Philip Kirby Racing Sponsored by topspec March/ April 2013 www.philipkirbyracing.co.uk ANOTHER SEVEN winners to report! And a landmark 4 timer on Easter Monday. Full Speed, Call it On, Matthew Riley, Mrs Eff (x2) Rumble of Thunder & Little Poppet Photo by keith Foster Third lot in action led by 'Cool Operator', Barney Rubble, Platinum, Mrs Eff & Factor Fifty Venutius happy in the snow Fujin Dancer Andorn wrapped up warm Winners: So much to write about but first thanks to all of you who rang, texted and emailed with your congratulations on Easter Monday...you can dream of having that many winners in a day but racing has a habit of not always going to plan, and it was fantastic that on this occasion it did! I am still waiting for all the photos of the winners so a compilation will feature on next months newsletter.
'Matthew Riley' got the ball rolling at Newcastle with a determined display in the novice hurdle. He had to dig deep to get the better of Donald McCain's previous hurdle and point winner, Indian Castle, and the pair came over 40 lengths clear of the 3rd. This was a classy performance and he is a horse we are all very excited about, not least his Owners Paul and Jean Chapman. We should be seeing Matthew out again in the next fortnight (he does hold an entry at Ayr this Friday but may wait for Perth next week) and there is no reason why he can't build on this performance, there is still plenty of room to hone his hurdling technique. It was also good to see Runswick Royal franking the form of Matthews debut over hurdles, he was only beaten narrowly by that horse first time back after 2 years off and it went on to finish a good 2nd at Aintree in the juvenile race. As Paul Chapman was watching the winning replay at Newcastle le and drinking a glass of champagne, Phil was giving me a commentary of 'Call it On' winning at Huntingdon ridden by Kyle James and he was shouting pretty loudly down the phone as Colin attempted to make all under a strong drive. It got pretty tight after the last but he is displaying tremendous gameness now he has stepped up in trip and he gamely stuck his chestnut neck out as two challengers came to him on the run in. This is two wins from his last two starts, and this ultra versatile gelding may now revert to the flat for a 2m 5f race at Pontefract although Phil also finds the 3m 7f Perth National a tempting proposition. Call it On at Huntingdon Matthew Riley before his Newcastle win Mrs Eff at home. 'Rumble of Thunder' made it win number three for owners The Well Oiled Partnership, and it was no surprise that given a decent surface for the first time all winter, Rumble performed much better and although he ended up in a battle, it always looked as though he was going to come out on top. Richie gave him a great ride giving him a double on the day. We were disappointed that the handicapper gave him an 8lb rise for a ¾ length win, but he should come on again for this run so hopefully he can defy it although all the horses are fit and well it had been difficult giving them as much fast work as Phil would have liked given the arctic conditions we encountered throughout the last two weeks of March! I was so pleased I had gone to Newcastle that day, but after three winners I thought we had had our fair share, and was heading back down the A1 as in Kate's own pink and blue colours, 'Mrs Eff' made it win number four in the conditional jockeys handicap. She has also been handed and 8lb rise for her determined victory under the experienced Jonathan England, and it was great to see this tough little mare get her act together and score in convincing style making it a memorable day for Phil, Kate and the whole team. Mrs Eff then followed up in convincing style at Wetherby on Friday, unfortunately at the expense of our other runner Lord Luso, who ran another sound race for Kyle James. Mrs Eff was ridden on this occasion by our other stable conditional, Adam Nicol, and it was a welcome winner for him having been on the sidelines for the best part of 2 months with a second broken collar bone. Adam wouldn't have been eating much dinner on Thursday evening as he claimed 7lbs off 10 stone, but riding into the winers enclosure, it was surely worth it! Mrs Eff looks an improving mare, and for Kate having bred her it must be extra special. We had our largest number of runners to date on Easter Monday, and the next day all the horses were back safe and sound. 'Grey Command ' for the Shades of Grey P'ship (just 3 shares left) was 6th making his handicap debut at Newcastle: he was a little outpaced half a mile from home but made lots of ground up in the straight for a running on 6th. He jumped better this time and has several options, the most likely being a 0-95 handicap at Market Rasen at the end of April or a 3 mile Amateur hurdle at
