May purchases and Uttoxeter no-show
First things first - neither READY TO RUMBLE nor TIPSY MOUSE got a run at Uttoxeter this evening as Richard Guest was suitably unhappy with the state of the ground. He has run animals on ground faster than the good to firm of tonight's card as recently as last week (Hexham was firm), but I imagine the state of tonight's good to firm cannot have been that safe in comparison.
I didn't see any of tonight's racing, but there have been at least three occasions I know of since last September where Uttoxeter meetings have been played out on poor ground with numerous obstacles dolled off. Two consecutive meetings I attended in September were blighted by faulty drainage, resulting in false ground and fences omitted; and last Thursday, although the steady rain had admittedly turned the going to soft, the disruption to the course proper was disproportionately high, with stacks of guard rails placed everywhere to help horses avoid large areas of bad ground again evidently created in the same areas as in September. Is everyone connected with the course starting to lose the plot without the late Sir Stanley Clarke presiding over matters? Recent beefs to the press, such as the relaying of continuous adverts over the PA system, and the permitting of alcohol to be taken into the stands, indicate the course's behaviour is starting to irritate the public, and too many more rotten surfaces are going to have certain trainers thinking twice about returning to the track in a hurry too.
And relax.
As promised last night, herewith a list of all the purchases Richard Guest made at the Tattersalls Doncaster Sales from May 24th - 26th. They certainly bear repeating as there are a few particularly eyecatching buys among them, although I personally think it's asking a lot of Shotgun Willy - very much a stayer on the downgrade, rising 12, and with the silliest walk in the racing world - to justify even having 16,000gns spent on him. Watch him prove me wrong this autumn now! All bar Upswing were bought in the ring, he being a private purchase from Bob Johnson away from the action at some stage of the Sales. All prices are given in guineas;
May 24th
4yo b g Epervier Bleu - Falcon Crest (unraced and un-named); 75,000gns.
May 25th
Upswing; 3,500gns
May 26th
Chivalry; 50,000gns
Tipsy Mouse; 22,000gns
Shotgun Willy; 16,000gns
Shannon's Pride; 13,000gns
St Pirran; 10,000gns
Jodante; 10,000gns
Yvanovitch; 6,600gns
In total 206,100gns were blown on nine horses in three days, and the 75,000gns shelled out for the Epervier Bleu 4yo represents a new Brancepeth record for the most money paid for a horse by either Richard Guest or Norman Mason before him. The previous high was the 60,000gns paid for Admiral last October. Chivalry's 50,000gns price-tag installs him as the third priciest Brancepeth purchase ever. Discussion on racing forums seems to suggest Guest will campaign Chivalry as a top-class novices' chaser this term... but didn't Graham Wylie and Howard Johnson discard him primarily because it was thought he'd be too quirky to take to fences? This could be interesting...
I didn't see any of tonight's racing, but there have been at least three occasions I know of since last September where Uttoxeter meetings have been played out on poor ground with numerous obstacles dolled off. Two consecutive meetings I attended in September were blighted by faulty drainage, resulting in false ground and fences omitted; and last Thursday, although the steady rain had admittedly turned the going to soft, the disruption to the course proper was disproportionately high, with stacks of guard rails placed everywhere to help horses avoid large areas of bad ground again evidently created in the same areas as in September. Is everyone connected with the course starting to lose the plot without the late Sir Stanley Clarke presiding over matters? Recent beefs to the press, such as the relaying of continuous adverts over the PA system, and the permitting of alcohol to be taken into the stands, indicate the course's behaviour is starting to irritate the public, and too many more rotten surfaces are going to have certain trainers thinking twice about returning to the track in a hurry too.
And relax.
As promised last night, herewith a list of all the purchases Richard Guest made at the Tattersalls Doncaster Sales from May 24th - 26th. They certainly bear repeating as there are a few particularly eyecatching buys among them, although I personally think it's asking a lot of Shotgun Willy - very much a stayer on the downgrade, rising 12, and with the silliest walk in the racing world - to justify even having 16,000gns spent on him. Watch him prove me wrong this autumn now! All bar Upswing were bought in the ring, he being a private purchase from Bob Johnson away from the action at some stage of the Sales. All prices are given in guineas;
May 24th
4yo b g Epervier Bleu - Falcon Crest (unraced and un-named); 75,000gns.
May 25th
Upswing; 3,500gns
May 26th
Chivalry; 50,000gns
Tipsy Mouse; 22,000gns
Shotgun Willy; 16,000gns
Shannon's Pride; 13,000gns
St Pirran; 10,000gns
Jodante; 10,000gns
Yvanovitch; 6,600gns
In total 206,100gns were blown on nine horses in three days, and the 75,000gns shelled out for the Epervier Bleu 4yo represents a new Brancepeth record for the most money paid for a horse by either Richard Guest or Norman Mason before him. The previous high was the 60,000gns paid for Admiral last October. Chivalry's 50,000gns price-tag installs him as the third priciest Brancepeth purchase ever. Discussion on racing forums seems to suggest Guest will campaign Chivalry as a top-class novices' chaser this term... but didn't Graham Wylie and Howard Johnson discard him primarily because it was thought he'd be too quirky to take to fences? This could be interesting...
posted by Jeremy Grayson @ 10:36 PM
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