Triumph Market

I've been looking a little further into the Triumph and the market looks seriously lopsided to me. The majority of the principals in the Triumph are horses who want or need it soft, and Cheltenham is invariably good or better. Since 1990 Cheltenham (on Gold Cup day) has been soft once (1995) and G/S once (1999) - it's nearly always good ground and is occasionally G/F.

The juvenile year this year has been marked by a significant increase in quality NH bred horses coming in from France. The going in France is invariably soft or heavy and French horses are bred to do well on this surface. I've been going through the form - one thing I don't understand is why there are certain French races where every horse has a name that is one word beginning with the letter "P". It may be that this denotes that the horse is not a thoroughbred, but that is just a guess. A lot of the French imports come from this pool.

Looking through the Triumph market I see a lot of horses who have only ever done well on soft or heavy ground - Lounaos, Good Bye Simon, Pauillac, Parrain, Robin Du Bois, Island Life. A few others look to handle good but perhaps they are not best on it and have no G/F form - Katchit, Poquelin, Mountain. Pouvoir I'm not clear on - Alan King has made comments suggesting he doesn't like it too soft and he is probably a good ground horse.

The only horses at he top of the Triumph market with better ground form are Degas Art and Liberate. Both of these can front run, and could set a blistering pace in the Triumph that the French types will not be able to deal with. There may be other horses waiting in the wings who haven't been able to come out yet as the ground has been so soft.

Quiet Time

It's a slightly frustrating time at the moment as some of the horses are not running because of cancellations, ground conditions etc., but also some are not doing serious work at home as the conditions have been so bad. I have one runner over the weekend - Berkhamsted who runs at Lingfield, probably his last run in my colours. It's slightly sad to reflect that I have never seen the horse run in the flesh.

Tom Dascombe has had a good week on the all weather - he's had a winner on each of the last three days. He's been winning with horses that he's taken from other trainer's and had been running terribly - he's put them right and he's won races with them. I've got no doubt that he's destined to be a successful trainer - I just wish he could squeeze a win out of Berkhamsted for me.

The racing high point of the weekend for me will be the 3.20 at Cheltenham, where a number of the principal contenders for the Triumph line up. Five of the top juveniles of the season so far, including Good Bye Simon, Katchit and Pauillac take on the 112 rated flat horse Mountain, who is making his debut. If this were a flat race Mountain would be giving huge lumps of weight around - he is rated 2 stone ahead of Katchit - but as it is he will be receiving half a stone as he is a maiden.

Mountain may turn out to be a superstar, but I couldn't back him on his debut in this ground against such a strong field. Katchit was the star of the early season juveniles and is coming back after a short break - he may need a race to sharpen him up. If I have a bet I will probably side with Good Bye Simon who has solid claims and should give me a decent run for my money.

Picking horses and trainers

No runners imminent so a few comments on picking horses and trainers. I still have a lot to learn as an owner, but these are my thoughts at the moment.

I believe in meritocracy in all areas of business, and horse racing should be no different. In picking a trainer, the plan should be to find the best trainer for your horse, and that should be all. The truth is that I have not done that - more often than not I go with someone I know, or in many cases who my co-owners know and get on with. That said, I am pretty happy with what I have.

The bulk of my two-year-olds are trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam and Brian Meehan. These guys know how to educate and train young horses, and their records speak for themselves - Pete trained the two top rated 2yos in the UK last year and Brian has also had a lot of 2yo success. Brian is now at Manton, and with all those facilities at his disposal his performance should improve further. There are of course other trainers who are excellent with their 2yos - Jeremy Noseda and Kevin Ryan are two that come to mind - although I don't know either of them.

I have four horses in partnership with Nick Gifford. Nick is a young guy who has spent his life in racing and knows the game backwards. He is energetic but thoughful, and most of all patient - I trust him implicitly. I didn't know him before - he first came onto my radar with Straw Bear and I watched his results for a while. One of the syndicate members lives near his stables so we went with him. Most of the horses we have with him are "slow burners" - big rangy horses that won't be peaking until they go chasing in a couple of years.

I have two jumping recruits from the flat with Gary Moore. Gary is a hard working no-nonsense sort of guy who just gets on with it. I have another with David Pipe, who I think will turn out to be a top trainer. I also have horses with Tom Dascombe - Tom is just starting out, but he spent many years as assistant to Mike De Kock, a top trainer in South Africa. His results with cheap horses are impressive, and I will continue to support him.

It's fairly clear that different trainers do well with different types of horse - certain trainers (i.e. Dandy Nicholls) seem to do very well with sprinters, whereas others (i.e. Mark Johnstone) seem to excel with staying types. Henry Cecil and Michael Stoute are both exceptional with fillies. I'm not sure I understand why this is, but I know that there is a lot of style in how they train.

