We had no luck on the track this week but Dakota City, Go On Gal and Cuban Queen all put in some respectable efforts. There's plenty to keep us busy at home with all the horses who enjoyed a winter break now back in full work and some of them enjoyed a long exercise around the Cambridge Road polytrack on Saturday. Duke Of Diamonds took a long time to mature but his owner Carol Bushnell's patience was rewarded last year with two great wins at Nottingham and Doncaster. He has done very well over the winter and looks an even stronger horse now so hopefully there will be more to come from him. He loves soft ground so a trip across the Channel to France might be in order if we have a dry turf season here. Another runner in Carol's maroon silks will be Our Cilla. She too was very weak last year but managed to get two runs down the road at Newmarket under her belt before enjoying the winter off. She is a bit of a live wire and Chloe does very well to stay on board every morning but the filly seems to have strengthened up and goes about her work in a very pleasing manner. She should be good for a return to action when the turf season kicks off next month. Two of the biggest girls in the yard are Tallulah's Quest and The Ducking Stool yet they are at opposite ends of the experience scale. Ducky needs no introduction as one of the most popular horses in the yard and she was unlucky not to win her usual race last year due to various reasons. She is back better than ever at the age of 10 and I really hope she can get her head back in front and provide some more great days out for the N.E.T. Racing Club. She usually needs a run or two to get back to full fitness but it is likely that she will head to Doncaster for the opening meeting of the turf season. Tallulah is an unraced three-year old who we have always liked since buying her from the breeze-up sales last spring. Due to her size, she was just too weak to run last year but her homework was always good. She has come out of her winter holiday looking like a tank and I can't wait to do some faster work with her in the coming weeks. Pitch High is another three-year old who was always going to do well for some time off and I'm very happy with how he has come back. He ran a blinder on debut at Sandown last summer to finish fourth but then went a bit weak and couldn't match that effort. Hopefully he is a different animal now and can confirm the promise of that first run. We just have one runner next week in the form of new boy Gatillo at Chelmsford on Thursday. He hasn't been with us long but seems pretty fit and has put in some decent efforts in the past, despite not winning yet. I think he will get further than a mile in time but this is a good starting point and hopefully he can fare well. Our annual 'Three To Follow' competition has always been a popular event, creating friendly rivalries and offering a cash prize to the winner. I'm delighted to say it's back for 2017 and now is your chance to enter.
BUT WAIT...for this year we are giving you the chance to earn even more points by making it a 'Four To Follow' competition! The rules are simple - pick two horses from POOL A and two horses from POOL B and email your selections to [email protected] 10 points will be awarded for each race won, 5 points for a 2nd place and 2 points if your horse finished 3rd. Also, all unplaced horses will receive one point. The competition starts on Monday March 6th so get those thinking caps on and send your entries in! Comments are closed.
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