Perth next Wednesday. Keith and Jayne Sivills 'Avanos' unseated in the 2 mile handicap chase, but there was nothing Richie could do about this, another horse ran into him. 'Noble Scholar' ran in the same race as Grey Command but it is becoming clear that he needs a stiffer test and slower ground to be seen at his best, his best form is round Hexham and hopefully he will head back there at the next suitable opportunity. Harriet took 'Iktiview' to Redcar for his first start on the flat, the maiden was too short a trip for him but you haver to start somewhere and he ran okay, he will want 2 miles once he qualifies for a handicap mark. He has since disappointed back over hurdles at Sedgefield and will now wait for the next suitable race at Market Rasen as he has run well twice here for a win and a 2nd. 'Full Speed' was our first winner of the month (or mid month, as I now seem to be doing a mid term newsletter, I will try and catch up and send out an early one to get back on track at the end of May). He scored by ¾ a length at Musselburgh over 1m 6f on the flat for jockey Russ Kennemore (Russ has ridden several good winners for us round here) and we will see if he can now transfer this improvement back to hurdles on his next start. Ryan is a really good looking individual with lots of size and scope and as he is such a good jumper we can even see him going over fences next season. I thought I had completed the newsletter while we were away in Ireland at the weekend celebrating Geoff Kirby's Birthday with a large family get together. However, I was a bit premature as we were subsequently delighted to shout home Market Rasen bumper debutante 'Little Poppet' on Sunday afternoon for Owners, Falcoln Line Ltd. The 4 year old Kayf Tara filly was green in the early stages with a mini rodeo act to keep Richie on his toes as they jumped off, but she looked anything but green as she quickened up in determined fashion when a gap opened up in the last furlong, and there was no fluke about this success. In second was a mare who had won her first bumper by 10 lengths, so the form was well franked and we can only imagine Poppet can improve again from this experience. On the same card we ran 'Fairynuff' in the 2m5f handicap hurdle and he pleased both us and his owners with a close 3rd place and a big step up on his two earlier runs when making a comeback from a year off. He looks to be coming to himself nicely and will hopefully be gracing the winners spot soon. Both Cheltenham and Aintree have been and gone since the last report and 'Stopped Out' ran with great credit at the former in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap for Lucy Alexander on Gold Cup day. Monty ran with plenty of zest out in front and was still there coming down the hill, jumping boldy and giving us all an exciting 5 minutes as it actually looked as though he might actually win! It was not to be and he faded a little up the hill but still battled on for 5th and what is surely one of his career best performances. He is ready to run again in the next week or two, and holds multiple options at Cheltenham and Perth. At Aintree we took 'Avidity' for the championship bumper race a recent scorer at Doncaster, he looked in great shape in the paddock led up by Simon, and he handled the preliminaries really well as he has been a bit buzzy in the past. In finsishing 10th of 20 he ran with credit on ground that Richie felt was on the 'dead' side for him, he just didn't bounce off it but this was still a sound performance at the highest level and he is a top class novice hurdle prospect for the 2013/14 season. He does have a date at the
