Our great start to 2024 rolled on as Notre Dame landed her second success of 2024 with an eye-catching win at Southwell on Saturday evening. Having won at Chelmsford over 7f the time before, she was stepping up to one mile for the first time and was settled at the back of the field early on. Despite the steady pace up front, the daughter of Kingman showed guts and an impressive turn of foot to work her way to the front inside the final furlong and win by a neck under Dylan Hogan. Notre Dame has come on great strides in recent months and hopefully there is more to come. That makes it 4 winners from 17 runners for the yard since the turn of the year and it is all credit to the team at home who are working hard day in, day out to have the horses as happy and healthy as they can be. Plenty of you sent messages of congratulations following the win and mentioned that you had her in your Three to Follow - unfortunately it does not start until this weekend! That does mean there's still time to get your entries in. Please see last week's blog for full details on how to enter. The Three to Follow kicks off this weekend to coincide with the start of the new flat season at Doncaster where we should be represented on Saturday and Sunday. The apprentice race on Saturday should see the return of Fen Tiger after his winter break. He loves soft ground so the wet conditions won't be a bother to him. I expect most of mine will need a run to blow away the cobwebs after their holidays but I hope he can still fare well on his return to action. The same comments apply to Mrs Meader who will be entered at Doncaster on Saturday and Sunday. She loves soft ground but will improve a lot for whichever race she runs in. Another entry on Saturday will be Eloped at Newcastle. We will see the entries before deciding whether to run but she has been in good form on the all-weather this winter and the long, galloping straight at the track should really suit her if she takes her chance. The big news of the week was of a new arrival to the yard - not a horse this time but my first grandchild after my son Ross and his wife Alayna welcomed their daughter Ruby to the world on Tuesday morning. After a few days in hospital, Ruby wasted no time in coming to the yard and was there to greet the owners on Saturday morning. You've got to start them young! Lots of people have been very kind with cards and presents, Ross and Alayna are very grateful for the good wishes and wanted to say thank you to everyone. As you will see from the latest gallops video below, the majority of the team are now back in full work and it's only a couple of weeks until the turf season kicks off at Doncaster's Lincoln meeting. Most of the horses will need race to blow away the cobwebs but we have two or three who love soft ground so will be ready to run well when the chance allows at the start of the season. The way it keeps raining you'd imagine it will be soft! Our sole representative this week will be Notre Dame at Southwell on Saturday. She built upon her gradual improvement by winning her first race at Chelmsford last time, showing a good attitude in the process. I imagine there is more improvement to come from her so hopefully she can build on this win. |