HiT 2014

[Bustino74]

Have been getting the annual Horses in Training book for years and question its value now as the majority of 2yos aren’t named (The Queen appears almost unique in having all her 2yos named: she has 43 horses (40 flat:3 jumps but no Close Touch(?)] in training this year, which seems a lot). A lot of 2yos are also without the owners being named. 15 years ago you got everything, DOB, price paid and owner.

A few headlines from the quick look I’ve had:-

Hannon has a whopping 280 horses and the sheikhs are coming in big time;

Cecil has lost Gillian de Walden’s 3yo filly, Nirva, who along with her 2yo colt Perrault, is now with Beckett. Joyeuse is of course still with her;

Oxx has no Aga Khan 2yos, but seemed to keep the 3yos+;

Charlton and Stoute seem the leading benefactors Juddmonte-wise from the slimming down of Warren Place;

La Divina’s first foal by Dansili is in training with Stoute but not owned by Ballymacoll. Rumour is that it’s Juddmonte owned, but not purchased at auction, and maybe that’s how you pay for a nomination to Frankel.

 

[Ron]

Cheers Bustino. I've never seen that publication. I used to get Timeform's Racehorses and also their Chasers and Hurdlers every year but it's a long time since I've bought them. Used to be about £2 something when I first bought Racehorses and I used to go through the whole book looking for horses to follow in certain circumstances. I assume Horses in Training is purely factual?

 

[Bustino74]

Yes purely lists of trainer's strings, apparently 18,000 horses with breeding etc.. The first one I bought cost me 7/6 and it's now £18

 

[Sir Barney Chuckles]

Bustino, re the Queen’s NH stock have you seen who she’s got, together with Mr Henderson, set to run later in the week??? The very well bred (although you could say very well bred for the Flat rather than the NH sphere) SPECIAL AGENT who is a son of Invincible Spirit and Oaks runner-up, Flight of Fancy.

Special Agent has obviously had his problems as given his breeding I’m sure it wasn’t planned that he would be set to make his racecourse bow as late as a 5YO. However, looks an intriguing possible runner both at Warwick on Wednesday and in the long term.

 

[Bustino74]

Thanks Sir Barney, I put in the bit about Close Touch as I was hoping you could throw some light on the removal of this promising chaser from the group trained by Henderson. Is he dead? Yes Special Agent is an interesting gelding as he was never in training as a 2yo or 3yo but first appeared in Henderson's ranks as a 4yo last year. Why he wasn't in training one can only speculate. He could have been injured or he could have just kept growing.
The Queen had a reasonable bumper a few years back called Gold Award, who won twice for Henderson and even ran at the Cheltenham Festival (2008?). He was a Daylami half-brother to Flight of Fancy's dam.

 

[Sir Barney Chuckles]

Bustino, Close Touch went wrong prior to making his anticipated chasing bow back in November. He’s still in one piece but unfortunately, I can’t see him ever coming back into training. A shame as Mr Henderson had said he was the best horse he’d trained for The Queen – I’m guessing though that the old boy had momentarily forgotten about the legendary Barbers Shop.

Re Lady Cecil another she won’t be getting back is Mr Ponsonby’s Tiger Cliff. I would imagine she must be quite miffed about this as he left her stable to go hurdling (a decision I never understood as why go hurdling with a horse like this who is rapidly ascending the Flat ranks and doesn’t have to improve that much more to be a genuine Cup horse in ’14) but ultimately never jumped a twig ‘in anger’. He will remain with Alan King for a Flat campaign starting I see in a Nottingham Listed race next month before a crack at the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup.