A Magnificent, Manic, Merry-Making Monday!
Tue 18 May 2021
Firstly, let's applaud the fact that yesterday owners were back in the paddock, along with spectators at all our race courses, as the next stage of Covid restrictions were lifted. It certainly made a difference to the atmosphere and our social media editor Jamie was on course to welcome owners and take media of all our runners, so we could send them out to the syndicate members who were unable to attend.
We sent 7 runners to Carlisle, one to Redcar and one to Windsor and incredibly they all finished in the winners enclosure! We finished the day with a double of winners, a treble of 2nd's and a treble of 3rd places AND as if that wasn't enough, we passed £300k of race prize money won this year too!
So here's a rundown of the winners and even a duo of MPR horses in a very tight photo finish.....
WINNER 28 OF 2021: END ZONE, trained by Roger Fell and ridden by Callum Rodriguez: 'The Penrith Handicap (Qualifier) ' over 6f at Carlisle.
He broke well and was steadied into midfield, making good headway as the field switched to the near side of the track at about 2f out. Callum began to get serious into the final furlong and End Zone stuck to his task well, running on, to win by 1/2 length.
Lovely to hear applause as he and Callum returned to the winners enclosure..
In his post race interview, Callum said "He has shown a really good attitude and nice that plenty of MPR owners are here in the paddock to see that." The Racing Post marked him as their 'Star Performer' from the card, saying: "Star performer: End Zone (2.10) got his career back on track and should progress."
Watch the full race replay here: https://www.racingtv.com/videos/watch/horse_racing_replays/330111-penrith-handicap-qualifier-4
The official photos can be seen here: https://www.grossick.co.uk/p/80532khg/C385160499/x3-end-zone
Syndicate manager Mike says: "Timeform gave him a career best rating of 84 for the run, so hats off to Roger Fell and his team for that achievement as we purchased him at the Tattersalls August Sale. Well done to his owners and lovely that 6 of them were there to welcome him back in."
WINNER 29 OF 2021: LIGHTENING COMPANY, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Jason Hart: 'The Durdar Maiden Stakes' (Div II) over 7f at Carlisle.
We had two runners in the second division of the maiden and Lightening Company was one of two debutants. Our other runner Lexington Knight gave him a fight to the line though! The commentator said "It's the Middleham Park pair" as they were driven towards the line and it was the shortest of margins, a 'nose' that separated them, as they pulled 4.5 lengths away from the third horse. What- a- thrill!
Timeform gave him an opening rating of 84p and say that he is "open to improvement."
Watch the full race replay here: https://www.racingtv.com/videos/watch/horse_racing_replays/330114-durdar-maiden-stakes-5-d-ii
A second visit to the Carlisle winners spot.....
In his post race interview, Jason said: "Ben briefed me that he might be a bit nervy for his first start, but he jumped well and switched off. He was plenty green enough and has really learned on the job, as having to come through horses like that will do him the world of good for next time."
The official photo gallery can be seen here: https://www.grossick.co.uk/p/80532khg/C385160502/x6-lightening-company
Syndicate manager Tim says: "Congratulations to his owners on their thrilling victory. He showed a tenacious attitude in the finish, which, for a horse making his debut is impressive. Ben was right to give him plenty of time before sending him to the races - he turns him out a lot to help his mental calmness and that run showed him doing everything properly, so well done to Ben and his team for their hard work at home to get him to this level first time out. We will give him at least a couple of weeks to get over the race and then look at going somewhere under a penalty. His syndicate have an exciting horse to look forward to."
The treble of 2nd places came from the about mentioned LEXINGTON KNIGHT and in the first division of the maiden, VICTORIOUS NIGHT, also trained by Richard Hannon. VENTURA FLAME ran her typical game 5f sprint in the 1.35, going down by just a neck. The visits to the winners' enclosure continued at Carlisle with third from LEXINGTON LIBERTY, who hated the soft ground, but showed a willing attitude to stick to her task.
At Redcar VENTURA KINGDOM was trying a new trip and stayed on to be 3rd and DUBAI STATION was 3rd in the Listed feature race at Windsor. Robert Cowell was delighted with that from him and says that he will improve fitness wise and he will head to Haydock at the end of the month.
In other exciting news, this morning we confirmed THE ROSSTAFARIAN, for the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at The Curragh on Saturday...
As ever, see our up to date entries/declarations and current available shares all on this site!