Doncaster May sales first though, and if he is sold then hopefully the new purchaser will decide to leave him with us! His breeders Mike and Glenda Swinglehurst have sent us his 'Lucky Story' half brother, and what an impressive looking 2 year old he is. 'Dan' has the size and scope to follow in his brothers footsteps, and he will also have a date at Doncaster Sales if not sold privately befirehand. He is another we hope may remain at Sharp Hill. Scottish Grand National News: We had been looking forward to running our decent staying handicap chaser 'Cool Operator' for over four months but a kick had put him out of the re-scheduled Welsh National and the weather had frozen off the Eider Chase. We hoped it would be third time lucky in the Midlands Grand National and he looked to have a decent chance off a light weight in the Uttoxeter Marathon. The ground was riding bottomless and Richie sensibly held him up midfield but for some reason Howard just didn't travel as he had in his previous two runs, and he faded too far out for it to be the extra distance he was trying for the first time. Nothing came to light afer the race and Phil was pleased and surprised to see that he is likely to make the cut for Saturday's Scottish National and he goes there with a live outide chance off a feather weight and Adam Nicol back in the plate claiming 7lbs. Best of luck to his connections 'The Gathering' and 'Alderclad' who will be looking forward to an exciting day at Ayr. Cool Operator with Adam Nicol Matthew Riley swimming Avidity in the paddock As you can see we have had Matthew Riley and several others swimming when we had such a lot of frost in the ground earlier in the month. It certainly helped to keep them fit and both Poppet and Matthew have won after several swimming sessions. The pool is at Thirsk, and the trips away have certainly proved worth making. We have also invested in a 'Zamar Machine' this month, a hot and cold therapy machine for the horses lower limbs. It is an invaluable product for easing tired legs and keeping swelling down - quite a time consuming affair but we are already seeing the benefits of it. The Zamar Machine Our new Theault horsebox The New Horsebox: 'Wow!' is all we can think when we look at the wonderful Theault 2 staller than now stands on the drive. With a double row of seats in the front there is room for our children too when I take it to the shows, and it really is a beautifully made horsebox by arguably the best 2 stall makers in Europe (will I dare drive it?!) My image of the jumping horse on the side is actually Phil on his Point to Pointer last season, the
enigmatic 'Into the Light.' We have been waiting for the box for 4 months now but it was certainly worth the delay and Theault had been most helpful lending us a silver 2 staller while this one was being completed. Placed Efforts Having looked at the winners over the past month, we have also had some promising placed efforts to mention, not least 'Lord Luso' for Susan and Geoff Frank. Unfortunately Luso now has a hat trick of second places and has gone up in the handicap as a result. He jumped more fluently on his latest start on Friday, although Kyle went into orbit in front of the stands when Luso made one of his customary errors. We dont think anyone would be queing up to ride him over fences although he looks every inch a chaser; he will sensibly remain over the smaller obstacles for the foreseeable future and with luck he will be getting his head in front soon as he certainly deserves a win, he is so genuine. At Sedgefield at the end of March we had three seconds on the same day, frustrating but you had to be pleased with the way they ran. Joining Luso in the runner up spot was 'Clan Gathering' on his bumper debut (a promsing effort and a really game little horse) and 'Ancient Times' who ran into a well handicapped runner in 'Mootabar' (won since). 'Ancient Times' has been a model of consistency on his last four starts with 2 wins and 2 seconds and Phil has him entered up at Bath over 2m 1f in an effort to find him some soft ground in a staying flat race. Another to finish 2nd was my horse 'Platinum' (Gary Whillans) who was beaten in a photo at Catterick last week - 'Dr Irv' (Michael O'Connell) was just a couple of places behind him in 4th and this was two good early season staying flat performances. I was very pleased with Platinum who looked a picture in the paddock, and he might now head to Perth on the 24th of April for a 0-135 2m handicap hurdle. He has won right handed over hurdles at Ludlow and although its a long way up to Perth he is clearly in good form with himself and he has schooled really well this week. I am hoping he will prove another bargain buy as Phil managed to get him from the DBS sales for 2000 - he had been a 400,000 yearling and had listed class form as a 3 year