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20 May 2014

Charlie Fellows: The Calm Before The Storm


After the buzz and mayhem of Guineas weekend we have had a relatively quiet time in the yard of late. I ran two horses on Monday 12th May, and ended up returning home baffled by both runs! EPSOM HILL was the first on the track and he ran a massive race to finish third. Admittedly the horrendous conditions due to torrential rain earlier in the day will have aided his chances immensely, but I am sure the trip was far too short for him, so could not have been happier with his performance. Jimmy Fortune was very pleased with his run, and agreed that a mile was definitely his minimum trip, so I shall try and find a maiden over a little further for his next start. On a side note, I was shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Jimmy’s wife over the weekend and would like to offer him and the rest of their family my sincerest condolences. 

The second horse to run that day was BUCKLAND BEAU. He had been in great form at home and did a very promising piece of work on the Cambridge Road gallop the previous week, so I thought he would go very close. Disappointingly, it became apparent a very long way from home that things were not right and he was eased right down before the finish. Subsequently absolutely nothing has come up to explain his poor performance. I don’t think I have got a sounder horse in the yard, and he was barely blowing by the time he got back to the racecourse stables, so Freddie Tylicki and I have come to the conclusion that he simply didn’t act on the ground. He did run well on soft ground at Nottingham first time out this season, but the ground on Monday was heavy and sometime soft ground horses simply don’t act on ground that bad. Either way the horse has come back in one piece, which was my initial concern, and he will live to fight another day.

This week is also going to be relatively quiet, and with both ACCESSION and PEARL ICE needing rain if they are going to line up for their respective races, we could find ourselves with no runners this week. Next week, however, promises to be far busier as we chase that elusive second winner of the year.

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