Bella Cavalla - Back On Track

Introduction

Busy times since my last update.? We had 10 days in Northern Ireland during which time both of Neil Mulholland’s racing club horses ran and that meant organising badges and communications for them and then we had runs from Stryder and Bella Cavalla, so I have certainly been kept on my toes.

It was brilliant to catch up with former BG Racing trainer, Alan Fleming, while we were in Ireland.? Alan is back training a few horses again and we went to see them with him.? I have not managed to see Alan as often as I would have liked in recent years so it was brilliant to catch up.

The highlight of my trip to Northern Ireland however (with apologies to my wife and sister in respect of all the other fun stuff we did) was our visit to Downpatrick races.? Sadly an old friend who I used to stand with at Cheltenham Races, Gerry Hannity, passed away on Christmas Eve last year.? He was a regular at Downpatrick and we spoke of going to the race there together if ever we were over.? That opportunity was missed, but I felt that going there was a personal tribute to Gerry, so it was emotional to find on our arrival that Gerry’s family had coincidentally chosen that race day to sponsor a memorial race for him.? We ended up meeting all his family and this made it a very special day for me.

Next Thursday, I have a group of shareholders coming with me to Weatherbys (racing’s administrators) and to Warwick races and I will also be visiting both our horses with groups of shareholders in the coming days.? It is all part of the shareholder experience, so why not give it a try?

Bella Cavalla

The days where a performance exceeds my best-case scenario are very few and far between, I cannot remember more than a handful of occasions when this has happened and Bella Cavalla’s recent race was one of them!

I would have been thrilled if Bella Cavalla had finished 5th or 6th, so to see her jumping the last in 4th and staying on well for a brilliant 3rd place finish was really special.

She looks likely to win races over the summer and from wondering whether we would even want to renew our ownership for another year, this run has switched me to seeing if I can get enough shareholding sold to do so!

I am currently putting together pricing to cover the period to 3oth June 2025, so please contact me for details if this is of interest.

Stryder

After weeks of niggles, setbacks and hold-ups we finally got Stryder back to the racecourse.? The bad news is that he came last, but the good news is that this was almost certainly down to a lack of race sharpness and having suffered no soreness after the race, then touch wood we will have a clear run with him now.

He stumbled out of the stalls at Windsor but the big takeaway was that he had a big blow a furlong and a half out and jockey Rab Havlin thought that the race would have put him spot on for next time.

He was dropped 2lb following this run and off a mark of 50, he is now eligible to run in level weights “classified” races.? There is one at Brighton on 3rd June and this is his target and I would hope that he can go very well here.

Networking & Racing Event

I have now confirmed my networking and racing event at Lingfield at 11.30 am on Monday 10th June.

Each attendee will be able to outline their business and meet other local businesses to potentially find new suppliers, customers and partners. The event includes lunch and an afternoon at the races as is very cheap compared to other networking events!

If you would like to join me at this, please get in touch.

Inside The Rails

The latest episode of Inside The Rails launched on 1st May and we chatted with David Jennings of the Racing Post.? We recorded the June episode today with Josh Apiafi who presents on Sky Sports Racing and also works in various areas of racing improving diversity and creating opportunities for young people in the sport.

That one will be out on the 1st of June and you can search for Inside The Rails on any podcast app or by clicking the link below.? If you know anyone who might like the podcast, please also tell them about it!

https://www.spreaker.com/show/inside-the-rails

Winners From Our?Stables

Neil Mulholland had a good day on the 6th May when Inoui Machin got a power-packed ride from Sam Twiston-Davies to help him to just wear down his main rival on the run-in to secure a narrow win.

There were two more winners on the 8th May for Neil.? The Bold Thady was well supported in the betting before justifying that with a win.? This was the first time he had finished in front after several placed efforts in the past and it was great to see him finally get a victory and the double was brought up by Al Sayeh who marked her handicap debut with a win.? She showed some promise last time and backed that up with a victory now in handicap company.

Neil had three more winners in Jersey on Sunday 12th May and another winner the next day when Fix At All managed to record a victory at Hereford.? He was also a nice price for those who supported him.

Another winner came at Fontwell, where Earth King who had been pulled up on his last two starts over fences, saw the switch to hurdles obviously do the trick and he powered clear to win well.

Get Involved

If you are interested in finding out more about racehorse ownership, then please get in touch as I would be delighted to discuss things with you.

Standing order payments can be made to spread the cost of share purchases and shareholders get regular email updates along with the chance to come to the stables with me as well as to the races. There are also shareholder social events during the year.