the season
.....!! John Quinn's Fantasy Believer
led home a wall of mainly Yorkshire horses in the
Stewards Cup consolation race - the £12,464 Stewards
Sprint Handicap, other Yorkshire (well Thirsk really!)
trained horses filled places 3 to 6 inclusive. A fairly
poor show by the locals at Thirsk this afternoon with Neville
Bycroft providing the sole local winner, and
that in the last. A better performance under National
Hunt rules at Market Rasen where Sue Smith, Peter
Beaumont and John Wainwright all
made the return journey north with the satisifaction of
having had a winner. Evening racing at Nottingham sees a
win for Nigel Tinkler's long time stable
servant Henry Hall. |
| 03/08/2006 |
Again it was a Yorkshire breeding, rather than
training, triumph that led the way at Goodwood today when
the Barry Hills trained La Cucaracha, owned and bred by
Guy Reed of Copgrove Stud,
bounced back to form to land the King George Stakes G3
by 3/4 length from the Kevin Ryan trained
Desert Lord. The winner will now head for the Nunthorpe
having put her early season dissapointments behind her.
Two races later Mark Johnston registered
a one-two in the £62,230 ladbrokes.com Heritage
Handicap, with hot-pot Road To Love coming home five
lengths clear of Desert Realm. Later on the Goodwood card
there were second placings for Kevin Ryan's High
Curragh and David Nicolls' Smokin Beau.
Today Yorkshire had it's first winner of this year's
Galway Festival when the Richard Fahey trained
Boldenko won the mile handicap. Other afternoon
highlights included wins for Karl Burke, David
Nicholls, Julie Camacho and Brian
Ellison at Carlisle whilst evening racing saw
wins for Mark Johnston at Epsom and for Chris
Thornton, Richard Fahey, Karl Burke and Robin
Bastiman at Musselburgh. |
| 02/08/2006 |
No Goodwood winners today although the Mark
Johnston pair of Kirklees and Silent Waves were
third and fourth respectively in the Vintage Stakes G2.
The following race, and the main race of the day, was the
Sussex Stakes G1 and in this Soviet
Song, bred at the Star
Cottage Stud by the Elite Racing Club, was a very
respectable second. Later on the card the Richard
Fahey trained Princess Cocoa was second in the
fillies handicap. At Musselburgh this afternoon there
were winners for Alan Swinbank, Ann Duffield,
Brian Ellison and Richard Fahey
whilst James Bethell and Karl
Burke had winners at Leicester's evening
meeting. |
| 01/08/2006 |
A good start to August and to Glorious Goodwood when Mark
Johnston wins the opening race of the meeting,
the £31,160 Sportsman Newspaper Handicap, with top
weight Crosspeace who prevails by a neck. The next is the
Gordon Stakes G3 and here the two
Johnston runners make the running (as usual!) but at the
death only Linas Selection holds on for a place - picking
up third. No luck in the Lennox Stakes G2 but
in the Molecomb Stakes G3 Kevin Ryan's
Wi Dud puts up a excellent performance to finish second,
beaten only a short head. Chris Thornton's current
stable star the useful Lets Roll is third in the next,
but after that the Yorkshire challenge for the day fades
away. At Beverley there are locals winners for Mark
Johnston, David Chapman, George Moore, Richard Fahey and
Mick Easterby - who saddles the first
three home in the Ladies Race, but of his four runners
the one he would have presumably preferred to win Wahchi,
ridden by his grand-daugher Jacqueline Coward, is the
only one not placed! Over jumps Kate Walton wins
the opener at Perth's evening meeting. |
| 30/07/2006 |
The results at Ascot today are a little more to my
liking with a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the second race, the
£18,696 Brunswick Handicap, seeing Mark
Johnston's Road To Love (a son of former stable
star Fruits Of Love) coming home seven lengths clear of
stable companion London Express (both are entered at
Goodwood next week), with Kevin Ryan's Kamanda
Laugh a head back in third. The next is the main race of
the day, the £43,624 Hong Kong Jockey Club Sprint
Heritage Handicap and this sees David Nicholls' live
upto his 'Sprint King' moniker when his Machinist comes
home in front by the shortest of short heads. Closer to
home at Ponty there are wins for Richard Fahey (promising
debutant Smart Instinct), Jedd O'Keeffe (Luna
Landing), Ann Duffield (Jubilee Street
in the main race of the card the £12,464 Pomfret
Handicap) and David Barker (Mr Wolf
making in two on the trot). |
| 29/07/2006 |
A busy day of racing, but the Yorkshire highlight is
provided by Richard Fahey's Wyatt Earp
who wins the £31,160 Skybet Dash Heritage Handicap at
York by 3/4 length from David Nicholls' Ice
Planet, he will probably now be aimed at the Ayr Gold
Cup. The locals also won the last two races on the card
thanks to Richard Whitaker's Neon Blue
and Brian Ellison's Fort Churchill.
Again there are no Yorkshire winners at Ascot, although Kevin
Ryan's Uhoomagoo ran his usual excellent race to
finish second in the Totesport International Heritage
Handicap, picking up £27,990 for his efforts. The Tyke's
fare a little better at Newcastle with wins for Mick
Easterby (Soto in the £12,464 Betfred Poker
Sprint Series Final), Alan Swinbank (Hartshead
in the £11,218 Beeswing Handicap) and David
Barron, who won both the last two races on the
card. Evening racing on the Emerald Isle sees the Mark
Johnston trained Middleham run an decent enough
second in the Tyros Stakes L. |
| 28/07/2006 |
No luck at Ascot for the Tykes this afternoon,
although Kevin Ryan and Brian
Ellison have winners at slightly less impressive
Wolverhampton. Evening racing however sees a good win for
Tim Etherington's Fullandby at
Newmarket, whilst the locals are in dominant form at an
oddly valuable (£6,500 for a maiden on a Friday
evening?!?) Thirsk with winners for Tim Easterby,
Mark Johnston (a double), David Barron and
Karl Burke. |
| 27/07/2006 |
A quality mid-week meeting at Sandown where Karl
Burke's Precocious Star is a good second in the
Gods Of Poker Stakes L and Mark
Johnston's Doctor Scott wins the closing £8,906
Handicap. Evening racing at York only sees one local
winner, but it's that man Johnston again
when Nihal wins the £12,954 Garrowby Handicap. |
| 23/07/2006 |
Wetherby trainer Robin Bastiman had
his first ever 'black type' performer today when his
Borderlescott was second in the Belgrave Stakes L
at Fairyhouse, indeed for much of the final
parts of the race it looked like he was going to win, and
in the end he only went down by a head. Closer to home
the Tykes managed, for the second day in a row, to fill
all the placings in a major local handicap, without
actually winning it, this time it was the £32,385
Weatherbys Summer Sprint Heritage Handicap, and the best
placed of the Yorkshire runners was Tim
Easterby's Gallery Girl, who picked up £9,635
for finishing second. Earlier there had been wins on
Teeside for Alan Dickman and James
Bethell whilst Nigel Tinkler won
one of the later races with stable stalwart Apace Point. |
| 22/07/2006 |
Pride of place today goes to Tim Easterby's Fayr
Jag who lands the Hackwood Stakes G3 at
Newbury, despite the deluge prior to the race (he's much
better on firm going). The distances in this classic
sprint finish were a neck, two short heads and a neck,
and the winner could well go for the Nunthorpe next. In
the valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint Kevin Ryan's
We'll Confer is best placed of the Yorkshire
runners, and picks up £14,188 for finishing third. At
Ripon the one eyed Nelsons Column (gettit?) was a gallant
winner for George Moore whilst in the
main race, the £11,218 Ripon Bell-Ringer Handicap the
local trainers managed to fill second, third, fourth and
fifth places, without actually winning the race, Mark
Johnston's Nero's Return coming home best of the
Yorkshire runners. Over jumps at Market Rasen there were
wins for Patrick Haslam, Mike Sowersby and
John Quinn whilst the Malcolm
Jefferson trained Portavadie was third in the
£25,052 Totescoop6 Summer Handicap Hurdle. Evening
racing sees a winner at Lingfield for Mark
Johnston whilst at Haydock there is a double for
Ann Duffield as well as winners for Tom
Tate and Karl Burke. |
| 21/07/2006 |
A quiet week, albeit with plenty of minor Yorkshire
winners. The weekend got off to a good start however when
David Barker's Mr Wolf won the £11,218 Antonia
Deuters Handicap at Pontefract this evening by two
lengths from John Quinn's Caribbean
Coral. This smart gelding was bred by former trainer Peter
Asquith at the Burns
Farm Stud. This marked a double for Barker who had
earlier won with Mundo's Magic in the opener, and George
Moore also had a winner on the card with Apsara.
The other evening meeting, at Newmarket, also saw a good
winner with Mark Johnston's debutante
Princess Taisa winning at the first time of asking.
