12th January 2020

The horses' form definitely seems to have taken a turn for the better recently and we saw some solid performances from the team this week.
Limerick Lord, Oud Metha Bridge and War Empress all finished in the frame whilst Sea Shack did the same despite being virtually pulled up inside the final furlong at Southwell on Sunday. At first we thought that he had been injured but it turns out that Shelley's shoulder dislocated when she used her whip so she was unable to ride him and did well just to stay on and pull him up after the line. She was taken to Masfield hospital and the doctor put the shoulder back in very professionally so hopefully there will be no major repercussions although Shelley will need some time to recover. I'm sure you all know how often Shelley has been in the wars so she is well used to dealing with injury.

Shelley was due to ride our only runners this week at Chelmsford on Tuesday so we have found some very good replacements.
Highway Robbery will now be ridden by Dylan Hogan who claims a handy 5lb allowance. The horse is in great from at home and is galloping very well but hasn't had much luck recently in his races with wide draws and bad positioning. If all goes to plan here then I don't see why he shouldn't run well.

Highway Robbery

Accompanying him will be Engrave who has her first run for us after I bought her at Tattersalls in December. She hadn't long run before then so hasn't needed much work to get fit but I hope she is the type of horse who saves her best for the racetrack as her gallops at home haven't been anything special yet her racecourse form is very good. I think she will stay a bit further in time but she will be one of the leading contenders on form in this race so fingers crossed she can make a good start for us and owner Carol Bushnell.

Engrave