News

Tuesday 11th September 2007

All the horses are looking well and most of them are doing 2 routine canters a day. The majority of them are having a "Rhino" injection on Tuesday so they will have a quiet week as it can sometimes make them feel a bit poorly for 24-48 hours.

We have 5 in full work and of those Marfinca and Major Faux Pas could run at the end of the week. We will keep you posted about their chances.

We are very pleased with Dominic Elsworth and PC O'Neil - both have been in and are getting used to the horses. We have done a fair bit of schooling on the allweather strip so a lot of the youngsters have left the ground.

As there is no NH Racing next week, Tarnya and I are off to Greece chez P Hobbs, V Williams, courtesy of Merrick Francis!

Tuesday 21st August 2007

All seems to be going well with the horses at the moment. We now have about 45 horses in with the majority doing steady canters. There are about six horses who we have got on with and are working nicely. These six schooled last week with new jockey P O'Neil and D Elsworth. They all jumped well with no disasters which was good.
It is important now just to keep the horses happy and improve their fitness slowly without any injuries. It is always a concern at this time of year as buttons are starting to be pressed!

The website will now be updated more frequently as the horses are stepping up their work and come September we should have our first runners.

Friday 3rd August 2007

Just a quick note to let you know that the Million In Mind horse arrived yesterday. He is called Souriceau and he was bought from France in March. He isn't over big but looks well put together. He won a race on the flat over 10f and has also been placed but he hasn't run over jumps yet. Let's hope we have as much fun with him as we did with Marodima last year.

Dominic Elsworth is making his first visit to Rhonehurst on Saturday, to ride some work. It will be nice for everyone to meet him and fingers crossed the new arrangement will work well. I am sure it will.

Tuesday 24th July 2007

The yard is now filling up thick and fast with over 30 in already and another 15 expected back in the next couple of weeks. All the horses that have come in from grass will do four weeks roadwork before they start hacking very slowly up the gallops. The first six weeks can be an exciting time for the lads as quite a few horses are very fresh and can give them a bit of a rollercoaster ride!
At present all has been quiet with the no real dramas and we backed another seven today without any problems. This is a very important part of their training as we want to get them in a relaxed frame of mind for the season ahead. Horses must be happy in their environment to perform to the best of their ability.

As Oliver mentioned briefly, at the end of last week, the announcement of Leighton's retirement. Although, for many it has come a bit unexpected, I can assure you that this would not have been an easy decision for him and would not have been made hastily. Since Leighton joined us he has been a real asset to the yard and has jelled brilliantly into the setup at Rhonehurst. He always rode with great thought, not just for that day but looking to the future.
I am sure I can say from everyone at Rhonehurst, including owners, lads and even the horses, a big thank you to Leighton and wish him every bit of success for the future.

As far as a replacement goes, we will try and use Dominic Elsworth as much as possible as he is very similar to Leighton and is highly regarded by many people.

Friday 20th July 2007

I was left absolutely speechless on Tuesday, after I received a phone call from Leighton telling me he was retiring. It certainly came as a bolt out the blue.
My assistant trainer, Warren, who is good mates with Leighton is away on holiday till next week and he normally writes the news on the website so I will get him to write a "tribute" to Leighton next week, as I am very bad at putting pen to paper!

Tuesday 3rd July 2007

Although weatherwise we haven't really had a summer yet, the horses certainly have and are starting to filter back into the yard bit by bit. We have 18 horses in already with plenty more returning next week, ready to embark on their road work.

Eric's Charm and Manorson are back in and we hope they can stay fit and well. They look fantastic at the moment so hopefully they can lead the yard this season in our quest for winners and win a couple of bigger prizes themselves.

It is very noisy at the moment with all the horses screaming and shouting for their mates from the field. It is good to have them back as it felt very empty without them.

We won't have any runners for quite a while but we shall keep you informed of any excitment between now and then.

Monday 4th June 2007

Vilcabamba so nearly made a great start to his career when just failing to win at Southwell yesterday. He ran very green and only got the hang of things late on as he flew home over the last furlong. He would ideally like softer ground. The experience will have done him the world of good and he should go very close next time out.

Friday 1st June 2007

We have one runner at Southwell on Sunday, Vicabamba runs in the bumper. He has been training well and seems in good form. He is quite highly strung but seems to have settle down recently. If he copes with the preliminaries we feel he could run quite well. The race does not look that strong on paper so fingers crossed he can get his career off to a good start.

Thursday 31st May 2007

We have already informed you of the horses we sold last week at Doncaster. On Thursday, we purchased a half brother to My Will (trained by P Nicholls), he is a real nice stamp of a horse who has run twice on the Flat (got only knows how they got him in the stalls)! He did have a problem after that but is fine now. He was very cheap considering his breeding and could make into a nice chaser in time.
Finally, on Friday we bought a mare called Jaunty Flight. She is a gorgeous lookng mare who has been placed 3 times in hurdle races and looks to have a lot of improvement in her. She is a half sister to Jaunty Times (H Daly). She could have a bright future as she is only five.

Friday 25th May 2007

Doncaster Sales was a hide of activity yesterday. We sold our annual draft, notably our Million In Mind horse, Marodima. We tried in vain to buy him back for an existing owner but obviously Paul Nicholls had more ammo and duly got him for £145,000. A staggering price!
Of our other horses - Hambaphambili sold for £9,000 and is to go pointing in Cheshire. Lord Gee sold privately for £20,000. Wotashambles went for £16,000 to Colin Tizzard. Superrollercoaster was bought by the syndicate who leased him last season for £12,000. Port Talbot didn't make his reserve.

We were please with all the prices, although we did think Superrollercoaster would make more.

We tried in vain to buy some made horses but were sadly underbidder on 3 yesterday.

Thursday 24th May 2007

This year we haven't got many runners for the summer. So, we are busy painting and steam cleaning the yard ready for next season. As the ground went against us so early in April, most of the horses were turned out to grass earlier than usual. They are all doing very well and look great.
I have been at Doncaster Sales this week, which is always fun. Unfortunately there aren't quite the numbers in buying store horses as there was 10 years ago. This is due to owners who aren't prepared to wait for results. Most people nowdays want immediate action.
Anyway I bought a lovely Alflora 4yo who will come to hand quickly in the autumn. He is very laid back and is looking for an owner if anyone is interested?
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday is for Horses in Training and Point to Pointers. We are selling a few on Thursday, notably the annual dispersal sale of the Million In Mind Partnership, of which we have Marodima who should sell very well.

Wednesday 9th May 2007

Off and running! We had our first winner of the season last night at Exeter. Celebrity Call stayed on well to win convincingly. He jumped ok and even ran a little green when he hit the front two from home, so there is definitely improvement in him. We hope he can follow up shortly.

Iron Maid finished second on Friday night. T Doyle seemed to like her a lot and said she was tough and honest. The winner looks like a very nice horse. She will now have a short holiday for a month and then will come back so we can get her ready to run in August / September when the races are particulary weak, and the ground will be in her favour.

All the best,

Oliver & the Team