Earlier Bryan Smart had registered a
double at Carlisle courtesy of Startolini and Aegean
Dancer whilst Richard Fahey's reliable
Sualda won the claimer, and was claimed for 15,000gns by
Diamond Racing. |
| 17/07/2006 |
A valuable win up in Scotland today for John
Quinn when his three year old Fantasy Explorer
stormed up the middle of the track to win the £32,385
Giles Insurance Brokers Heritage Handicap at Ayr by a
length from Kevin Ryan's Harry Up.
Earlier on the same card there were winners for Ann
Duffield and Mark Johnston. |
| 16/07/2006 |
The best result by a Yorkshire trained horse today
comes over the Irish Sea at the Curragh where the Kevin
Ryan trained Sadeek, so impressive at York and
Epsom, recovers his form after a poor run at Royal Ascot
when finishing second in a tight finish in the Anglesey
Stakes G3. Some small compensation for
the Hambleton trainer for losing Balthazar's Gift and a
couple of other horses earlier in the week. Richard
Fahey's Knot In Wood and Mick Easterby's
Inside Story are winners at Haydock, whilst Patrick
Haslam's Hi Dancer wins the opening Novice's
Hurdle at Stratford. |
| 15/07/2006 |
Another good day for Yorkshire, to cap an excellent
week. At York a local victory was guaranteed in the
opener - as there were no 'foreign' declarations, and in
the end David Nicholls' Fremen came home
in front. In the following race Richard Fahey's Wyatt
Earp made a quick reappearance (having run at Pontefract
earlier in the week) and held on by a neck. The main
supporting race on the card was the John Smith's Silver
Cup Handicap L and this was taken by Mark
Johnston's progressive horse Linas Selection in
a very promising manner. Unfortunately the locals
couldn't win the main race of the day, the £93,480 John
Smith's Cup Heritage Handicap (The Magnet Cup to the
traditionalists), although the Karl Burke trained
Boo picked up a useful £13,995 for finishing third. Mark
Johnston made it a double with promising
debutante Codeword winning the maiden whilst Bryan
Smart's Avertuoso won the closing nursery in
nice style. The Yorkshire raiders started well at Chester
with Mark Johnston's injury prone Prince
of Light (Sort of bred at High Bramley
Grange!) confirming his has lost non of his ability
by landing the opening £13,249 Totescoop6 Chester
Conditions Stakes, he is ambitiously entered and should
be worth following if his feet hold out. Richard
Fahey (whos Bo McGinty was later third at the
Curragh) won the next with Instructor. The third race,
the Chester City Wall Stakes L, was the
main race on the Roodeye card and although there was to
be no Yorkshire victory 'we' did manage a 2-3-4-5 with Kevin
Ryan's Desert Lord and Tim Pitt's Ooh
Aah Camara picking up the black type by finishing second
and third respectively. Evening racing at Hamilton saw a
double for David Barron as well as
winners for Richard Fahey and Tim
Etherington. |
| 14/07/2006 |
Yorkshire wins both the main races on the final day
of Newmarket's July meeting, maybe they should merge this
meeting with York's meeting and transplant it to the
Knavesmire?!?. The Third Estate may have universally
condemned the current crop of British sprinters, and to
be honest they may have a point, but there can now be no
doubt that the premier six furlong horse in Britain is
the Tim Pitt trained former hurdler Les
Arcs who made it a Group One back-to-back double when
landing the July Cup G1 in his usual
last-gasp style. Incredibly this victory will push his
young trainer into the upper reaches of the trainers
table! Kevin Ryan's Amadeus Wolf ran an
excellent race to be fourth, the highest placed three
year old, it's just a pity there aren't more (ie any!)
group sprints restricted to three-year-olds, the pattern
committee need to sort this out. In the previous race the
James Bethell trained Mine defied top
weight to land the £45,339 Bunbury Cup for a
record-breaking third time (he has also been runner-up
once). This is an excellent performance and the gallant
eight year old may now be aimed at group races, after one
more handicap effort. At York another Sir Robert Ogden
owned, Jeremy Noseda trained, filly triumped in a Group
race - this time with La Chunga winning the Summer Stakes
G3 - another top class filly to grace
the Sicklinghall Stud
paddocks when her racing career is over. David
Barker won with Gallantry in the following race,
whilst the race after that, the £11,659 John West Tuna
Handicap, was landed for the umpteenth time by a Mark
Johnston runner, this time Luberon. Evening
racing at Chester saw Tim Pitt land the
£10,094 Highstreetvouchers.com Conditions Stakes with
Not For Me, to make a Red Letter day for him and his
team, whilst the Karl Burke trained Vale
of Belvoir was also a winner. Hamilton's evening card was
dominated by the Yorkshire raiders with wins for Tim
Etherington (Urbe Condita), Richard
Fahey (Baby Barry), Mark Johnston (Adaptation)
and Alan Swinbank (Bronze Dancer) but
unfortunately six Yorkshire runners in the £21,812 John
Smith's Scottish Stewards Cup Handicap 'only' yielded a
second place for the David Nicholls trained
Machinist. |
| 13/07/2006 |
A much better effort by the Tyke raiders at HQ today.
In the second race, the July Stakes G2, Mark
Johnston's Armigerent continued his run of
runner-up placings, albeit in much better company this
time, finishing one place ahead of stablemate Dubai's
Touch. The next was the £31,160 Blandford Bloodstock
Joss Collins Handicap and this saw the Alan
Swinbank trained Formal Decree complete his
three-timer in excellent style, who knows what awaits
this lovely horse. The following race, and the main race
on today's card, was the Princess of Wales's Stakes G2
and here the Mark Johnston trained Soapy
Danger completed his group race double in nice style,
although that King George entry is still looking a trifle
optimistic - Mark, give the poor horse a rest and bring
him back for the Great Voltigeur followed by the St
Leger! The winner's stablemate Bandari was last, ie.
fourth, but was not too far back and this is one of the
seven year olds better performances for some time. The
last race saw a Yorkshire 2-3-4 courtesy of the David
Nicholls' top weighted pair Handsome Cross and
Fast Heart, with Richard Fahey's Kings
College Boy taking the final placing. The more mundane
surroundings of Warwick saw a winner for John
Quinn. |
| 12/07/2006 |
A quiet day for the Yorkshire raiders at Newmarket's
July meeting today, although the Newmarket trained Sander
Camillo, who won the Cherry Hinton Stakes G2,
will no doubt make her way to owner Sir Robert Ogden's Sicklinghall Stud
when her racing days are over. It wasn't even a
particularly good day more locally at Catterick where Micky
Hammond provided the sole Yorkshire trained
winner. |
| 08/07/2006 |
From a Yorkshire perspective the main action today
took place on the wrong side of the Pennines at Haydock
where the Alan Swinbank trained
Ouninpohja put up a sterling effort under top weight to
be second in the £52,972 Old Newton Cup Handicap. The
following race was the £12,464 Casino 36 Stockport
Classic Conditions Stakes (some of these race names ...!)
which finally saw a return to winning ways for the Tim
Easterby trained (and Scampston bred and Sledmere raised) Somnus, this was
his first win since October 2004, and hopefully marks a
serious return to form, although his winning margin was a
mere short head. Kevin Ryan's King
Orchisois won the next race, the £11,335 Duke of
Lancaster's Own Yeomanry Stakes. The day's premier
meeting was at Sandown and here, of the Yorkshire
trainers, it was Mark Johnston who came
away with the best results - Winged d'Argent having
finished third in the Addleshaw Goddard Stakes L and
Road To Love winning the last. At Beverley there were
winners for Mark Johnston, George Moore and
Noel Wilson. Evening racing at Carlisle
saw winners for Mark Johnston (making an
across-the-cards treble), Bryan Smart, Richard
Fahey, Kevin Ryan and John Quinn whilst
the evening meeting at Nottingham saw a winner for Mick
Easterby in the opener. |
| 07/07/2006 |
Today's main meeting is at Sandown where the feature
race is the Gala Stakes L which is won
by Kandidate, jointly bred by the Providence & Foston Studs , with Alan
Swinbank's Alfie Flits back in third. Meanwhile
at Southwell Pickering trainer Alan Brown (former top
class National Hunt ridder of Night Nurse amongst others)
wins the opener with Miss Mujahid Times, his second
winner since recommencing his training career earlier
this year. On the same card David Barron's California
Laws won the last, whilst Mark Johnston's Raslan
was amongst the winners over at Warwick. Evening racing
at Haydock sees winners for Tim Etherington and
John Quinn whilst at Beverley there are
winners for Richard Fahey, Kevin Ryan and
Chris Thornton. |
| 06/07/2006 |
The past few days have seen plenty of minor Yorkshire
winners, but there was something a little bigger today
when Richard Fahey's Ball O Malt took
the £19,518 Renault Vans Galway Plate Trial Handicap
Chase at Perth this afternoon. Not surprisingly the
Galway Plate or Market Rasen's Summer Plate are amongst
the intended targets for this consistent 10 year old
chaser. On the flat today there was a winner at Haydock
for Karl Burke, at Yarmouth for Mark
Johnston and at Epsom for Richard
Whitaker, who's Steel Blue won the main race on
the evening card. |
| 03/07/2006 |
The main racing news today was that, depsite my
predictions last year, three jockeys and others have been
charged with various offences, mostly specifically
conspiracy to defraud. The charges relate to race fixing
and all three jockeys have Yorkshire connections being
Kieren Fallon (ex jockey to Jimmy Fitzgerald and
Lynda Ramsden), Darren Williams (lives
in Leyburn) and Fergal Lynch (lives in
Boroughbridge). The only silver lining is that Middleham
trainer Karl Burke, who is having an
excellent season, has been released without charge,
having been on bail since September 2004. The more usual
events saw winners at Pontefract for David
Barron, Mark Johnston, Richard Fahey and Richard
Whitaker, at Wolverhampton for Patrick
Haslam and Mick Easterby and at
Musselburgh's evening meeting for John Weymes and
David Nicholls. |
| 02/07/2006 |
A somewhat quieter day on the flat, with a few
unplaced Yorkshire runners on the Irish Derby card at the
Curragh. The sole flat winner eventually came courtesy of
Mark Johnston's Raslan at Warwick,
although Karl Burke's promising filly
Princess Ileana put up a good performance to be second in
one of the main races at Windsor. Over jumps at Uttoxeter
however Sue Smith's useful Omni Cosmo
Touch put up an excellent effort to be second in the
£45,072 Britannia National Handicap Chase L
and Alan Swinbank's Little Lu won
the bumper on the same card. |
| 01/07/2006 |
An excellent day for the Yorkshire trained horses
especially at Newcastle. Up on Tyneside the proceedings
started in the best possible fashion with Tim
Easterby's Fayr Jag finally returning to winning
ways when taking the Chipchase Stakes G3. The
harder ground suits this tough gelding (unlike his stable
companion Somnus) and he looked very fit in the parade
ring, the plan now is to aim for the July Cup. In the
same race David Barker's Celtic Mill was
third and Richard Fahey's Philharmonic
fourth. The second race was the £18,696 Totescoop6
Northern Sprint Handicap and this saw a Yorkshire 1-3-4
with David Nicholl's Indian Trial coming
home in front and his stable mate Ice Planet taking third
place ahead of David Barron's My Gacho.
