16th August 2018

The August sale in Ireland isn’t renown for its quality but there are always some star attractions who for whatever reason, missed the Derby sale. 

I think we bought the nicest horse in the sale, he’s by Fame and Glory, is a serious looking athlete who has size and scope with a very speedy pedigree. I also bought a Beat Hollow horse who will go to Sophie for point to pointing. That’s it now for the sales season and we have bought a beautiful bunch of young horses. Over the last 13 years I can’t recall getting to the end of the sales and not wanting to return a single horse. I bought a 3-year-old from a field by It’s Gino, the sire of Lalor. He is for sale and an owner has sent me a 3-year-old by Watar. Watar isn’t the most fashionable sire but he produces fine looking horses. I believe one of his progeny fetched 150K in the ring after winning a p2p. 

We will have another couple of easy enough weeks before all the babies are picked up again. It will be all shoulders to the wheel from 1^stSeptember with no looking back.

This morning, Jester Jet, Flashing Glance, Polydora, Sir Egbert and Coningsby schooled over fences. Paul Barrett and his partners were here to see Flash school before his engagement at Southwell on Sunday. Meep Meep, Air to Air, En Meme Temps, Sebastopol, He’s a Goer, Dorking Boy, Dorking Cock, Vado Forte, Kateson and unnamed horses by Stowaway, Black Sam Bellamy and Flemensfirth all schooled over hurdles. 

Soraya came back into training this morning, although she won a contest p2p she is a filly I think a lot of. 

Horses never stop surprising us and constantly teach us new thing, last Sunday we went to get the babies in from the field only to find one motionless, when we got him walking he walked like a crab. Three men helped him in to the stables, 2 supporting his near side quarter and another on his head. The worse was feared and the vet was called. Within an hour he was as bright as a button rolling in his bed with his head firmly planted in his feed bowl. Between the vet and us lot we concluded he had rolled in nettles and was suffering from some form of shock. We always fear the worse in this job and thankfully, on this occasion it wasn’t anything like as bad as we initially feared.