Jonathan Jay Racing :: Horse Racing Stables

previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | next

Thursday 1st June 2006

Our 2-year-olds had one of their first tastes of speed this morning. They started with a warm up canter on Bury Road woodchip before a quick 4f on Long Hill grass. Derrick McGaffin came in for this lot and rode Henrietta Mews (below) who is one of our most forward babies. The Desert Sun colt bought in Ireland on Monday is due to arrive at 3pm today. He has been named Melancholy Dane.

Wednesday 31st May 2006

Bill Bennett is off racing today at Leicester and any further rain will enhance his prospects. The trip is slightly short for him but if the ground is bottomless he should do well. Gaelic Roulette had her first canter back after being struck into at her last race at Worcester and looked superb. Cortina continues to improve and will be out soon (pictured below). We have been making plans for our next French raid. This will consist of the following races: Bill Bennett
11th June - Chantilly (French Oaks support card)
19th June - Amiens
Carlton Scroop
15th June - Longchamp
22nd June - Chantilly

Tuesday 30th May

Monday 29th May 2006

Spent a very productive but tiring day in Ireland attending the inaugural Goresbridge breeze up sale. The 2-year-olds on sale galloped in the morning at Gowran Park racecourse before being auctioned in the afternoon. The beauty of a breeze-up sale for the owner and trainer is that we can buy a horse a number of steps closer to racing than buying a yearling. For the breeders it allows horses with unfashionable pedigrees to show their potential on the track and not be judged on the page. I was delighted to pick up a bay Desert Sun colt that did not have the strongest of pedigrees but breezed very well and had an excellent attitude (picture below). He is out of a Danehill mare that won 3 races and will make a welcome addition to our 2-year-old team. Their numbers will be also swelled by the arrival later this week of Bill Bennett's 1/2 sister named Lady Nimue.

Skye Boat Song is doing well and the vet is due to change his dressing later in the week.

Sunday 28th May 2006

Very bad news with regard to Skye Boat Song. He had a canter yesterday and came back OK but after washing down was totally lame on his off rear. Our vet was quickly called who x-rayed and confirmed that he had fractured himself. Surgery is unfortunately not an option. The vet has put huge bandage on him (see below) and he is on bute. It is important that he gets through the next few weeks without displacing the fracture.

Friday 12th May 2006

As a fairly new trainer is a great feeling taking on the big yards and competing on level terms. Shardia (pictured below) has a pedigree that would allow her to walk into any of the top trainers' stables and she would not look out of place. Today she just finished outside the money at Nottingham on ground that did not suit her. Having finished 3rd in her only other handicap run and should see the winners enclosure soon. As the photo shows she looked superb on the day and it is remarkable how the recent sunny spell has brought on all of our fillies who just a month ago looked a little backward in their coats. Among this group are Cortina, Elli Lewtia, So Elegant and Meddle. We like to leave the lights on in the stables as much as possible to help our horses cope with the equine equivalent of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and stud farms have put brood mares "under lights" for years to trick them into coming into season earlier than nature intended. Part of the planned refurbishment of Exeter House includes the fitting of full spectrum lighting (which is used for the treatment of SAD in humans) in all the boxes and it will be interesting to see if in future seasons our fillies come into their summer coats any earlier and what effect that will have on their results. Gaelic Roulette has looked the part for the last couple of months and has been performing well as a result.

Jonathan Jay Racing
Exeter Road, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8LP

Tel: 07852 561417 Email: jj@jonathanjay.co.uk

Website Design, Hosting and Maintenance by Quintdown Web Ltd