In the News
It’s been a quiet summer on the racing front for everyone at Bobble Barn Farm, so we were all happy to welcome the horses back into the yard last week from their summer break. Hopefully we can build on last year’s successful campaign, with Dame Rose’s Aintree Grade Two win a particular highlight. She’s an exciting prospect going forward over hurdles and hopefully she can carry on the upward curve. But she’s not the only good horse in the stable and hopefully we can improve on last year’s tally of twelve winners and thirteen places. Quiet as it might have been on the racing front, we’ve been very busy updating and expanding facilities. We have a new six bay horse walker, a new lunging pen and even a cross country course built. Then keeping on top of the maintenance, cutting grass and strimming and etc, is a massive job and takes up a lot of our time.
While it has been quiet on the training front, the bloodstock business has been very busy over the summer. Having sold the joint top lot at Goffs in Doncaster in the May sale, our unbeaten, French trained Dortmund Park went for an impressive €230,000 to Gigginstown, to be trained by Gordon Elliot. His trainer in France, Fabrice Foucher, was very impressed and likened him to Un De Sceaux and hopefully Dortmund Park can live up to that lofty tag and add to the Grade One winners that have come from RHBloodstock.
Last week’s runners
No runners last week, but we do owe you a report on Surf And Turf‘s run at Worcester back in June when he finished fourth of nine in a two mile four hurdles race. Sadly, he couldn’t follow up his win from the week before at Hexham, giving way to some younger legs with nine lbs more on his back. He didn’t run a bad race, but he didn’t quite have the change of gears to stay with the leaders in the final few furlongs.
This week’s runners
Surf And Turf is one of two entries this week, lining up in a valuable two mile four chase at Southwell, a track he does well at. In three appearances at the track, he’s come away with a win and a place and although both of those were over hurdles, his best performances have been over fences. It’s a tricky race with some decent, progressive horses set to line up, but hopefully Surf’s experience can send him a long way. Jamie Bargary takes the ride claiming three, so he’s got a lovely low racing weight.
Before that though, we’ve got a debutante entered at Market Rasen on Saturday. River Blue, a Flemensfirth half-brother to Irish Cavalier and Shattered Love is set to make his first racecourse appearance in a two mile four novice hurdles race. He takes on some more experienced horses, like Mizen Master and Pomme, but we like our lad. He’s got a great pedigree for jumping and if he lives up to either of his half-siblings, he could go pretty far. Jamie Bargary takes the ride, claiming three.