The big race of the day was the so-called "Pitman's
Derby" - the £123,320 Northumberland Plate Handicap
and this was won in good style by George Moore's Toldo,
with Richard Fahey's Greenwich Meantime
back in third. Toldo led most of the way to win by a neck
and a short head and this is George Moore's biggest
victory since landing the same race with Highflying back
in 1993. The winner is likely to skip the Ebor and may
eventually run in the Cesarewitch. The fourth race, the
£12,464 Doug Moscrop Journal Handicap went to David
Barron's Imperial Echo. The fifth saw a very
promising debut win by the Mark Johnston trained
Champery whilst the seventh went to Alan
Swinbank's Prince Evelith. Only the sixth race
went outside Yorkshire and even then Mark
Johnston's In Full Cry was second ahead of Mick
Easterby's Trouble Mountain - a fantastic
Pitman's Derby Day for the Tyke raiders! Down at Windsor Mark
Johnston's Prince of Light made a very promising
seasonal debut (off the track for 274 days) when
finishing second in the Totepool Midsummer Stakes L,
although the discovery after the race of yet another foot
problem for this likeable colt was a little worrying.
Later on the card Johnston scored
another winner when Luberon took the £12,464 Totecourse
Handicap. Newmarket's meeting saw Alan Swinbank's
Ouninpohja finish a good second in the Fred
Archer Stakes L, albeit beaten four
lengths. Over the Irish Sea at The Curragh Alan
Swinbank's stable star Collier Hill put up his
usual plucky performance to finish second in the Curragh
Cup G2, denied victory by only a head, Karl
Burke's Akaram was back in fourth. Kevin
Ryan got in on the winner-fest when his Harry Up
won at Wolverhampton's evening meeting. |
| 30/06/2006 |
Afternoon racing sees wins for Tim Easterby and
James Hetherton at Wolverhampton and for
John Wainwright and Sue Smith at
Market Rasen. The big meeting of the day however is
Newcastle's evening card and here David Nicholls win
the main race on the card, the £18,696 Gosforth Park
Cup, with Peace Offering, the gelding's first win for
four years! There were also wins at Newcastle for the
in-form duo of Alan Swinbank and David
Barron. |
| 29/06/2006 |
Day one of Newcastle's Northumberland Plate meeting
and Yorkshire accrue a good opening tally of five wins
thanks to Tim Easterby, Brian Ellison (a
double), David Barron (Flipando in the
main race of the day - the £18,696 Seaton Delaval
Handicap) and Karl Burke. Evening racing
up at Hamilton sees a winner for Mark Johnston. |
| 26/06/2006 |
A treble up at Musselburgh for David Barron courtesy
of Esoterica, Ingleby Princess and the Garrowby Stud bred Carnivore. David
Chapman also had a winner in Scotland whilst Tim
Pitt won the maiden at Wolverhampton. |
| 25/06/2006 |
An excellent day at Pontefract for the locals with Alan
Swinbank's Alfie Flits easily winning the
Pontefract Castle Stakes L on only his
third start on the flat and David Barron's Mistress
Twister landing the £28,044 Totepool Fillies' Heritage
Handicap - the two main races on the card. The supporting
races at Ponty saw a double for Karl Burke whilst
there were National Hunt winners at Hexham for Sue
Smith and Kate Walton. |
| 24/06/2006 |
Another good day at Royal Ascot for the Tykes, and
for one trainer in particular. Events started reasonably
well with Mark Johnston's colt Middleham
not disgraced when third in the opening Chesham Stakes L.
Bandari was plum last in the next race, the Hardwicke
Stakes, showing that my musings don't always come true!
The third race however was the Golden Jubilee Stakes G1
and here we saw an excellent Yorkshire trained
1-2 with Tim Pitt's Les Arc coming home
just in front of the fast finishing Balthazaar's Gift,
trained by Kevin Ryan. Thus in his first
full season of training Bawtry handler Pitt has won his
very first Group One race - an absolutely incredible
performance, especially when you consider that he has
also won the Chester Cup with Admiral, not to mention the
a string of valuable races with Les Arc himself - his run
of five wins earlier in the year culminating in the
Cammidge Trophy L, relocated to Redcar.
After a decent second in the Abernant Stakes L at
Newmarket Les Arc seemed to go off the boil somewhat in
his next two races (including the King's Stand earlier at
this meeting) but has now more than made up for it ! Tim
Pitt therefore joins the ever-increasing list of active
Yorkshire trainers who have trained a Group One winner -
the list is now David Barron, Mick Easterby, Tim
Easterby, Patrick Haslam, Mark Johnston, David Nicholls,
Tim Pitt, Kevin Ryan and Alan Swinbank, in
addition Bryan Smart trained a Group One
winner when based 'down south'. In the
Wokingham David Nicholls' Bahamian
Pirate and Robin Bastiman's Borderlescott
ran good races to be third and fourth respectively. Up at
Ayr Richard Fahey's Tagula Sunrise won
the main race on the card, the £28,044 Coral Fillies'
Heritage Handicap, ahead of David Barron's Dispol
Katie and Julie Camacho's Miss Meggy.
Earlier Fahey's Greenwich Meantime had
won the opener, whilst Mark Johnston and
Mick Easterby also had winners in
Scotland. Closer to home at Redcar there were winners for
Tim Easterby (Go Tech in the main,
£11,659 Handicap), Bryan Smart and David
Nicholls. Amazingly the evening meeting at
Warwick saw another good result for Tim Pitt when
his Ooh Aah Camara picked up black type when finishing
third in the Eternal Stakes L, remember
this is a trainer who has only had 15 horses run for him ever,
and one is a Group One winner, another has won a major
handicap, and another is a black type performer! |
| 23/06/2006 |
Yesterday I extended the hypothesis, admittedly more
in hope than expectation, that the Mark Johnston team
may be finally coming back into form - and then today his
horses win the last three races at Royal Ascot ! This
remarkable feat was kicked off by I'm So Lucky landing
the £31,229 Wolferton Handicap L, with
stablemate Crosspeace (carrying significantly more
weight) a gallant third. The next race was the Queen's
Vase G3, something of a Johnston benefit
race, and this time it was Soapy Danger who came home in
front for Johnston, talk of the King George at Ascot can
perhaps be put down to post-race euphoria, and the St
Leger seems a more likely long term target, no doubt
taking in the usual prep races at Goodwood and York. The
last race was the King George V Handicap (also something
of a Johnston benefit) and the Johnston victor here was
Linas Selection owned, liked Soapy Danger (and Patrick
Haslam's Maroussies Wings from yesterday) by the Jacob's
family of Newsells Park Stud in Hertfordshire.
