Stable visit season has been a bumper one so far!
Fri 06 Mar 2020
Our Owners and interested potential shareholders have been visiting our horses throughout February. We have been to the National Hunt stables of David Pipe and Nicky Henderson, as well as yards where we have most of our flat season horses: Richard Fahey, Richard Hannon and the Newmarket yards of Michael Bell, Marco Botti, David Lanigan, Hugo Palmer and Sir Mark Prescott.
Nicky Henderson:
Our team of National Hunt horses is ever-growing with Nicky Henderson and as such, so are our stable visits - with over 60 people in attendance, 40 of them new owners to MPR.
It was the first chance for a lot of their owners to see the newly named 4 year old’s GO CHIQUE and LELANTOS. Both horses look ready-made for the challenges of national hunt racing. An unfortunate injury has meant that MARIE'S ROCK will miss The Cheltenham Festival, where she was chalked up as favourite for the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, so it was nice for her owners to be able to visit her and give her a pat and a cuddle to aid her recovery.
We wish all our National Hunt trainers all the best at The Cheltenham Festival.
Richard Fahey:
The Yorkshire hospitality was in full flow from the moment we arrived at Musley Bank. We met at the top of the gallops where a bacon butty and hot drink greeted us as we waited for the horses. It was Richard Fahey's birthday on the day and instead of putting his feet up, he had welcomed us all to Musley Bank, for which we were extremely grateful!
We have a string of 14 in training with Richard and they put on a show on the gallops for us. From there we headed down to the main yard to have all of the horses lead up in hand for us all to see and hear what Richard and Tom Palin, the syndicate manager, had to say. Particular interest was paid to the five new 2-year-olds who have settled in well in North Yorkshire. It's still very early days for them in their racing careers but that didn't stop one or two catching people's eye. Everything is gearing up for what looks like another successful season with the team at Musley Bank! See our available shares here: Richard Fahey 2 year olds.
Tim Palin, our Founder and Director of Racing has been tweeting his 'eye catchers' from our stable visits. Here's a link to his Twitter feed so you can follow his picks and see the first here:
Richard Hannon:
Every weekend, it seems like we are bracing ourselves for another storm, it happened to be Storm Jorge who showed up to the Richard Hannon stable visit, uninvited. We had to do things a little differently this time round to counter the rain and the wind.
As soon as all the horses had gathered at the Herridge yard, we were off onto the gallops. We were lucky enough to see the two-year-olds canter upsides for the first time. It's great to see them side by side as you can start to compare how each of them is getting on. We also saw CITYZEN SERG, one of our unraced three-year-olds doing a piece of work with a colt by Golden Horn. Those that survived the blustery conditions on the gallops, headed to one of Richard's barns for refreshments. Typically, the sun started to peek through, and the wind dropped as soon as we were finished outside!
Once inside the barn, and safely behind a wall of hay bales, the horses were lead-in four or five at a time. Tim and Richard took to the microphones to give everyone the latest updates on every horse. It was brilliant to see RAYMOND TUSK, who didn't work on the gallops, starting to ease himself back into his usual routine following a small injury. Our Dandy Man filly, LEXINGTON LIBERTY, hasn't been at Richard Hannon's for very long but she has made quite the impression so far. Richard spoke very highly of her attitude and willingness to please.
You can watch the whole video of our horses in the barn here:
The Hannon team always put on a good show for our owners and this Saturday morning was no exception. Even with the threat from the weather they had back up plans that meant we could enjoy the morning regardless. After a glass of champagne in the barn, we headed down the road to 'the local' and had somewhat of a fashion show at the Shears Inn! Both Richard Hannon and top jockey Sean Levey, were modelling our new Middleham Park Racing scarves. See our available shares here: Richard Hannon 2 year olds.
Newmarket:
One of the more challenging stable visits to plan in our calendar, is our trip to Newmarket. On this particular morning, we had 17 different horses to see spread between 5 different trainers in all corners of the town of Newmarket. The day started at none other than Heath House, home to the legendary SIR MARK PRESCOTT. The three horses in training with Sir Mark were shown to us in hand as they were still on holiday from their usual schedule. Sir Mark was in great form as usual as he talked us through the current plans for each horse.
From there, we headed to HUGO PALMER’S Kremlin Cottage stables. Our flashy 2yo chestnut colt by Starspangledbanner is in training there. After a quick cup of coffee and seeing him in the yard, he was saddled up to go up to the heath to canter.
We have five horses in residence at Prestige Place with MARCO BOTTI and the hospitality at Prestige Place was in full flow, with bacon sandwiches, pastries and hot drinks! Both BATCHELOR BOY and NO NAY BELLA, have started the year in great form, with both notching up wins in the first two months. SWEET CELEBRATION had only just returned from a break at the National Stud, but looked in great shape. The Declaration Of War 2yo filly has settled into her new home, and shares in her have now sold out. We recently added a 2-year-old colt by Dawn Approach to the string with Marco and he has been popular since we added him to the website: http://www.middlehamparkracing.net/horses/view,dawn-approach-ex-badalona-colt_332.htm.
It was then time to go up to the famous Newmarket Heath to meet MICHAEL BELL and THE VEGAS RAIDER. Michael spoke very highly of our grey colt, who was right at home, cantering on the Heath. He is maturing into a powerful looking colt, who looks like he could have a very bright future.
Our final stop on the Newmarket stable visit was to DAVID LANIGAN’S Rathmoy Stables. We have six horses in training with David at the moment, including two new 2-year olds. As anyone who has owned a horse with David, or ever visited the yard, will know the horses always look incredible. Both VENTURA STAR and GOLD ARCH are gearing up for the new season, with David saying he expects more to come from both horses this year. PRINCE OF EAGLES was in the middle of final preparations for a run a couple of days after our visit (which he won!). LONGSIDER was on box rest, following an injury he sustained earlier in the month. The two newest members of our team at Rathmoy Stables (a colt by Sea The Moon and a filly by Mastercraftsman) are enjoying life in Newmarket. David was very pleased with how both have settled in and thinks we have purchased some quality horses. You can hear precisely what David Lanigan had to say about our new purchases by watching the videos from our visit on the web pages of both horses.
It's always a pleasure to visit the Headquarters of British racing; we are very grateful to our trainers for accommodating us whenever we visit. Hopefully, it won't be long before we are back in Newmarket with a runner or two! See our available shares with these trainers here: Newmarket 2 year olds
See a selection of images in the gallery.
Three weeks now until the start of the turf season and indeed our annual owners box on Lincoln Day at Doncaster, which is always a fantastic event!
But before then, the stable visits coming up in March are as follows...
MARK JOHNSTON (9am) and BEN HASLAM (11am) - Saturday March 14th *last few places available!*
DAVID O'MEARA - the morning of Saturday March 21st
ROGER FELL - the morning of Sunday March 22nd.
If you would like to book a place at any of these upcoming stable visits, please email charlotte@middlehamparkracing.net