News Archive: May 2008

Monday 5th May: The BOBBY CHARLES family received a boost today with his little brother Trans Siberian winning a Windsor handicap after a couple of near misses.

Meanwhile the two-year-olds continue to come along nicely.  They all went out today including Friday's breeze up purchase Johannesburg x Dancingonice.

Tuesday 6th May: After the latest forfeit stage in the Watership Down Stud Sales Race both GREAT WHITE HOPE  and LADY ANGELICA stand their ground.

Thursday 8th May: New arrival Johannesburg x Dancingonice now has her own page on the horses main page.  So why not have a look?!

Saturday 10th May: SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND by the Spotter.

Rio De La Plata - gives our grey Noverre filly a nice pedigree 

boost.

Monday 12th April: A pedigree update from France this weekend.  French 2000 Guineas runner-up Rio De La Plata shares the same fourth dam as our very own GREAT WHITE HOPE who is also bred very similarly.

This weekend also saw the beginning of our latest "how to" piece - this time it's the starting stalls.

Starting Stalls - Step One:  At some stage in race preparation flat horses need to become acquainted with the starting stalls.  PAINTED SMILE and DEFECTIVEDETECTIVE are in full work so it's time to start the stalls practice.

Armed with the necessary equipment - helmets, rope, hood, and a BIG bag of grass the intrepid handlers meet their charges at the practice stalls near the Rowley Mile racecourse.

Here are the Steriline stalls, which caused some controversy when introduced a couple of years ago.  The low pads at the back caused hock (rear knee) injuries and they were subsequently redesigned.

Before commencing the handlers check the front doors function.  They are closed

and sprung open.

Both horses are led up to an open stall and are walked through several times - successfully!  After that the back gates are closed and then the front gates.  The front gates are then opened to allow the horse to walk out.

All negotiated successfully - STOP AND QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD!

Thursday 15th May: DEADLY SILENCE is entered for a 11-furlong maiden on the all-weather at Southwell on Tuesday.  Here he is completing a piece of work on the Cambridge Road polytrack.

Friday 16th May: Pedigree update from Thursday evening at Newmarket as Jeer, a cousin of DEADLY SILENCE, wins the feature 10-furlong handicap.

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND by the Spotter.

Sunday 18th May: DEADLY SILENCE is due to pay a visit to Southwell on Tuesday, re-united with jockey Steve Drowne.

BIG NOISE and SILENT APPLAUSE are both possible runners on Friday here at Newmarket.

LADY ANGELICA and IVY THE TERRIBLE go through their paces on the Rubbing House polytrack on Saturday morning.

Deadly Silence: A stunning 

Monday 19th May: The filly formerly known as Johannesburg x School of Deelites  will now

be called JOHANNA DEE after her name was cleared with the US authorities.

Wednesday 21st May: SILENCE REIGNS AT SOUTHWELL - DEADLY SILENCE romps home in the 1m 3f Fibresand Maiden Stakes at the  Nottinghamshire track yesterday.

Meanwhile, BIG NOISE (Richard Hughes) and SILENT APPLAUSE (Luke Morris) are declared for Newmarket's Rowley Mile, over 7f and 8f respectively, on Friday afternoon.

Friday 23rd May: SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND by the Spotter.

Saturday 24th May: LATIMER HOUSE has her first entry of the season at Yarmouth over 10f on Thursday provided the rain arrives.

                                      Monday 26th May: Both of Friday's runners BIG NOISE and 

                                                         SILENT APPLAUSE have returned safe and sound from their 

                                                         respective races.

                                                         And whilst our bank holiday weather may leave something to be 

                                                         desired DEADLY SILENCE'S half-brother Silver Guineas 

                                                         won the second race of his career in Barbados.

                                      Tuesday 27th May: LATIMER HOUSE gets the go ahead & 

                                                         is declared to run at Great Yarmouth on Thursday, jockey David 

                                                         Kinsella in the saddle.

Anything you can do...Deadly 

Silence's half brother bolts up

in Barbados.                         DEADLY SILENCE is allotted a handicap mark of 86 by the  

                                                         handicapper after his impressive win last week.

                                      Friday 30th May: An encouraging seasonal debut for 

                                                         LATIMER HOUSE as she runs an extremely pleasing race at 

                                                         Yarmouth on only her fourth lifetime appearance.  A step up to 

                                                         10 furlongs suited and jockey David Kinsella suggests a little 

                                                         further may be more to her liking. 

                                                       And, at last, PAINTED SMILE gets her name in the papers with 

                                                       an entry next Thursday at Lingfield in a seven-furlong maiden. 

                                                       SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND by the Spotter.