There are other considerations. Horses with small trainers often go off at longer prices than they would do otherwise. As an example, I had a horse with Tom Dascombe in 2005 (Political Intrigue) who had been rated 89 on the flat - in his first hurdle he was up against a horse from the Hobbs yard who was rated 87 on the flat. We went off at 6-1, the Hobbs horse went off 4-6 favourite. We won and landed a nice touch. Against this I don't think horses from small stables sell well - they just aren't trusted as much and they are not as well networked.

Buying horses is difficult. I don't know how to assess a horse on looks, so I have to rely on others. I prefer to buy at auction, as it feels safer. Always get a vet to check the horse out beforehand, and always get an expert view from a trainer. Trainers can generally be relyed upon for an honest assessment - they don't want bad horses in their yards and they don't want disenfranchised owners. Buying abroad is very tricky, and you have to put more leg work in.

No cigars

More disappointment on Saturday. Prince Ary went off 6-4 favourite but was comfortably beaten by Pouvoir. Berkhamsted finished down the field.

I think the Prince Ary run was there or thereabouts par. I was surprised he went off favourite - Pouvoir had some hype about him and looked a natural favourite to me given that he was receiving 6lb. The going was softer than ideal - he made a mess of the third last which he appeared to get away from ok but I think it cost him a few lengths. A fair run but no cigar and looking a shade short of Cheltenham class at the moment.

Berkhamsted travelled on the bit for most of the race but didn't quicken when he needed to. Jim Crowley rode - he said there was no pace on early and that effectively killed his chance. I'm happy with the explanation - I'm running out of time to get a win out of him before the sales though. Hopefully there will be one last chance.

Mon Michel was down to run tomorrow but he trod on something on Saturday and is not quite right. He should be ok in a day or two - he may run at Ascot on Saturday. I had a good chat with Gary Moore today - he gets animated talking about Mon Michel as he eats so much. He's going through a bit of a growth spurt and he's put on a fair bit of muscle, which is very positive. King's Head, the other horse we have with Gary, has been coming on a bit more slowly as he had an infection after being gelded. He has very small hooves and needs firmer ground - I'm looking forward to him coming out as he should be a nice prospect.

Ary and Berky

Two runners on Saturday - Prince Ary at Kempton and Berkhamsted at Lingfield, both with realistic chances.

Prince Ary I jointly own with John Harvey (in his wife's name) - John used to own a lot of horses in the UK but has far fewer these days. Ary was bought by John (with a partner) to run on the flat - Barry Hills felt later on that he would make a better jumper and at that time I bought the original partner out. Hills had originally asked to train the horse himself for Cheltenham - I took this as a good indication (he rarely trains jumpers) so I came in quickly without checking the horse out. It cost me £20k - rather than leave him with Hills we took him to David Pipe.

He ran in a hot Cheltenham race first time out and was (not surprisingly) well beaten. Next time up at Fakenham he hacked up at 7-1, which I thought was a massive price given that Pipe had run him in the Cheltenham race (his choice not ours). He was given an official rating of 129 following the run, which is pretty stiff - that doesn't affect us today as this is a novice hurdle.

The going at Kempton is soft, although we think it's "decent soft" ground, which should be ok - ideally we'd like it a little firmer but we know he handles it. He has to give 6lb to Pouvoir which is a big ask - he is, I am told, in extremely good form, so I'm hopeful.

Berkhamsted runs in the 2.35 at Lingfield. I saw Tom Dascombe at the races and I said we could try to pick up a horse in a claimer some time. He went out and claimed Berkhamsted the next day, and I took him. I bought the horse as a trade hoping to sell him on in the October HIT - that didn't work out, and I am now planning to sell him in the Doncaster January sale.

When he first came to us he was very nervy about going racing and was sweating up terribly beforehand - he seems to be a lot happier and more settled now. His last three runs have been decent - two seconds (trading 1.05 and 1.01 in running) and a third. He has travelled well throughout his recent races, but has not quite pushed on as he should when hitting the front.

Tom tells me that Berky works exceptionally well at home and on that basis could compete in higher grade races than this - he is just proving difficult to win with. If the race is run at a decent pace and if he doesn't find himself in front too early then we have a great chance of a result. He might be one to back and lay back in running as he travels so well - unfortunately I can't do that as I am the owner and laying your own horse isn't allowed.

Master of the Race and Conservation both came back fine and scoped clean after their races. Both trainers think the ground was ultimately against them as it was very soft, which I think favours the rangier NH bred types over recruits from the flat. Time will tell us more.

Disappointing day

Not a great start for my blogging with both of my horses stuffed out of sight.