What odds now on old-timer Bandari in the Hardwicke
tomorrow? Earlier on the card the first race, the Albany
Stakes G3 was won by Sander Camillo who,
whilst not trained or bred in Yorkshire, does have strong
'Tyke' links as she is owned (like last years winner La
Chunga) by Sir Robert Ogden, of the Sicklinghall Stud. Mark
Johnston should have had another winner up at
Redcar but jockey Stanley Chin dropped his hands up in
the closing strides on newcomer Hyperalert, who was
consequently overtaken at the line, which won't go down
well at Kingsley House! It was thus left to Richard
Whitaker and Ronnie Barr to
bring home the winners from Teeside, whilst up in
Scotland there was a double for Jedd O'Keeffe
and winners for Karl Burke and Richard
Fahey. |
| 22/06/2006 |
Kevin Ryan finally got his Royal
Ascot winner on Day Three when stable stalwart Uhoomagoo
triumphed in the last race on the card, the £34,276
Buckingham Palace Handicap. Earlier Patrick
Haslam's Maroussies Wings ran yet another good
race to be third (beaten a neck and 3/4 of a length) in
the Ribblesdale Stakes G2, surely she
will be lowered in class now to get that elusive
black-type win? Perhaps the Mark Johnston horses
are coming back into form as today saw two wins at Ripon
and a further two at Beverley for the Kingsley House
trainer, and these included two 1-2's. John Quinn
and Brian Ellison also had wins
at Ripon, whilst Chris Fairhurst, Richard Fahey and
David Barron were the other Yorkshire
winners at Beverley's evening meeting. |
| 21/06/2006 |
Royal Ascot, Day Two, and although there is no
Yorkshire trained winner today we do instead see the
return to form of the Yorkshire bred (by Elite Racing
Club at Star
Cottage Stud) Soviet Song who wins the Windsor Forest
Stakes G2 in excellent style to show
that she still retains her ability after a shaky seasonal
debut. There are however Yorkshire winners at Hamilton
thanks to a double from Mark Johnston and
a win for John Quinn whilst evening
racing at Ripon saw wins for Tim Easterby and
Anne Duffield. |
| 20/06/2006 |
Royal Ascot, 2006, Day One, Race One - the first race
of the 'new look' Ascot and, somewhat appropriately given
the location of the meeting last year, the winner is
trained in Yorkshire ! Whilst many have been predicting
great things from Kevin Ryan's string at
this year's Ascot is was actually his next door neighbour
at Hambleton Bryan Smart who provided
the winner of the opening Coventry Stakes G2 with
his Hellvelyn making it three wins from as many starts,
this was Smart's second Group Two win
since his move to Yorkshire in late 2002, the first being
Monsieur Bond in 2004's Duke Of York Stakes, although
Misu Bond's victory in last years Totepool Two-Year-Old
Trophy remains the most financially rewarding victory.
After this stirring opening effort the Tyke trained
'osses didn't really trouble the judge and it was left to
Mick Easterby, David Barron, Tim Easterby (a
double) and Edwin Tuer to provide the
rest of the days winners - closer to home at Thirsk. |
| 18/06/2006 |
A good day at York (unlike yesterday) with wins for Richard
Fahey, David Barron, Kevin Ryan (Don Pele who
led a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the main race) and Brian
Ellison. |
| 16/06/2006 |
A double at York for Richard Fahey (including
Ski Jump in the £11,659 HSS Hire Handicap) where Kevin
Ryan had earlier won the opener. Meanwhile at
Nottingham there are wins for Mark Johnston,
James Bethell and the seriously in-form Alan
Swinbank. |
| 14/06/2006 |
Although picking up black type for finishing third Bryan
Smart's Misu Bond was really a dissapointment in
the Ballycorus Stakes G3 at Leopardstown
this evening. Earlier Nigel Tinkler, John
Wainwright (his first for nearly 3 months),
John Quinn and Kevin Ryan had
winners at Beverley, with winners up at Hamilton for Allan
Dickman, Alan Swinbank, Mark Johnston, Richard Fahey and
Karl Burke. |
| 12/06/2006 |
The Karl Burke trained filly
Imperialistic picked up some very useful black type when
finishing third (only narrowly missing out on second) in
the Pipalong Stakes L at Pontefract
where there a distinct lack of local runners meant the
only Yorkshire winner was Alan Swinbank's Formal
Decree in the prior race. |
| 10/06/2006 |
Yet more winners with David Nicholls' leading
the way when he has a 1-2-4 in the £31,160 GNER Scottish
Sprint Cup Heritage Handicap at Musselburgh with Handsome
Cross coming home just in front of Peace Offering. On the
same card Alan Swinbank's Ouninpohja
gains some additional 'black type' when second in the
Designer Chris Clyne & Pam Jenkins Grand Cup L
and another win for Nicholls and
one for David Barron make it a double
for Nicholls and a treble for the Thirsk
trainers! Over in Lancashire there is some faint glimmer
of hope on Mark Johnston's horizon when
Soapy Danger wins the opening £15,580 Nicholas Whittle
Communications Handicap, his first winner for 8 days in
what, to date, has been a dissapointing season - the
lesser winners have been flowing but most of the horses
seem to be running some way below expectations. George
Moore doubles up for Middleham at Haydock when
taking the last and the Ian McInnes trained
Fiefdom wins the second race at Lingfield. |
| 08/06/2006 |
Another good day today with the David Chapman
trained Quito landing the John Of Gaunt Stakes L
at Haydock in good style, this nine year old
just keeps on going. Earlier on the same card Nigel
Tinkler had won the opener (with the Hedgeholme Stud
bred Picture Frame) whilst there were also winners for David
Barron and Mick Easterby. Further
afield there was a winners for Richard Whitaker (who
is quietly having an excellent season) and Linda
Stubbs at Hamilton and over fences for Sue
Smith at Uttoxeter. |
| 07/06/2006 |
Evening racing at Leopardstown sees David
Barker's Mecca's Mate run yet another good race
to the third in the Ballyogan Stakes G3. Ripon
again come up trumps with wins for James Bethell,
Ann Duffield, Richard Fahey (Grey Box in the
main race) and Richard Whitaker, whilst Tim
Etherington had a juvenille winner at Nottingham
and Micky Hammond won the bumper at
Sedgefield. |
| 06/06/2006 |
A better display by the locals at today's Yorkshire
meeting with Nigel Tinkler (Bright Sun),
Kevin Ryan (Desert Commander in the
feature race) and Mick Easterby (Zarova)
all landing wins at Ripon. Karl Burke's Million
Percent won the claimer at Lingfield. |
| 05/06/2006 |
A Bank Holiday pretty much everywhere apart from
Britain and over in Ireland Kevin Ryan's Amber
Valley in only denied the runner-up spot by a head when
finishing third in the Swordlestown Stud Sprint Stakes G3
at Naas' evening meeting. There is only one local winner
on Thirsk's evening card with Mick Easterby taking
the opener with his homebred filly Emma Told Lies.
Earlier in the day Yorkshire trainers had won the first
and last at Leicester courtesy of Kevin Ryan's Soviet
Palace and Richard Fahey's Whitethorne. |
| 04/06/2006 |
A Yorkshire 1-3-4 in one of the main supporting races
of the French Derby card at Chantilly with the David
Nicholls trained Moss Vale winning the Prix du
Gros-Chene G2 and the same stables Tax
Free back in third and Kevin Ryan's Balthazar's
Gift in fourth place. The winner seems certain to go for
the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot next, having
scored two group wins on the trot. Domestically Alan
Swinbank's Barton Belle won the bumper at
Southwell, the closing race, to ensure there was at least
one Yorkshire trained winner in England today. |
| 03/06/2006 |
Derby Day on Epsom Downs, and another year passes
with no Yorkshire winner when the Mark Johnston trained
outside chance Atlantic Waves led for the first three
furlongs but then gradually fell back into the pack. A
good day as a whole for the Yorkshire trainers however,
and specifically for Kevin Ryan who's
Sadeek (pictured below winning at York) won the Woodcote
Stakes L , with the Mark
Johnston trained Always Fruitful back in third,
and now heads for the Coventry at Royal Ascot, having
proven himself on both good and soft going. Two races
later it was Ryan again when his second string Desert
Lord brought home a Yorkshire 1-2-3-4 ahead of Bryan
Smart's Bond City, David Nicholls' Continent
and David Barker's Sierra Vista in the
£46,740 Vodafone Dash Heritage Handicap. Sue
Smith and Patrick Haslam had
winners at Hexham whilst Karl Burke had
another winning debutante at Musselburgh and quickly
followed up with a winner at Southwell's evening meeting
where David Barron's Hillbilly Cat won
for the second time in four days. |
| 02/06/2006 |
Oaks Day at Epsom and there are no Yorkshire runners
in the back race, a tiny Yorkshire connection however as
the breeder of second placed Rising Cross, Cumbrian
resident John Wills, was one of the partnership who ran
the Thornton Stud for a number
of years. Yorkshires best result on day one of the
meeting came from Richard Fahey's Look
Again who picked up £13,995 for finishing second in the
Rose Bowl Heritage Handicap, David Nicholls' Shot
To Fame and David Barron's King Of The
Moors were both placed third in their respective races.
