Jonathan Jay Racing :: Horse Racing Stables

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Thursday 11th May 2006

It has been quite an exciting week with horses coming off the sick list and coming back to being ridden. The latest is Esthlos (Tommy) who suffered a fractured cannon bone back in mid December at Southwell on only his second start. He was only beaten a length and a half on that day and looks to be making a full recovery.

Wednesday 10th May 2006

After 6 months on the sidelines with a fractured off-side rear hip Darth Vader is back in training and is being ridden daily. Owned by the Alan Brazil Racing Club (www.alanbrazilracing.com) Darth will be aimed at Bumpers later on in the year and is a horse to follow. For the next month he will only be ridden at a walk and trot while we ease him back into full training.

Tuesday 9th May 2006

All the way to Catterick with Bill Bennett for softish ground only for the ground to be described at Good on the day and Good to Firm on the Racing Post results page. The highlight of a long day was cheering on Our Little Secret for Jack and Jo Berry, two of the nicest people in racing.

It was good to see Fred and Margaret Garrett who visited Ring of Destiny who has spent most of the year on the sick list with his front tendons. We had hoped to have started riding Ring of Destiny again this month but his tendons, although much improved, are taking a age to settle down. We hope to see him out later in the year.

Monday 8th May 2006

Give a trainer free day in Paris an what do they do Drag the family to the nearest racing yard.
We joined Tidal Fury's jockey, Dean Gallagher, for a tour around François Cottin's yard in Lamorlaye. This was only 1/4 mile from the yard I worked at while I was an assistant trainer with Myriam Bollack-Badel and brought back some fond memories. The photo below shows my son Alex with Dean and this year's French Grand National winner Jeu du Brook. Spent the rest of the day returning to England. Tidal Fury arrived home at 1pm and a blood sample was taken at evening stables. Bill Bennett runs tomorrow at Catterick as the ground is now Good, Good to Soft in places with a forecast of more rain.

Sunday 7th May 2006

Sunday saw Tidal Fury back over to France for his 8th race at Auteuil. As you can see he looked a picture and ran very well until the last 400 metres when he folded quiet rapidly. There was obviously something amiss with him and he will be examined by our vets on his return to Newmarket. The likely causes of his poor performance look likely to be either a soft palate problem or a case of bleeding.

Monday 1st May 2006

Later in the month is the Goffs National Hunt Sale (30th May to 1st June). The catalogue is packed with three and four-year-old National Hunt prospects. I will be in attendance looking for the next Tidal Fury. There is actually one 3-y-o gelding by Digby's sire, Night Shift, in the sale from the family of Storm Dream and Border Arrow. I am hoping to find a horse that we can split into 1/4 shares to race both in England and France. Owning 25% of the horse gives you the thrill of ownership but at a fraction of the price. After the initial purchase the monthly costs are only just over £400 pcm. If anyone is looking for a share in a National Hunt horse then feel free to give me a call to discuss:
(07711 147071)

Our only planned runner this week is Bill Bennett who will travel to Musselburgh to race on Thursday only if the ground is good to soft (currently good to firm). Tidal Fury is due to travel to France on Friday.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of training racehorses is finding out the quirks that every horse has - we call it getting inside their head. One example is The Bonus King who after a canter loves to drink from a bucket while it is being filled (see photo below). We are not sure if this is because the water is cold or smells fresh straight out of the tap. If it is the bubbles he likes then co-owners Janet Martin and Mo Done can expect to see an additional charge for Perrier!

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

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

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