09/10/22

Normally at this time of year we would be struggling to find any decent ground with wet weather set in but we are in the very unusual situation of a late dry spell which means a lot of tracks are still watering to stop the ground getting too firm.
It is frustrating as most of the firm ground horses have had plenty of racing for the year by now and we still have some horses who are ready to show their best but need soft ground. Fingers crossed it won't be long before we get some wet weather as there is only a month of the turf season left!

Our week kicks off with a trio of runners at Yarmouth on Monday and none of them will mind the ground which is officially good.
Stintino Sunset is the first of the day and I think she could run well now she is in handicap races and this course should suit her. She definitely goes as well as her rating so I think she can be competitive given luck in running.
Spanish Mane has already had a great year with two wins and I see no reason why she can't run another good race with Rose Dawes back on board claiming 7lbs. The pair get on well and Spanish still seems to be in good form despite plenty of racing this year.
The third runner of the day is Queen's Company. She has shown promise over this course and distance in her last two runs and her effort last time can be upgraded as she was caught on the wrong side of the track. She is capable of winning a race like this so hopefully things go her way this time.

Mrs Meader is a horse who needs soft ground and it's very unusual for Leicester to be firm which it is on Tuesday when she was meant to run there. She has a couple of other options before the season is out so hopefully she gets her ground.

The same applies to Initiate who is entered at Brighton on Thursday. She needs soft ground to run and the dry forecast looks like it'll be too firm for her so we'll have to wait for another day.

The yearling sales are in full flow in Newmarket now and I don't think I'll be buying any this week but we do already have two youngsters in the yard.
When Hurricane Kiko won his novice race at Chelmsford in August, owner Carol Bushnell also won a 10,000euro voucher to spend at an Irish yearling sale so we managed to secure a grey filly by El Kabeir a couple of weeks ago from Goffs sales. She's by the same sire as The Mouse King so hopefully she can be just as good!