Away from the big meeting there were winners for Karl
Burke, Mark Johnston, Alan Swinbank and Kevin
Ryan at Catterick, Swinbank doubled-up
with a winner at Wolverhampton, where Nigel
Tinkler also came home with a first place. |
| 31/05/2006 |
Another day where the primary meeting is in the
evening. Daytime racing sees a win at Yarmouth for Richard
Fahey and a double at Cartmel for Sue
Smith. The evening fixtures see wins at
Southwell for David Barron and Mark
Johnston but the days main racing is the evening
meeting at Beverley. Here the in-form Kevin
Ryan's Roxan makes an excellent racecourse debut
to land the Hilary Needler Trophy L, with
John Weymes' Just Joey back in second.
Roxan is not only one of Ryan's more expensive yearling
purchases at 160,000gns, but her victory also marks the
first win as a sire for Rock Of Gibraltar, Roxan is now
taking the traditional route for Hilary Needler winners
and aiming for the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. |
| 30/05/2006 |
Winners galore at Redcar today with horses trained by
Kevin Ryan (a double), John
Weymes, Neville Bycroft, Linda Stubbs and Kate
Walton all coming home in front. In addition at
Chepstow there was a winner for Richard Whitaker,
but the main meeting of the day was the evening card at
Sandown where the David Barker trained
Mecca's Mate (bred by the late Cherry Tagart at Melbourne Hall Stud) was
a good third in the Temple Stakes G2.
The other evening fixture at Hexham saw winners for Alan
Swinbank and Malcolm Jefferson. |
| 29/05/2006 |
At Sandown today the Mark Johnston trained
Winged d'Argent showed something approaching a return to
form when a decent second in the Henry II Stakes
G2 on the Bank Holiday card. At
Leicester Karl Burke's in-foal mare
Imperialistic wins the main race and there are also
winners for Tim Easterby and Kevin
Ryan. Meanwhile at Redcar there were winners for
Richard Fahey, Alan Swinbank and Mark
Johnston but no better placing than fourth in
the main race on the card, the Zetland Gold Cup. |
| 28/05/2006 |
The first meeting at the newly refurbished Ascot and
the second race is won by a Yorkshire trained horse when Karl
Burke's Akarem takes his second listed race in a
row when landing the Buckhounds Stakes L
by 4 lengths from Frank Sonata, who was bred at the Bishop Wilton Stud. Two
races later and things got even better for the Yorkshire
invaders when David Barron's Partners In
Jazz won the £52,972 Victoria Cup in convincing style.
This Tyke double was quickly converted into a treble when
George Moore's Toldo put up a breeding
defying performance to take the £12,464 Toni and David
Eyles Handicap. Over in Ireland it was Guineas day at the
Curragh and Yorkshire managed to gain it's second group
win of the season when the David Nicholls' trained
Moss Vale won the Greenlands Stakes G3,
with stable companion Bahamian Pirate back in fourth.
Moss Vale is sired by former Hedgeholme Stud
stallion Shinko Forest. The Yorkshire horses were also in
great form over at Haydock which saw Anne
Duffield's Prince Namid win the opening £19,431
Rectangle Group Handicap and thus provide the Constable
Burton trainer with one of the biggest wins of her
career. The next was the Sandy Lane Stakes L and
this saw David Barron complete a
top-class across-the-card double when his Skhilling
Spirit came home a neck in front of Kevin Ryan's Guto,
with Richard Fahey's Green Park (another
by Shinko Forest) back in third. The fourth race on the
card was the most valuable of the day in England, the
£63,320 totepool Silver Bowl Heritage Handicap and it
was Richard Fahey's turn for the glory
in this when Anna Pavlova came home a neck in front,
incredibly the trainer is now talking about a tilt at the
Irish Oaks! Fahey then made is a double
when Dark Charm took the next, whilst Kevin Ryan also
had a winner later on the card. Closer to home at
Catterick there was a double for Karl Burke, to
add to his Ascot success, and also winners for Mark
Johnston, Bryan Smart and Tim
Etherington. |
| 20/05/2006 |
A disappointing day after the excitement of York, the
highlight is the Lockinge at Newbury, but the best
Yorkshire result of the day comes closer to home at
Thirsk where Richard Fahey's Green Park
lands the £12,954 Thirsk Handicap from John
Quinn's Grazeon Gold Blend. Other local winning
trainers at Thirsk are Kevin Ryan, Alan Swinbank,
Bryan Smart and Karl Burke, whilst
Uncle and Nephew Mick and Tim
Easterby are amongst the winners at Nottingham. |
| 19/05/2006 |
Three more local winners on the final day of the
Dante meeting, with the first coming from Mark
Johnston's front running Peppertree Lane who
landed the second race, the £16,516 VC Caino.com
Handicap. Robin Bastiman booked his
first trip to Royal Ascot after his Borderlessscot won
the £12,954Countrywide Freight Handicap (leading a
Yorkshire 1-2-3-4) and Tim Easterby's Collateral
Damage also won the £9,716 Play VC Casino.com H. Earlier
the first race had seen Kevin Ryan's Amber
Valley finish a useful second in the Marygate Stakes L.,
presumably another on her way to Ascot. Already in
Berkshire was David Nicholls' Strike Up
The Band who was third in the Carnarvon Stakes L at
Newbury, he was only denied second place by a head. The
lesser afternoon meeting at Nottingham saw winners for Kevin
Ryan and Brian Ellison. The
evening action centred on Hamilton where there was a
Yorkshire 1-2 in the Braveheart Handicap L with
Karl Burke's Akarem coming home a neck
in front of Alan Swinbank's Ouninpohja.
There were also winners in Scotland for Kevin
Ryan and David Barron and
whilst jumps action at Aintree saw a winner for Sue
Smith. |
| 18/05/2006 |
Day two of the Dante meeting, and a bloodbath is
predicted for the local runners, as yours truly is in
attendance ! However it turns out to be an even better
day than yesterday and is kicked off in the best possible
style when David Nicholls' Trinculo wins
the opening £16,516 Totesport Handicap. In the next race
James Bethell registers one of his best
wins of his career (and Yorkshire's first group winner of
the season) when his Strawberry Dale is allowed to make
all the running in the Middleton Stakes G3
and punishes the opposition in the best way possible - a
three length victory for the Middleham filly. There is no
Yorkshire interest in the Dante itself (apart from the
reappearance of the former Kevin Ryan trained
Palace Episode who looked to have hardly grown from last
season and finished plum last) although Septimus looks a
decent horse in the making. The following race was the
Hambelton Handicap L and this yields yet
another Yorkshire trained winner when David
Barron's Zero Tolerance comes home in front by a
head. Incredibly this is not the end of the Yorkshire
successes as in the fifth race Kevin Ryan's Sadeek
beats the Aidan O'Brien trained hotpot Abraham Lincoln
and, as a result, enters contention for the Coventry at
Royal Ascot. Click pictures below for larger images (max
size 710k). Further wins up at Carlisle for Mark
Johnston, Richard Whitaker, Mick Easterby and Neville
Bycroft.
totesport.com
Handicap - Trinculo (white, green and yellow)
comes home in front under Adrian Nicholls
|
Middleton
Stakes G3 -
Strawberry Dale (noseband) springs
a surprise for Champion Jockey Jamie Spencer.
|
James
Bethell collects the trainers prize for the
Middleton Stakes G3
|
Septimus and
a delighted Kieren Fallon after
comfortably landing the Dante Stakes G2
|
Zero
Tolerance (white and red colours) flies home in
the Hambleton Stakes L
|
Sadeek (Neil
Callan) & Abraham Lincoln (Kieren Fallon)
|
|
| 17/05/2006 |
Day one of York's Dante meeting starts well for the
locals when the Mick Easterby trained
Blue Spinnaker, a real regular at this track, wins the
opening £16,516 Newton Investment Management Handicap
tidily from Richard Fahey's Look Again
and John Quinn's Focus Group. The first
group race of the meeting is the Oaks trial the Musidora
Stakes G3 and here Patrick
Haslam's Maroussies Wings is an odds-defying
third at 33-1, although as she beaten in a handicap at
Pontefract last time out it would be wise not to read too
much into this form, nevertheless it is an excellent
placing by her canny handler. The next is the Duke Of
York Stakes G2 and the winner,
Steenberg, is Newmarket trained (albeit by Yorkshireman
Mark Tompkins) but David Chapman's Quito
runs an excellent race to be second and Tim
Easterby's Somnus finally shows a return to form
to be third, indeed fourth and fifth are also Yorkshire
trained as well ! The next race sees second and third go
to Chris Thornton's Lets Roll and Tim
Easterby's Tcherina respectively. |
| 13/05/2006 |
Mark Johnston's Baan is an odds
defying third in the Lingfield Derby Trial G3
this afternoon, albeit some way behind the leading pair. Richard
Fahey's Look Again is second in the main race at
Newmarket whilst there are winners at Beverley for Ann
Duffield (a double), Brian Ellison
and Kevin Ryan (another double). Even
racing at Thirsk sees winners for Mick Easterby and
Kevin Ryan. |
| 12/05/2006 |
Another Chester winner, this time James
Bethell's Stretton wins the last, with Tim
Easterby's Collateral Damage and David
Nicholls' both having claimed second places
earlier on the card. There is win at Lingfield for Richard
Whitaker whilst David Barron had
a double at Hamilton (including the main race with
Ingleby Arch) where Mark Johnston also
had a winner. It was announced today that Middleham
trainer Ferdy Murphy has recruited
leading National Hunt jockey Graham Lee to his team,
following that pilot's split from the Graham Wylie/Howard
Johnson team. |
| 11/05/2006 |
Incredibly Tim Pitt struck again at
Chester today when the heavily gambled on Ooh Aah Camara
came home to win the last race, the £10,039 Senior
Wright Handicap, by 2 heads, 2 necks and a head -
certainly a blanket finish! Earlier David
Nicholls' Merlin's Dancer had won the £15,142
Betfred Handicap by a more comfortable 3/4 length.