old in France. The Bethell family's 'Fujin Dancer' made a most satisfactory first start for us when 3rd in a 2mile hurdle at Wetherby riden by Harriet. He travelled like the winner until the last flight but could just not quicken on ground that would have been a bit slower than ideal. He had been ready to run for a while so it was good to get one under his belt, and with no problems since its onwards to the next suitable race, although he is 3lb higher in the handicap as a result of this effort. He is entered at Newcastle on Friday and the ground is drying up although if we have any rain we have Platinum entered as well and he could switch there instead. Harriet also has the horse 'Barney Rubble' soon make his bumper debut, he is a great big horse who looks a future chasing prospect. A final placed run to note was that of Keith and Jayne Sivills 3 year old colt 'Danehill Flyer' who ran on well for 4th at Musselburgh on his first start back over what should prove an inadequate trip. 'Danny' is entered up for Saturday at Nottingham and with a bit of rain about (he wouldn't want it too quick) he looks likely to take up that engagement. New Horses We have had some new arrivals in the last ten days in the shape of a 2 year old out of multiple winning mare 'Ahgowan Gowan' for Les and Viv Waugh (in for breaking), a gelding called 'Joe Luke' who comes from Tony Coyle's yard for Owners Pin Point Recritment, the unraced Sadlers Hall gelding has returned to us for hill work at Dibble Bridge for photographer Keith Foster, and Sue and Geoff Frank have sent us ' Bunty Boy' to run in a bumper. Of our unraced young fillies, Lady Buttons has progressed to cantering and will now be turned away until the Autmn when she will come in to be prepared for a bumper. Her dam Lady Chapp has just visited Shirocco at Darley Stud and she also has a yearling half sister who will eventually come into training by Westerner. The unraced Noir Girl is also cantering away now, as is recentley gelded Sakhee's City - a big scopey 2 year old for Keith and Jayne Sivills of CB Construction.
The Sales are coming up at Doncaster., Newmarket and in Ireland and Phil has several orders to find some nice young horses he is currently busy going through the catalogues. Ones to watch out for... Soon to appear (or reappear) with the likelihood of better ground will be 'Stormy Morning', 'Rumble of Thunder' 'Worth a King's', 'Embsay Crag' 'Bob's Ticket' 'Next Edition' ''Jawaab' 'Jasper Massini' 'Mr Cardle' (bumper debutante) 'Just Paul' (aiming for next Catterick meeting), 'Danehill Flyer' 'Abraham Monro' 'Brigadoon' and 'Alicesam', (schooled over hurdles and ready to make her jumping debut). Others who are in stronger work now but will be a few weeks behind these are 'Goldan Jess' 'Venutius' 'Chloe's Image' 'Just Cameron' 'Pick's Milan' '& Victor Lynch'. Partnership News The Next Edition shares advertised on the website this week have now sold. Factor Fifty is stepping up his fast work for The Topspec Partnership, and he worked with the bumper horses for the first time las week. Several more pieces like this and he will be ready to make his bumper debut sometime in May. He is pleasing Phil in his homework and is starting to fill his lengthy dak brown frame. Unfortunately, Pen Gwen who who Kate gave to the P'ship as a stand in while Frankie was Gold Rules and Factor Fifty Next Edition Grey Command getting fit, has sustained an injury and has to have the summer out. Grey Command is about ready to run again since his Newcastle h'cap 6th, he may head to Perth or Market Rasen in the next 10 days either a 3 mile amateur event or a 2m5f conditional race. he is getting plenty of schooling next week and his hurdling is getting slicker. The Philip Kirby Racing P'ship's 'Gold Rules' is now back in proper work following an enforced absence due to a small fetlock chip removal. He looks superb and after a month on the walker he is cantering away. Although he will be making his debut for us a bit later than anticipated, at least we feel we now have him spot on and fit for a full summer campaign. If he did have a little niggling problem with his last yard, it is nice that we have discovered it and he will be able to perform to his best potential. Goldie is a lovely kind horse who was very happy to be in action again when Phil cantered him for the first time up the 3 furlongs! There are 4 shares of the 20 remaining to buy in him for 