Aerospace followed up with another win today (at Newcastle) but it wasn't the cakewalk of his previous win. He was 2nd or disputing the lead for nearly all the race but looked in real trouble at the distance. Have to say I think Hollie Doyle made all the difference and she'd have probably won on the 2nd and 3rd if she'd been riding them. Another winner for Talent but he's no star at this stage. Perhaps needs a bit further. Meanwhile Dixon has 3 foals, 2 colts and a filly. Looks as if there may only be two more foals this year.
Harpers Ferry gets another outing but this time ridden by stable favourite Saffie Osborne, who probably rides him on the gallops. He runs in a 10f maiden at Windsor, which is often chosen as a race for aspiring 3yos. It's a nice course to visit of a Monday evening but not my idea of a course that would particularly suit a horse like Harpers Ferry. Anyway he has to win this well if he's to get a shot at a Derby trial. Dixon now has 4 foals.For a change there are more colts than fillies, which will make it easier for him to decide what to send to the Sales, this year and next.
Harpers Ferry duly won today at Windsor beating a Becket colt by a bit more than a length (Beckett has provided the winner of HF's two previous runs). As Poniros was giving HF 7lb this doesn't look good enough form to justify going for a Classic Trial. However he still looks as if he has a frame to fill and he did little wrong requiring just a couple of taps at the furlong pole. The runner up had a harder race. A sensible target could be the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot.
Sailing On runs in the 3rd race on the card at Bath today. Still a maiden, this 4yo hit the bar a few times last year. He still looked like 'work in progress' last season, so perhaps another year under the belt will have matured him. He needs to live up to his pedigree, being a full brother to Oaks winner Talent. Walker and the owners seem to be dithering between Lingfield and York for Harpers Ferry's next outing. The BHA only gave him a rating of 88 after his maiden win. Walker has the 4yo filly Dreamrocker entered a few times this coming week. Her half-sister Dreamloper only started showing her true worth as a 4yo so hopefully we'll see some of the same with this Fastnet Rock filly. She is related to both Sailing On and and Harpers Ferry.
After dithering over Lingfield or the Dante Harper's Ferry goes for the Dee Stakes tomorrow. Easier but not easy at all. He's the outsider of 5 and on ratings has little chance. We'll see. His relative Dreamrocker did not advertise her ability on her seasonal debut.
Not added to this thread for nearly 5 months: but here goes. Not a great year on the course for Mark Dixon and his partnerships. Harper's Ferry was his sole win (at Windsor in April) and neither of his 2yos has run. To cheer him up at the yearling Newmarket Sales this week he sold a Study of Man colt out of La Marchesa for 170,000gns, which was a tidy profit. He also sold a Space Blues filly for 32,000gns at the same sale. Only the day before this sale this filly's elder sister, Laurelin (by Zarak), won on her debut at Aqueduct and she had been sold at last year's Aqana sale for €160,000. The Space Blues yearling may prove to be cheap. A problem with the mare, Bari, is that she does not always get into foal and was barren again this year. She may be ripe for culling. Dixon now has 5 yearlings (all fillies) and 5 foals (3 colts and 2 fillies). He has 7 mares in foal and 2 others. The December Mare sale catalogue will be printed soon. Lady Howard de Walden has had no runners since her 4yo Graham was sold in July for 40,000gns. As he was a gelding who only showed his form on firmish ground this wasn't a season for him. She had no 3yos and her two 2yos are yet to run (both with Hannon). Could have been nothing to say about the Cliveden Stud as they had no 3yos or older. Even produce sold were not to be found. Then suddenly the Group 2 winner Horseplay had an unnamed 2yo colt seen on the Newmarket gallops. As he's in training with Ed Dunlop there was a good chance that Philip Freedman still owned him or part of him. Well, in the last week he's been named Too Darn Seanie (???) and he's owned by a Mr O'Callaghan. As he's showing some speed on the gallops he could be out soon. As for Horseplay, she seemed to have been rested in 2022 but this year produced a filly foal by Frankel.
Harper's Ferry showed his true self today when winning a competitive 8f handicap at Doncaster. The word on the street was that he'd grown up after his gelding operation and last race. Accordingly he was raced without any of the aids he'd previously worn. He looked in good condition and led from the start. 2f out everyone else was rowing away and Marquand was almost still. He gave him a few taps at the distance but did not flatter and came home a length in front. A good end to his season. Maybe next year he'll go on from this. No Dixon mares in the Mares Sales catalogue so that's 7 in foal and two to be mated early next year.