Elsewher Nigel Tinkler was amongst the
winners at Yarmouth whilst Linda Stubbs and
John Quinn had wins at Hamilton. |
| 10/05/2006 |
First season trainer Tim Pitt, based
in Bawtry, cements the excellent start to his training
career when Admiral (he of the disintegrating feet) lands
the £74,784 Chester Cup, with Richard Fahey's Greenwich
Meantime back in third. The last Yorkshire trainer to
have a debut season as good as Pitt was a certain Kevin
Ryan who's Divine Gift won the next race, the
£13,249 Breitling Watches & Waltons Of Chester
Handicap. There were Yorkshire winners for Neville
Bycroft, Alan Swinbank and Karl Burke up
at Newcastle whilst Ripon's evening meeting sees winners
for Mark Johnston, Richard Fahey and
Tim Easterby (Dazzling Bay in the £9,348 Nick
Wilmot-Smith Memorial Handicap). |
| 07/05/2006 |
Guineas day two and Mark Johnston's old-timer
Bandari shows he's lost non of his enthusiasm when a
decent third on his seasonal debut in the Jockey Club
Stakes G2 at Newmarket. Hamilton is
dominated by the Yorkshire raiders with a double for Brian
Ellison as well as winners for Mick
Easterby, David Barron and Micky
Hammond. |
| 06/05/2006 |
Guineas day and the Yorkshire raiders are not
completely disgraced in the big race with Bryan
Smart's Misu Bond finishing a strong fifth and Kevin
Ryan's Amadeus Wolf a slightly dissapointing
seventh. Earlier David Nicholls' Tax
Free had made a nice seasonal debut to be third in the
the Palace House Stakes G3, and in the
race after the 2,000 Guineas Kevin Ryan's Mutamared
won the £31,160 stanjamesuk.com Handicap from Nicholls'
Ice Planet. Elsewhere the mixed card at Haydock
sees Richard Fahey's Saif Sareea finish
third in the Betfred Handicap Hurdle Gd3.
This gelding was bred by Mrs.Beddis at Melbourne Hall Stud, and
was a winner on the flat at Musselburgh on Thursday! The
following race is the slightly farcical site of the three
runner listed race when Fahey's Philharmonic
is second and Ryan's My Paris third in
the Spring Trophy Stakes L. There is a
double at Thirsk for Tim Easterby and
also a winner for Mark Johnston. Sue
Smith and Noel Wilson both have
winners at Uttoxeter. |
| 05/05/2006 |
A good haul of minor winners today (nine in fact) for
the Yorkshire trainers, rather like yesterday (eleven
winners) in fact, however special mention must go to
young Middleham trainer John Weymes who
had a double at Musselburgh today (Welcome Approach in
the opener and Attacca in the last) as well as a winner
at Wolverhampton (Grand View). |
| 03/05/2006 |
Two stakes placings for the Tykes at Lingfield with Mark
Johnston's Hearthstead Wings running one of his
better races over two miles by finishing third in the
Sagaro Stakes G3. The prior race was the
Pavilion Stakes L in which David
Nicholls' Strike Up The Band was a useful third.
There were winners for Johnston and Tim
Easterby closer to home at Pontefract. |
| 01/05/2006 |
Given the domestic Bank Holiday card it seems
appropriate that Yorkshire's most significant results of
the day all occur over the water at the Curragh. Events
start well when Karl Burke's Chjimes is
second, beaten only a head, in the Coolmore Stakes L
at the Curragh - the first juvenille stakes race
of the season in the British Isles. Later on the same
card Bryan Smart's Sir Xaar makes up for
his poor show at Newmarket when he is also second, in the
Tetrarch Stakes G3. There is yet more
strong placings to come when Karl Burke's Near
Dock has another good run for his new handler when third
in the Mooresbridge Stakes G3.
Interestingly both the Burke horses are owned by
Mrs.Gitins (Chjimes in partnership). Elsewhere the usual
boring Bank Holiday fayre, with wins at Newcastle for David
Nicholls, David Barron and Richard
Whitaker whilst over jumps at Sedgefield Ferdy
Murphy and John Quinn are the
Yorkshire winners. |
| 29/04/2006 |
Yet more third places in Group company down at
Sandown with Richard Fahey's Kings Point
occupying that position in the betfred.com Mile G2
and Mark Johnston's Baan filling the
same place in the Betfred Classic Trial G3, the
later beaten only a neck and a head. Numerous Yorkshire
placings at Leicester, the most important of which were
the second and third places that fell to Richard
Fahey's Philharmonic and David Chapman's
Quito in the Leicestershire Stakes L .
The local meeting of the day came at Ripon and here there
were winners for Richard Fahey (with
Greenwich Meantime in the feature race), Kevin
Ryan and Mark Johnston. Evening
racing at Haydock sees Kevin Ryan's Amber
Valley win the opener and a later winner for Ann
Duffield. |
| 28/04/2006 |
Mark Johnston's Crosspeace finishes
third in the Gordon Richards Stakes G3
at Sandown, denied second place only by a neck.
Incredibly this was his fifth run of 2006. Later on the
same card Johnston had a much needed
winner when Linas Selection took the last race in good
style. Up at Perth Ferdy Murphy's Noir
Et Vert won the Conditionals Hurdle. |
| 22/04/2006 |
No luck for Yorkshire in Newbury's Spring Cup,
although David Barron's Trance was a
winner later on the card. Similarly there was no
Yorkshire victory in the Scottish National Gd3
at Ayr although Sue Smith's Royal
Emperor ran an excellent race to finish third in a tight
finish. Thankfully the locals won both of the main races
at Thirsk with Tom Tate's Welsh Emperor
taking the £11,218 Michael Foster Memorial Conditions
Stakes on his seasonal reappearance, and Kevin
Ryan's Guto landing the £11,659 Thomas Lord
Handicap on his first run for the Hambleton trainer.
Earlier Thirsk has seen another local winner when Richard
Fahey's Greenwich Meantime won the 3:40. In
other news Mark Johnston's Nakheel will
miss the first half of the season, and thus the classics
for which he was amongst the favourites, after suffering
a stress fracture of the pelvis on the gallops, some
reports suggest he may be back in time for the Derby, but
this seems somewhat optimistic. Evening racing at
Nottingham sees wins for Karl Burke and David
Barron, with Burke doubling up
with a winner at Wolverhampton. |
| 20/04/2006 |
Craven meeting, day three and there are two Yorkshire
winners with Atlantic Waves' victory in the Feilden
Stakes L for Mark Johnston coming
after David Barron's Ingleby Arch had
won the £11,659 Exning Handicap. The first five in the
Feilden finished a short head, neck, short head and neck
apart, however Atlantic Waves put up a decent front
running performance over a distance that is possibly
already too short for him. There were also two Yorkshire
winners locally at Ripon courtesy of Mark
Johnston and Tim Easterby. So
after my comments about the lack of Johnston winners the
Kingsley House team has now knocked in three in two days,
including a recognised classic trial, luckily I never
claimed to be a tipster ! Over jumps Andy Crook's
Jonty's Lass is second in the Yorkshire Bank
Mares Only Handicap Hurdle L at
Cheltenham. |
| 19/04/2006 |
Day two of Newmarket's Craven meeting sees a winner
in one of the main races of the day when Bryan
Smart's Misu Bond came home a neck in front in
the European Free Handicap L, having
overcome the trauma of being reshod twice - once in the
pre-parade ring, and once down at the start! The winner
is now priced at a maximum of 50-1 for the 2,000 Guineas.