1250 for a full year from 1st April 2013-1st April 2014. The Open Day The snowy weather was making us nervous but although there was still snow about, the Middleham Open day took place despite the chill and the roads were thankfully clear for everyone to make their way to Middleham. We had a visit from the local hounds and Kate ran a very succesful cake stall for charity. Lots of people came to look around the yard, we had many comments on how happy the horses looked (always our aim! ) and we also sold several shares in the Partnership horses as a result a busy but enjoyable day. Harriet's Blog Those of you who log into our website on a regular basis will know that our Lady Amatuer Jockey, Harriet Bethell writes a report each week - a fascinating insight into life on the yard and her racedays. Harriet is currently looking forward to Fujin Dancer's next start (entered over 2 miles at Newcastle this
Friday) and also takes the ride on 'Simply Smashing' in the Hunters Chase at Hexham next Monday. Don't forget to click the tab on the website to read her news and views every week. Week beginning 3rd April What a FLYING start to the week!! 4 WINNERS!! After such harsh and demoralizing weather conditions there was a real buzz in the yard this morning. A super training performance from the boss and a brilliant team effort. You can't beat the feeling of being involved with such a successful team. And with Aintree on Saturday for Avidity and Richie-you can't help but be excited. Good Luck Richie and Avidity!! On Wednesday Avidity did his last bit of proper work in preparation for Saturday, Richie as usual is very organised and wanted make sure that the piece of work went well for everyone. We had all done one 7 furlong canter steady away, and before lining up to work away up the 7f again. He had us all paired up to work upsides, Richie paired me with him-i was riding a bumper horse who is yet to make her debut on the track, Little Poppet. A 4yo nicely made filly with plenty of depth by Kayf Tara. With Clan Gathering and Emily up front with Lord Luso and Kyle we went a good strong pace from the bottom to the top. Avidity traveled strongly all the way, and I was impressed with Little Poppet, she traveled really well, I like her attitude to her work. I've not ridden her at all before this week, I am looking forwards to seeing her run. The Highlight of my week was Riding my dads horse Fujin Dancer at Wetherby, it was his first run in 558 days!! Fujin was bought for me to have a few spins on when I first joined Brian Ellison, previously with Kevin Ryan and Richard Fahey, Brian found me the perfect ladies horse. He's a versatile sort that can run on the flat and over hurdles, and he has schooled over fences. Within 5 runs Fujin and I had notched up 3 winners, 2 over hurdles and 1 on the flat. But like all horses he ran into problems after his last run at Newmarket back in September 2011, the uneven surface and the quick ground had 'Jarred' his joints up and he was lame. We had tried to get him back to the races in 2012 but he kept going mysteriously lame, so we gave him a full year out in the field. He finished 3rd yesterday only getting beaten 2 1/4 lengths, jumping the last with every chance. Hopefully he should come on for the run, but having had such a long break he almost travelled a bit too well-perhaps out of freshness. He is a horse that only just gets 2 miles so hopefully next time he can switch off a bit better and we can finish in the Top Spot!!! Both mum and dad were delighted. And I was just so happy to have him back at the races. This morning i was out on the yard for 6.30am, I just wanted to know that he was sound after his run. Kate was just finishing up the morning feeds so she watched me trot him up, and he was sound and bright as a button!! Yay!!! 'Big Fooj' is back!!!!! We have 3 exciting runners tomorrow at Sedgefield. And I have Killary Bay in the Novice Hunter Chase. Killary should go well providing the step down in trip to 2 miles 4f doesn't leave him a bit flat footed. Lord Luso on the other hand should relish the step up from 2 miles to 2 miles 6f. Kyle James rode him last time out when he finished 2nd and takes the ride again on him. Hopefully this time because they will be going a bit slower, he'll be able to be a bit more fluent in his jumping, as well as being able to travel more within himself. I think he'll be most likely to bring home the silverware!!