The horses are in great form at the moment as they are either winning or knocking on the door. It was a relief to get Rhythm Star back on the winning run as she bolted in on Saturday at Huntingdon to make that 3 wins from 4 runs. Having won two bumpers last season we were slightly disappointed with her debut effort over hurdles, but she got back on track with a most authoritative display. Conor Shoemark was on board and that was his first winner for us, and hopefully it’ll be the first of many as he rides well and is value for his 3lbs.
Midnight Silver showed improvement from her racecourse debut to be an excellent 2nd today at Wetherby. She travelled well, was slightly outpaced turning for home, but stayed on in tenacious fashion to just be denied. She should be up to winning her bumper before long.
Another to have improved for her racecourse debut, Blackdown Hills was 4th at Ludlow on Monday and was only beaten just under 5 lengths. We suspect that her wind just found her out, so she’ll have a basic wind op now and will be back on track in the spring on some good ground – she again should be well up to winning a bumper.
I was pleased how Ethelred ran to be 3rd in a novice hurdle at Lingfield on Tuesday and he now qualifies for a handicap mark, I am sure he’ll improve for a fence too. Will Featherstone gave him a lovely ride.