Winners at Beverley for David Nicholls (a
double including Trinculo in the £9,068 Flying Five
Handicap), Mark Johnston and Tim
Easterby. Back to Newmarket and Tattersalls sees
Oaks Farm Stables
son of Danehill Dancer sell for 200,000gns at the
Breeze-Up Sales. |
| 18/04/2006 |
The bank holiday action sees Yorkshire trained
winners at Redcar (Kevin Ryan, David
Barron, Tim Easterby, Julie Camacho and Patrick
Haslam), Warwick (John Weymes),
Yarmouth (Kevin Ryan), Fakenham (Alan
Swinbank) and Sedgefield (John Quinn,
Kate Milligan and a Ferdy Murphy double). |
| 16/04/2006 |
The middle day of the Bank Holiday, and Yorkshire
winners galore at Musselburgh with Noel Wilson,
Kevin Ryan (a double) and David Barron all
making the trip home having gained victories. Not many Mark
Johnston winners yet this season, although it's
very much early days, and news today that his Nakheel
(high up in many lists for the Guineas and the Derby)
will no longer be doing a racecourse gallop at Newmarket
during the Craven meeting, this option having previously
been suggested. Kevin Ryan's Amadeus
Wolf (3rd favourite for the Guineas) will make the trip
to Newmarket, having already had a racecourse gallop on
the all-weather at Southwell. |
| 15/04/2006 |
Kandidate, who was bred in Yorkshire by a partnership
comprising the Providence
and Foston Studs,
wins another major race when landing the £31,160
Rosebery Handicap at Kempton this afternoon, despite
carrying top weight. Later on the same card Karl
Burke's new recruit Near Dock (Group placed when
trained in Germany last year, but now owned by major
Burke owner Mrs.Gittins) is third in the Magnolia Stakes L.
Over jumps at Carlisle Sue Smith's Undeniable
(who was placed in the Kim Muir last time out) led a
Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £13,012 Sportsman's Handicap
Chase, whilst at Haydock there was another winner for Sue
Smith and also wins for Malcolm
Jefferson and Tom Tate. |
| 07/04/2006 |
Yorkshire makes a small dent on the Aintree festival
when Tom Tate's The Duke's Speech is a
distant third in the John Smith's Imagine Appeal Top
Novices Hurdle Gd 2. |
| 26/03/2006 |
And so to Market Rasen where Sue Smith's Little
Big Horse wins the main race of the day, the £14,313
Rase Veterinary Centre Handicap Chase, and Mick
Easterby's Bang And Blame wins the next. |
| 25/03/2006 |
What a day, I'm not sure how we'll survive if the
whole season continues in this style! Other events
notwithstanding pride of place today must go to the old
cripple Collier Hill who ran a fantastic race to scoop
second place (and with it £581,395 for connections) for
trainer Alan Swinbank in the Dubai
Sheema Classic G1 at Nad Al Sheba. This
was a brilliant effort and, incredibly, makes him the
winningmost horse trained in Yorkshre, ever, overtaking
Attraction (who's reign was a lot shorter than now-third
placed Teleprompter!) and making him Yorkshire's first
millionaire. The all-time table now looks like this;
| Horse |
Trainer |
Amount |
Best Performances |
| Collier Hill |
Alan Swinbank |
£1,052,737 |
Irish St Leger G1,
Gerling-Preis G2, Stockholm Cup
International G3, Elnadim H, Old
Newton Cup H., 2nd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1,
Deutschlandpreis Preis G1,
3rd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1 |
| Attraction |
Mark Johnston |
£899,597 |
1,000 Guineas G1, Irish
1,000 Guineas G1, Coronation
S G1, Sun Chariot S G1,
Matron S G1, Cherry Hinton S G2,
Queen Mary S G3, 2nd.Matron
Stakes G1, Falmouth S G1
etc. |
| Teleprompter |
Bill Watts |
£758,536 |
Arlington Million G1, Queen
Elizabeth II S G2, Prix Quincey G3,
Desmond S G3, Pacemaker
International S. G3 (x2),
2nd.Queen Elizabeth II S. G2
(x2), Lockinge S G2, 3rd.Eclipse
S. G1 |
| Yavana's Pace |
Mark Johnston |
£722,656 |
Credit Suisse Private Banking Pokal G1,
Prix du Conseil de Paris G2, Prix
Gladiateur G3, 2nd.WGZ
Bank-Deutschlandpreis G1, Preis
von Europa G1, Irish St Leger G1
etc. |
| Somnus |
Tim Easterby |
£671,798 |
Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup G1,
Prix Maurice de Gheest G1, Prix
de la Foret G1, betabet Two Year
Old Trophy, £200,000 St Leger Yearling Sales
Stakes, 2nd.Sprint Cup G1 |
| Fruits Of Love |
Mark Johnston |
£607,115 |
Hardwicke S G2 (x2), Dubai
Turf Classic, Princess of Wales's S G2,
2nd.Canadian Int'l G1, 3rd.King
George VI & Queen Elizabeth II S. G1,
Grosser Preis von Baden G1 |
| Double Trigger |
Mark Johnston |
£559,100 |
Ascot Gold Cup G1, Goodwood
Cup G3 (x3), Doncaster Cup G3
(x2), Henry II S G3 (x2), Sagaro
S G3 (x2), St.Leger Italiano G3,
2nd.Ascot Gold Cup G1 (x2),
3rd.St Leger G1 |
| Bandari |
Mark Johnston |
£531,844 |
Hardwicke Stakes G2,
Princess of Wales's S G2, Great
Voltigeur S G2, Gordon S G3,
Brigadier Gerard S G3, Lingfield
Derby Trial G3,
2nd.Rheinland-Pokal G1, 3rd.St
Leger G1 |
| Scott's View |
Mark Johnston |
£524,228 |
Magnolia S L, Serlby S L,
3rd.Queen Elizabeth II Cup G1,
Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Grosser
Mercedes-Benz Preis G2 etc. |
| Bollin Eric |
Tim Easterby |
£506,196 |
St.Leger G1, Lonsdale S G3,
2nd.Hardwicke S G2, King Edward
VII S G2, Dante S G2,
3rd.Yorkshire Cup G2, 4th.King
George VI & Queen Elizabeth II Diamond S.G1 |
Somewhat closer to home events start well at Redcar,
which is hosting Lincoln Day, with Mick
Easterby's Mezuzah leading a Yorkshire 1-2-3-4
in the opening £16,426 William Hill Spring Mile
Handicap. Two races later it is the £62,320 Lincoln
Handicap itself and this almost sees another Yorkshire
clean sweep with John Quinn's new
recruit Blythe Knight coming home ahead of Mark
Johnston's fast finishing Royal Island, with David
Barron's Zero Tolerance back in fourth. This is
the biggest win of Quinn's career, which seems ready to
move to another level now that he has moved part of his
string to the famous Highfield Stables in Malton. In the
next David Chapman's Quito confirms he
has lost non off his sparkle when he is second in the
Cammidge Trophy L.. The winner however
is Les Arc trained at Bawtry by Tim Pitt, incredibly
this novice trainer has now send Les Arcs out to win five
in a row for a total haul of over £72,000! Ian
McInnes' Eliminator rounds the day off nicely by
taking the last. Over jumps Yorkshire trainers win both
the main races at Bangor with Sue Smith's Ross
Comm landing the £10,410 Handicap Chase, and Ferdy
Murphy's Ile Maurice taking the £10,410
Handicap Hurdle. Down at Newbury Andy Crook's Jonty's
Lass was a good second in the £28,510 John Smith's EBF
Mares 'NH' Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final. Finally Brian
Ellison's Swiper Hill won at Kempton's first
ever all-weather meeting.
|
| 24/03/2006 |
The first actual flat turf racing of the season
happens today at Southwell in bottomless ground, but
there is a double for Richard Fahey with
Philharmonic landing the £12,464 Betfred The Bonus King
Handicap and Dancing Lyra the following race. Earlier David
Barron's Braddock had won on his debut and Mark
Johnston's recent purchase Shalapour (3rd in
last years Irish Derby) was second in the opener. David
Nicholls' had a one-two in the claimer at
Lingfield. |
| 23/03/2006 |
Bizarre events today when Doncaster's re-development
sees the so-called Turf season beginning on the
All-weather at Lingfield where the Doncaster Mile L
is the main race! However it's still a result
for Yorkshire as the winner is Kandidate, back from
Dubai, who was bred in Yorkshire by a partnership
comprising the Providence
and Foston Studs. |
| 17/03/2006 |
St. Patrick's Day, and weren't those Irish eyes
smiling at Cheltenham. Unlike the Yorkshire ones. |
| 16/03/2006 |
Ferdy Murphy confirmed his position
as the leading Yorkshire trainer at Cheltenham today when
his Hot Weld came home in front in a tight finish for the
£30,010 Letheby & Christopher National Hunt Chase
Challenge Cup, his second major 'amateur' win in as many
days. Suffice it to say this was the only Yorkshire
effort to trouble the judge today. Further afield at
Saint-Cloud the Cliff Stud raised
Krataios was winner of the Prix Altipan L,
this son of Sabrehill was bred by S.A.Stilvi Compania
Financiera, who used to keep their UK mares at Cliff, and
this was not his best result as in 2003 he was third in
the Poule d'Essai des Poulains G1 - the
French 2,000 Guineas. A treble at Southwell for Karl
Burke. |
| 15/03/2006 |
A much better day today at Cheltenham with Ferdy
Murphy's You're Special winning the £30,010
Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap (with Sue
Smith's Undeniable some way back in third) at
odds of 33-1. Those of you with long memories may
remember You're Special being a prolific runner on the
flat for another Middleham trainer, Patrick
Haslam. Earlier Sue Smith's Mister
McGoldrick had an odd-defying run in the Queen Mother
Champion Chase Gd1, to finish a
very good third. The race before that had seen Sir
Robert Ogden yet again take one of the main
races, this time with Star de Mohaison in the Royal &
Sun Alliance Chase. |
| 14/03/2006 |
Day one of the Cheltenham Festival and the Yorkshire
raiders are out of luck - with only two fourth places to
show for their efforts. However there is small recompense
as Yorkshireman Sir Robert Ogden, owner
of the Sicklinghall
Stud, is owner today's Arkle Chase winner Voy Por
Ustedes (which I'm fairly sure is NOT Yorkshire dialect). |
| 11/03/2006 |
Not much luck for the Tykes in the big races today -
hopefully things will go slightly better next week! The
best results came on the all-weather at Wolverhampton
where the Kevin Ryan duo of Divine Gift
and Always Esteeemed were second and third respectively
in the £29,886 betdirect.co.uk Lincoln Trial Heritage
Handicap, the stablemates were separated by a neck.
