Cropredy Lawn Update

After the excitement of The Open Day weekend, this last week took on a rather mundane look. ASHES SUMMER got trapped on the rail around Kempton and by the time she extracated herself the front two had flown. DE SOTO was a non-runner at Stratford, due to the ground quickening up rapidly on a warm windy day and then COME APRIL was too rusty and unhappy on the undulations of Goodwood. We stayed down for a night near Goodwood and the highlight of the week was our discovery of The Royal Oak at East Lavant and the Kingley Vale Nature Reserve nearby. If you ever have the chance you must visit both, as our walk through the vale, the largest and oldest Yew forest in Europe, on a cloudless autumn day, was truely spectacular.
Back to business with a vengence today at Market Rasen. The promise of good ground and lots of loot lures us upto Lincolnshire with DE SOTO and ROBERT THE BRAVE. Both horses are in great form and have good 'shouts'. The handicap is worth a massive 60k, so is obviously very competitve, but DE SOTO could still be well-handicapped, so maybe it's best to have a crack at a big pot now. ROBERT only has four rivals, but King Troy is rated well above us and will be difficult to beat.
AUSTRALIA DAY tries 1 1/2m. for the first time at Ascot on sunday. This is a bit of an experiment as we all know how keen he can be and Ascot is not really a front-runner's track, but although he gets beaten for speed sometimes in the final furlong, he is usually staying on again at the line. Let us hope that Martin Dwyer is allowed an easy lead.
So chances in valuable races over the weekend, lets hope we can grab some of the swag somewhere!
P.S. Watch out for the unveiling of a possible future star in the 5.05 at Gowran today...Midas Touch. He may not win today, but follow this comet's tail!

Cropredy Lawn Update.

What a spectacular day Open Day Sunday was, pictures of which will appear on the web-site a.s.a.p. Over 250 guests, on a beautiful September day in a lovely relaxed atmosphere. All horses AND humans were on their very best behaviour and the day was supplemented by the finest food and drink. Add all that to the fact that we have raised between £4-5,000 for the Oxon./Berks./Bucks Air Ambulance and you'll see why everybody was pretty knackered yesterday!
ASHES SUMMER did not quite get the 'breaks' at Kempton yesterday. She was ment to track Frankie Dettori, but got trapped on the rails further back than intended, so the first two got first run on her. She finished a lot closer to Kinetics than at Bath and is still making progress. We will decide whether to pursue our aim of winning a maiden or handicap on the flat before going 3.y.o. hurdling.
DE SOTO runs at Stratford today over 2m. 7f. and looks to have a favourite's chance. He is in top form and i hope has gained confidence from his win at Bangor. The track and trip is on the sharp side for him, but we hope that he has the class to get away with that.

Cropredy Lawn Update.

AUSTRALIA DAY followed up his easy win last weekend with a very creditable fourth at Doncaster on thursday. There is no doubt that he's a slightly better horse racing right-handed as he favours 'leading' with his off-fore leg and just tends to lean away from the rail that way around. His front-running tactic tends to set it up for his competitiors who, now that he has gone from 68 to 97 in the weights, have the class to pick him off. It could be time to experiment with a try at 1 1/2m. He might then gain an easier lead, yet he shows no sign of stopping in his races, as though stamina may not be a problem.
We send what we think is a pretty nice two year old for his debut at Leicester today. RAKHAPURA has had a good preparation and has worked nicely at Wolverhampton on two occasions. He's a bit gassy and is best ridden in behind as he get a bit keen, but i would think they should go fast enough over six furlongs to lessen that problem. He looks fit and hard but will obviously benefit from the race and he is in against some experienced rivals. His lad, Danny Hannig has done a tremendous job with this horse and we are hopeful of a very encouraging run. If he remains calm and settled, i'm sure he'll run with great promise.
This is one of the most frantic weeks of the year , building up to The Open Day on sunday and is you stand still around here for a second, you will either get brushed, swept up or painted! Got to go as it's time for first lot and then i've got to finish painting the gates and fences at the top of the drive. We've got a few horses to sell this week and first impressions count for a lot!!

Cropredy Lawn Update

AUSTRALIA DAY was without doubt our easiest ever winner yesterday, i think he took less out of himself than DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM travelling to Folkestone for his walk-over in November 2003! He won easing right down by 34 lengths in a time nearly 7 seconds faster than standard, i wonder what time he would have done if challenged! It was a great confidence booster for him after his tough flat races and he would not have 'blown a candle out'. He ate up last night and is mad fresh in the paddock this morning so we are considering running him at Doncaster on thursday in a 1 1/4m handicap. The weather looks set fair this week so 'SKIPPY' will get his favoured fast ground.
The superbly named ASHES SUMMER makes her debut at Bath today but is bound to benefit from the experience. She worked well at Wolverhampton two weeks ago and looks to be a real trier, but fifth or sixth would be pleasing enough today. Expect By Request to come on a stone from her debut at Ripon last week.