A busier morning than the norm as we were a man down, Mollie had to take her car for an MOT as it ran out in August! All the horses had routine canters and seem in fine fettle. Sergey has got the 2 years olds going really well in the school, they will progress to the woodchip next week, where they will do some hack canters for a while before heading to their trainers or back to the paddocks. The grass is starting to grow and the daffodils are poking their noses up too.
It was a good day for graduates of Cottage Field Stables, Megastar a horse I had here on and off for 3 years won on the flat at Lingfield. The year he left here he won the Liverpool bumper and then lost his way after being thrown in at the deep end. Malt Master won a novice chase at Huntingdon. There is a rather smug story behind this horse - he was led out unsold at Doncaster May sales. Robert Robinson of Distillery Stud asked to break him in and prepare him for a breeze-up sale. I loved the horse from the moment he walked into the yard, I then met Steve Cooper-Reade at my godfather golf day. Steve is involved in another syndicate that I have. Steve mentioned he wanted to increase his involvement with horses, I told him I had just the horse and I'd come back to him if Robert would sell him. Robert sold half of him to Steve for 15,000GBPs, a few days later I wanted a share and bought a leg off Steve for 8,500 GBPs, I then split it with Charlie Brooks and Andrew Robertson as they too wanted a bit of him. I prepared him and took him to the Cheltenham Breeze up sale and had valued him at 60,000GBPs on his home work. At the sale Anthony Bromley asked me what I wanted for him, I told him 60,000GBPs. Mr Bromley told me that I was a stupid boy, laughed in my face and told me to put him away. He didn't make his reserve at that sale. We then ran him in a bumper at Doncaster which he won, a few weeks later we sent to a DBS Newbury sale where Anthony Bromley bought him for 155,000GBPs. He did make his reserve that day and I wonder who was the stupid boy at the Breeze up sale? On that occasion the horse proved to be as good as we thought he was.
I am being screamed at by the children..............