Earlier Karl Burke's City of Conquest
had won the opener and David Chapman's Quito
showed he's still a force to be reckoned with at the age
of nine by coming second in the next. Later on the same
card Gainsborough Stud's Lucky Lark, trained by Mark
Johnston, lost his maiden at the first time of
asking. Meanwhile at Ayr there were winners for Patrick
Haslam (Patxaran in the opener) and Ferdy
Murphy (Green Ideal). |
| 09/03/2006 |
Mark Johnston finally muscles in on
the Nad al Sheba action when Crosspeace is third in the
Maserati Trophy, picking up £10,174 for his efforts. |
| 25/02/2006 |
Edwin Tuer's proven mudlark Euro
American wins the opening race at Newcastle, the £9,395
Toteplacepot Novices' Hurdle Handicap. Meanwhile at
Lingfield John Wainwright's first runner
of the year is a winner when Riquewhir lands the seven
furlong handicap. |
| 24/02/2006 |
The Tykes dominate at Wolverhampton with five winners
- including four for Kevin Ryan. Somewhat
further away from home Richard Fahey's Realism
picked up a useful £12,790 by finishing second in the
Etisalat Cup Handicap on the turf at Nad Al Sheba,
earlier on the card Karl Burke's King
Marju had finished third in his race. |
| 23/02/2006 |
Sue Smith's Royal Emperor wins the
main race of the day when taking the £22,808 Rendlesham
Hurdle Gd2 at Haydock by 19
lengths, although better fancied stable companion
Patriarch Express was a faller. The Gold Cup now beckons
for Royal Emperor, although it will need to be a quagmire
for his to show his best form. |
| 18/02/2006 |
The best win today comes at Uttoxeter where Sue
Smith's Corlande takes the £12,526 Betfred
Poker Handicap Hurdle Series Final, the following race is
the £34,048 Singer & Friedlander Handicap Chase, in
which the same stables Better Days is a decent enough
third. At Haydock Patrick Haslam's Model
Son, having his first run for the Middleham handler,
finishes a good second in the £71,275 Red Square Vodka
Gold Cup Handicap Gd3 , albeit
beaten 15 lengths, the race before had seen Ferdy
Murphy's Carlys Quest finish second in the
£13,012 Pertemsp Handicap Hurdle Qualifier. Meanwhile
down at Lingfield Sue Smith's highly
fancied Mister McGoldrick is a somewhat disappointing
third in the Levy Board Game Spirit Chase Gd2.
Finally at Wolverhampton Mark Johnston's Ransom
Strips win the maiden, rounding off a good week for the
Middleham trainer, who has now had four winners (and two
seconds) from his last nine runners. |
| 17/02/2006 |
Quite correctly, in my opinion, Michael
Dickinson's remarkable feat of training the
'famous five' to annexe the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup has
been voted the 'Great Training Feat' by readers of the
Racing Post. At the time Michael was based at Dunkeswick,
no distance from Harewood House to the North of Leeds,
although he now plies his trade with great success on the
flat from his base in Maryland. |
| 07/02/2006 |
Today at Southwell sees one of those odd valuable
mid-week all-weather races - the £13,288 Littlewoods
Pools Handicap - and the bounty is taken back to
Middleham by Karl Burke's Speed Dial
Harry. |
| 05/02/2006 |
A valuable Yorkshire one-two at Musselburgh today
with John Quinn's Crow Wood landing the
£18,789 John Smith's Scottish County Hurdle Trial
Handicap from Richard Fahey's Saie
Sareea. |
| 04/02/2006 |
Another quiet week (roll on the Lincoln - or at least
Cheltenham!). The Yorkshire-centric highlights today were
minor and came at Sandown where Sue Smith's Mister
McGoldrick was third in the Agfa UK Hurdle L
and Ferdy Murphy's Underwriter later
occupied the same berth in the £28,184 Agfa Diamond
Handicap Chase. Voting is open in the Racing Post's '100
Greatest Training Feats', the top ten nominations
including three by Yorkshire trainers - so make sure you
get your vote in! The Yorkshire trio are ; James
Croft for training the first four home in the
1822 St.Leger, Michael Dickinson for
training the first five home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold
Cup, and David Chapman for saddling
Chaplins Club to win seven handicaps in nineteen days in
the heady days of summer, 1988. |
| 28/01/2006 |
Another quiet Saturday, not helped by Cheltenham
falling victim to the weather. The only notable results
came at Southwell where there were a string of good
placings for Yorkshire trained horses headed by Ferdy
Murphy's Europa who was second in the Sky Bet
Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase L.
In the following race Tim Easterby's Pay
Attention was an improving second in the £19,518 It
Matters More When Money's On It Mares' Handicap Hurdle
(gotta love these snappy titles!). Earlier there had been
good places for Malcolm Jefferson's Roman
Ark and Tim Easterby's Turgeonev, whilst
Alan Swinbank's Alflie Flitts won the
closing bumper. On the all-weather at Wolverhampton Ann
Duffield's Pauvic was the only Yorkshire trained
winner. |
| 21/01/2006 |
Only one win today (David Nicholls' Blue
Knight in the opener at Wolverhampton) but there are some
reasonable jumps performances across at Haydock. These
came in successive races and were started with Sue
Smith's Mister McGolrick being beaten only a
neck in the Commhoist Logistics Champion Hurdle Trial Gr
2, having filled the same position in the
same race last season. In the next it was the turn of
stablemate Truckers Tavern who was third in the Peter
Marsh Handicap Chase Gr 2,
albeit he was beaten 9 and 14 lengths. Finally Ferdy
Murphy's ex-French trained New Alco was a decent
second in the next race, the £16,265 Sporting Index
Novices' Chase. |
| 19/01/2006 |
Kandidate, bred in Yorkshire by a partnership
comprising the Providence
and Foston Studs
won the £31,976 Shadwell Farm (Turf) Handicap at Nad EA
Sheba today, a valuable return to form for the Clive
Brittain trained colt who was third in the 2,000 Guineas G1
last year. |
| 14/01/2006 |
A reasonably good day for Middleham's Ferdy
Murphy who sees his Haut de Gamme win the
£11,273 Antigua & Barbuda Handicap Hurdle which is
the main race on the card at Wetherby (where Malcolm
Jefferson, George Moore and Fred Kirby also
provide local winners) as well as Nine de Sivola win the
£13,012 Pertemps Handicap Hurdle at Warwick. Meanwhile Sue
Smith's Corlande wins the Handicap Hurdle at
Carlisle by eleven lengths, only for her to see Better
Days pipped by a neck in the following race. |
| 06/01/2006 |
The Melbourne Hall
Stud has been placed on the market with
Jackston-Stops & Staff in York. The guide price for
the property is £1.5m, which includes the Hall with 4
reception rooms, 6 beds and 2 baths, a 1 bedroom flat and
a 3 bedroom stable cottage as well as extensive stabling
with 41 boxes and 82 acres of gardens, parkland, paddocks
and woodland. Numerous photographs are here. New Yorkshire trainer Tim
Pitt gets his career off to a flying start when
Les Arcs wins the £11,658 Text Betdirect Handicap at
Wolverhampton today. Pitt takes over from the
controversial Vicky Haig in the Bawtry
yard owned by Willie McKay, and has only held the licence
for three weeks! |
| 01/01/2006 |
The year gets off the a good start for Chris
Fairhurst when his Burnt Oaks wins the £9,819
EBF Cheltenham Race Club Junior National Hunt Flat Race L
(snappy title!). David Nicholls,
Robert Gray, Mark Johnston and Mick
Easterby all score on Southwell's all-weather,
with the later's Gentleman's Deal taking the £12,954 Bet
Direct Freephone Handicap in his first run for the
Sheriff Hutton trainer. I will keep my
promise to try to keep the news down to major results or
other news, rather than detailing every single
winner! |