I charged down to Wincanton after an early morning meeting in the office. The weather was fine when we got there, but the car park was a mud pit. I met up with Tom Dascombe who had just walked the course - they were calling it soft but by his reckoning it was heavy. Master of the Race was anything but on the day and I did my dough - I'm inclined to forgive him as the ground was ultimately against him, but he needs to improve his jumping. I didn't back Conservation in the end as the price was short and it was stamina sapping ground (he handles soft but isn't a genuine stayer at the moment and wouldn't be suited by too much of a slog). He didn't run well - his jumping was a bit sketchy and he ran out of steam with half a mile to go. He finished very tired.

My first instinct is to forgive Master of the Race for now, but I am more concerned about Conservation. I don't think MOTR went on the ground and there was no evidence to ever suggest he would - it was probably just too soft for him. Conservation ran vaguely ok until he blew up, but he blew up early. He needs more time, but we need some evidence that he will get there in the end and there isn't enough of that at the moment. Fingers crossed that he will start improving - I've no doubt that he will but he has a long way to go and the immediate worry is that he at best he will be moderate.

Still I live and learn. I have three runners entered over the next few days. Prince Ary is declared at Kempton on Saturday, Berkhamsted runs on Saturday at Lingfield and Mon Michel probably runs at Folkestone on Tuesday. They all have strong chances and quite possibly could all start favourite.

Day 1 of my racing blog

I’ve always been passionate about racing, but I’ve never had the cash before to be a full on owner. I sold some shares in Betfair in April 2006 and all of that has changed – as I write I own or have shares in 21 racehorses. Most of them are on the flat, but there are seven currently in training for the jumps. Two of these make their NH debut tomorrow (10-Jan).

Conservation is in training with Nick Gifford, and I own a 1/6 share of him in a syndicate called the “Bentley Greens”. The syndicate is three guys from Betfair (me, our head of finance and one of our lawyers), Rodger Sargent (long time horse owner), a work mate of his and one of the Betfair accountants who we know well.

We bought Conservation at the horses in training sale (HIT) in Newmarket last October, paying a fairly hefty 48,000 guineas (a big price given his official rating of 72). He was previously trained by Pete Chapple-Hyam who I know well and have several horses with – I prefer buying from people I know well. He ran ten times on the flat last year, which is a lot – he looks exposed for now, but we’re hoping he still has improvement in him.

Conservation is a “wind sucker” and a “crib biter” – these are not good things for a horse to be but we knew it when we bought him and it’s all part of the package. Crib biting is basically a horse chewing away at his stable – it messes up his teeth but doesn’t affect his racing. Wind sucking is more of a problem – the horse throws his head back and sucks wind down into his stomach. It’s a problem because he then thinks he’s full and doesn’t want to eat – most wind suckers are skinny and it’s hard to get muscle on to them, and Connie is no exception. They also belch loudly in the stable, which is amusing if you have that sort of mind.

The other interesting thing about Connie is that he is still a full horse. Most horses that go jumping are gelded immediately. It’s fairly automatic to geld a horse who is “colty”, but Connie is not - Nick, who is a very thoughtful guy, decided he didn’t want Connie gelded until the summer, as it’s a pretty nasty operation and he would have a proper break to recover. I’m all for this – I think it’s a mistake to be in too much of a hurry to get results. Gelding does bulk a horse up though, and Connie is a horse who needs to put on muscle. He may be a little weak this season – we’ll know a lot more after tomorrow.

The one thing I will say is that the horse knows how to jump. He bends his legs beautifully and has a lovely natural action (or so I’m told). He goes well on soft ground, which is what he’ll get tomorrow. He probably won’t be the finished article for a year or two, but he ought to have a decent chance tomorrow in what looks a fairly weak juvenile (I think the Pipe trained fav won’t like the ground as much as we do and the trip could be on the sharp side for him). I’ll definitely be having a bet.

Master of the Race is trained by Tom Dascombe in Lambourn – he is the only jumper that Tom trains. He was bought out of Michael Stoute’s yard for 24,000 guineas in the summer. Again I only own 1/6 of the horse in a syndicate which includes Peter Deal, some of Tom’s family and a couple of guys I haven’t met yet.

Tom tells me that the horse has schooled really well – he’s had plenty of time to get to the bottom of him. He’s been gelded and has had all the time he needs to recover. Tom rode him in a hunt on Boxing day, and he had a run on the flat at Wolverhampton on the 30th to sharpen him up. He should be ready to go.

He handles cut pretty well and we’re hoping he’ll cope with the ground tomorrow – ideally we would prefer it a little less soft. It’s a weak looking race and he could be a pretty decent price. I’ll be having a bet for sure – Tom had a winner today and his stable is in excellent form.