It seems to have been such a long time since we last did a blog and it was – back at the beginning of January! The past month has flown by and we have been extremely busy with more horses coming back into work and getting the now 4 year olds back into work! January saw both Wadebridge and Chipley hold Point to Points and we unfortunately lost the first and second meetings due to be held at Buckfastleigh due to the awful weather!!

Roll back to the 7th January, we headed to Wadebridge. Did Ja Ever made her yard debut albeit a month later than we planned after meeting a minor bump in the road! She ran a very pleasing race to finish 3rd in the Maiden under Josh with Liwah behind her in 4th under Darren Andrews. Two weeks later, we took 4 to Chipley and had a brilliant day! The Kings Writ strutted back into the winners enclosure after taking the Tiverton Foxhounds Hunt Race. Lucky Lara finished in 2nd in the same race after not being on the track since November 2022. Bang On Target ran a super race to finish 4th in a decent Intermediate and Hearts Corner was just touched off in the Restricted by a progressive horse of Tom Ellis’. 

Onto February and on the 4th we headed in two directions. Mount Mason made his debut at Garthorpe under Darren Andrews to finish 3rd. He is a lovely horse for the future and will come on alot for that. Sixteen Letters made his seasonal debut at Larkhill in what will be one of the hottest races of the season, The Coronation Cup. He finished 4th and no doubt will be back in the winners enclosure soon. It’s safe to say, age has not yet caught up with him! His enthusiasm for racing is incredible. Love That was back on the track and on a recovery mission since her poor run at Badbury Rings when she turned out to be under the weather. Hannah Morgan has done a fabulous job with her and this showed when she took the Maiden Conditions Race by a length and going away the whole time! A lovely first win for the new Blackmore Racing Club! The day was overshadowed when the news filtered through about fellow West Country Point to Point jockey, Keagan Kirkby, who sadly lost his life riding at Charing. Keagan was a breath of fresh air in the weighing room and his love for the sport and horses were infectious. Come win or lose, he always had a bright smile on his face and we send all our love to his family and friends at this time. 

To the National Hunt horses who have continued to run very well…including Longshanks who was running a blinder at Exeter before deciding to take a look at the chase course just before the wing of the last hurdle. Very frustrating for all involved and he has now gone up 2lb in the Handicap for his troubles. Naughty Gary!!! This season’s yard star, Gyllen, made it 3 from 3 at Sandown on the 26th January when winning by a neck in a thrilling four way finish under another cool ride by Harry Cobden. Stellar Stream put his poor run on New Year’s Day behind him and galloped all the way to the line to come 3rd at Chepstow. Stratton Oakmont headed to Wetherby and jumped very well to come 2nd by a neck. Diamatiste also showed a lot of promise coming 3rd at Exeter on Sunday in a Class 2. Other horses haven’t been so lucky, Iris Des Issards and Georgie made the long journey to Doncaster for it to be called off just after Georgie luckily won Best Turned Out. Stratton Oakmont was also declared at Bangor-on-Dee which also got abandoned.

Our lovely bunch of 4 year olds are plugging on well with their work. They all went to Chipley Park the day after racing and had a school and gallop which proved to be successful. They were all due to go to Knightwick for schooling but that has already been abandoned due to the river bursting its banks. 

The 4racing Club visited to see Our Dylan back in work after his holidays! He will hopefully be back on the track soon. We were very lucky to have the Racing Staff Development Program bring in the Simulator for all the staff to have a go on to tweak and help with their riding. A huge thanks to Lauren and Emma for giving up your time to come to the yard. We continue to build up data regarding all the horses with the Arioneo Equimeters which is very interesting and we are learning lots all the time.

Many thanks to Nigel Kirby for the photo of Iris Des Issards and Georgie braving the elements at Doncaster. Another thank you to Brian Phipps for the photo of Gyllen and Harry Cobden.