Hot Summer

Dusty was fifth at Yarmouth in early August - in touch, but out of the money. However, Macho Mover put us back in the winner's circle on the 12th August, with Scott McCullagh guiding the beast to an impressive four-length victory after almost a mile-and-a-half over Windsor turf. We may not have many horses left in training nowadays, but it's nice that we can still record the odd winner every now and again. This is Macho Mover's first win, and he looks strong enough over a decent distance to keep up momentum over the coming weeks...

PS. Dusty secured a handy second place at Salisbury - nowhere near the winner, but beating the others with ease. And then McCullagh rode a magnificent race, patiently waiting for a gap before pushing Macho Mover through for another win. Dusty was third at Brighton on the 21st, hampered by a mad thing for most of the race. 

PPS. Bad news from Ireland, with The Jazz Singer suffering a heart attack and passing away on the spot. The jockey who was training with him is okay, with just a few knocks and scrapes. As it happens, a friend lost her horse a few days earlier, about the same age, but never raced and not even in work for the last couple of years - just kept as a pet. I think the crazy heat this summer is taking its toll. With Sayesse having sold at auction, we've not got much left.

PPPS. Macho Mover keeps making macho-level progress with a nice second at Beverley on 1st September, just half-a-length down on the winner. The next day, Scott McCullagh rode another fantastic race to thread Dusty through to victory. He's a name to watch out for in the future, as he already rides with a level of maturity that would have you thinking he'd been racing for decades. The next outing at Brighton went according to the betting, with Dusty third under Nicola Currie, and then we had a handy third for Macho Mover at Ffos Las. A dull outing for Dusty at Redcar, with the 5F race being a bit too sharp probably. Macho Mover was fifth a couple of weeks later at Kempton, with Dusty a disappointing sixth the following day at Brighton. Sadly, Macho Mover made no impression at Kempton on the 23rd...

Knockabout Queen

The latest addition to the Box 41 Racing syndicate is Knockabout Queen - a filly by Sixties Icon...

Sixties Icon has been a real hero in his role as a sire. An eight-time winner, with the St Leger in under his belt, he has some super bloodlines, being sired by Epsom Derby winner Galileo (by Sadler's Wells), and having Love Divine (with an Oaks victory to her credit) as his mother. Knockabout Queen has Rough Courte as her dam, with Danehill and Pivotal being her grandparents.

She was well-fancied in her debut at Wolverhampton in mid-April, but failed to impress on the AW surface. It was early days yet, of course, and one could only hope that results would start coming as her experience built up, for she'd done everything right at home. She then picked up a handy third at Brighton on the 24th, and was fourth at Beverley on the 7th May. But next time out, at Windsor on the 18th June, she was a convincing winner under David Egan. Let's hope it's the start of something good!

PS. Despite being the pre-race favourite by miles at Redcar on the 22nd, a bad start blew things good and proper for Joe Fanning, and we trailed home a distant fourth in the end...

PPS. Knockabout Queen was claimed after the Redcar seller, so she has now left the Box 41 stable. With Sayesse due to go soon as well (a fourth on 3rd August will almost certainly be his last race for us, as he's entered for auction a few days later), our list of horses in training is now the shortest it's been in many, many years. 

Quick Review

Macho Mover didn't do much at Kempton, and a fast pace and a bad gate draw (again!) should have destroyed Sayesse's chances, so second by a very short head has to be considered a superb result at Wolverhampton on the 7th April. A week or so later, there was disappointment at Kempton in a race that didn't seem to suit him, and Macho Mover ran well enough at Windsor but could only manage seventh. There will be other days!

PS. Sayesse was back in the game well and truly at Brighton on the 24th, coming a close second despite yet another rough gate draw, being forced wide, and a weight handicap that was verging on unfair. Couldn't do much at Lingfield in mid-May, though, with the pace and ground adding up to push him back into fourth.

PPS. Sayesse had a disaster at Yarmouth, while the fast pace hurt his chances at Brighton, where he finished fourth. There was a distant fifth at Goodwood in mid-June, adding to the agony of knowing we have a good pony, but the results just aren't coming. Meanwhile, Macho Mover was sixth at Chepstow, but only a length down on the winner, and a reasonable third at Wetherby in early June. There's a couple of more entries lined up, although one has to say my Irish campaign has been extremely disappointing this season - no races, only hefty bills. Not a happy bunny...

PPPS. Macho Mover was well-fancied at Lingfield, but faded badly at the end after a very fast pace seemed to ruin our chances. Another disaster for Sayesse at Newbury, unfortunately, and Macho Mover fell short of expectations at Bath on the following day after hitting the inside fence; looks like Sayesse will be sold in a few weeks now, especially after another very bad day at Chester. At least Dusty had a nice comeback run at Windsor with a very strong third place, but was penned-in at the next race at Ripon, restricting progress until it was too late. 

A Return To Form

The faith in Sayesse was rewarded at Wolverhampton on the 23rd, with a superb third, despite another unfavourable gate draw (a larger factor than normal at this tight AW track). It will be interesting to see which way the Channon family go with him after this, with the proper flat season just around the corner. Still nothing happening with the Irish pair, which is disappointing, so all eyes are on Sayesse right now. A revival of winning ways on turf can't be that far off now, surely?

PS. Sure enough, Sayesse blasted past the post at Lingfield to give me my 75th winner - a big landmark that seemed to be forever in coming, but I'm happy it was this lovely nag that made it happen. Our first winner of 2018, so let's hope this is the start of a good season! 

PPS. Fourth at Lingfield on the 19th, due mainly to a rough gate draw and bunching. Certainly not disappointed, as you should have seen the finishing speed! The good season prediction still stands...

2018

Well, things are getting off to a slow start this year - the Irish pair aren't running as yet, and so Sayesse kicked off the season on the AW track at Kempton. Let's just say the beast is coming back from its lay-off gently and leave it at that. The chances are there will be another outing on the 27th, also at Kempton, when hopefully we can regain some of the pace we know this horse is capable of...

PS. The later run didn't materialize, so we had to wait until the 10th February for the next outing, where Sayesse came fourth. Held up at the back for a long time, the final sprint revived memories of the nag of old, so maybe we can get some good sport during the spring.