Cropredy Lawn Update

What a frantic week, despite only having one runner and no yearling sale to attend!
We've been on a four-lot routine for a month now and the horses have been doing tremendous groundwork for their preparation towards their seasonal debuts.
We are all hoping for rain in order to proceed with schooling but i do admit i would be reluctant to have swapped some of the glorious autumn mornings that we have had recently for 'soft refreshing rain'. On tuesday we schooled 21 horses over the tyres, baby hurdles and full-size hurdles. It was more show-jumping practice than schooling as the handbrakes were full-on, as the ground is still so fast. But we have had very heavy dews and have also purposely left the grass longer than usual to provide some sort of cushion to the schooling field. William Kennedy, Andrew Thornton, Danny Hannig, Ben Brackenbury and Josh Pierce were all kept busy and remarkably all 21 horses jumped well. For many this was their first jumping experience outside of our loose jumping-lane where they have had masses of practice. All that loose-schooling has taught them well as they all jumped straight and with great enthusiasm.
Amongst tuesday's jumpers were tomorrow's runners ASHES SUMMER and AUSTRALIA DAY who both look in excellent form and well-being. ASHES SUMMER makes her debut in the 3.y.o. hurdle after running well in her two maidens on the flat at Bath and Kempton. This filly has a tremendous attitude and continues to improve. It's a while since we had a promising juvenile hurdler, especially a filly, but i hope we have one here. AUSTRALIA DAY has conditions absolutely in his favour tomorrow as going right-handed on fast ground at Kempton should be as an ideal scenario as he'll ever get. His run over 1 1/2m. at Ascot last time proved that he now stays better than last year. The form of his very good fourth on the flat at Doncaster is rock solid, as the winner Mawatheeq won the Cumberland Lodge and runs in the Champion Stakes today and the second Eastern Aria won a listed race in France next time out. His race is a valuable listed novice hurdle with good competition but we think he remains in top form.
COME APRIL runs at Pontefract on monday and i think the stiff 1 1/4m. will suit her better than the underlating 1 1/2m at Goodwood last time. She has dropped 5lbs and should be less 'rusty' than she was at Goodwood which was her first start for well over two years. Her work has been consistently good and she should go close in this race.

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.

Cropredy Lawn Update

Jerry, Amy and CARBON PRINT have set off on their 159 mile journey to the beach at Yarmouth to try to win the 5.50pm, an apprentice handicap over 1 1/4m. Sir Mark Prescott's apprentice, Rosie Jessop is doing the steering and conditions look ideal. The ground at Newmarket, rain sodden and Lingfield over-watered have not been in this horse's favour so there will be no excuses on that (beach)front today. He has an excellent chance.

Cropredy Lawn Update.

Its all so exciting. Our new, improved, '25% Extra free' Web-site is taking shape. It now has a blog, whatever that is and will soon feature photos in amongst the News pages. Wow, it's all too much. Of course this all means more work for the illiterate trainer, but he'll do his best.
Plenty of entries towards the end of the week, but running plans are still pretty vague. DE SOTO looks like being too far out of the handicap to risk running in the 50k chase at Ffos Las on friday, which will be a big shame as he's in top form. Patience has been rewarded with him and there will be more 'pay days' if we bide our time.
MEER UND WIND worked well at Wolverhampton last friday and is entered on sat., sun., and monday. She is working very easily and we are still confused by her below-par run at Warwick after pleasing all on her debut at Goodwood.
AUSTRALIA DAY got a bit impatient in the heavy M25 traffic he encountered on the way to Sandown last saturday and moved a hind shoe, the clip of which then pierced his foot. It was a desperate shame he had to miss the race as everything looked just about right for him. He is entered at Windsor this saturday, but is more likely to wait for a handicap hurdle at Stratford on 6th Sept.
ROBERT THE BRAVE is entered at Huntingdon in an attempt to follow up his win at Market Rasen, where he jumped an un-blemished round. He'll school tomorrow morning just as long as Hurrican Bill allowsus!
More detailed plans will appear later in the week.