A busy ten days for Chestnut Tree Stables

Thursday, 22 September 2022

We have had a hectic time over the last ten days with various events being held at the yard.

On Saturday 10th September we held a long overdue Owners Morning which was very well attended. It was lovely to finally meet Tim and Debi Oliver who have a share in the two year old filly Friends Together as members of the 'Can't Say No' syndicate. The weather was great and fabulous food as always was provided by Jo at Newmarket Secret Kitchen. We had joined forces with Discover Newmarket to offer a private tour of the National Stud at the end of the morning and several of our owners took part and very much enjoyed it.

On Wednesday 14th September we hosted a community event as part of National Racehorse Week. We invited pupils from Exning Primary School to join us for 'Evening Stables' and what a fun evening it was ! Parents, children and deputy head Ruth Clifford-Turner arrived at 4pm and enjoyed orange squash and biscuits followed by a tour of the yard. The children had fun dressing up in jockey's silks and they all had a ride on the Equiciser. They were also given activity booklets to fill in with a Q & A about what they had seen during their visit. It was a super evening and the children seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. A big thank you to Great British Racing who provided free tickets for Newmarket races for the parents of the children.

National Racehorse Week concluded with us opening the yard to the public for the Henry Cecil Open Weekend on Sunday 18th September and we had a steady stream of visitors throughout the morning. All who came to see us were most complimentary about our staff and how welcome they were made to feel so well done to the members of our team who worked hard to make the morning a success. We just have time to catch our breath now before the October Yearling Sales begin and it all starts again !

Versatile Jewel In My Crown gains first all weather win

Tuesday, 13 September 2022

In the week when we lost our beloved Queen Elizabeth ll and the Crown passed to King Charles lll then it seemed fitting that if we had a winner it would be the aptly named Jewel In My Crown.

Eamonn Duggan's homebred grey filly proved her versatility by winning on her all weather debut at Kempton last night. This was her second win this season and her fifth overall and Eamonn must be delighted with this effort. The recent rain has made it difficult to run her on the turf with conditions being softer than she would like so the all weather was the obvious option. A Class 3 Fillies' Handicap over 1m 3f at Kempton was targeted and Callum Shepherd was booked to ride. During the race she travelled sweetly at the rear of the small, four runner field and rounding the home turn she was positioned inside on the rail. They quickened off a pedestrian pace two and a half furlongs from home and with the front pair racing tightly together plus a horse on her outside it looked like she would struggle to get a gap. However, under a brilliant ride from Callum Shepherd, who bided his time and waited for the gap to come, this brave filly didn't shirk from her task and split the front two. She went on to win by three quarters of a length from the George Boughey trained Pretty Sweet.

The only downside was that Eamonn and Lesley were not there to see it but they had able substitutes in Eamonn's brother-in-law Stan and his wife Linda. They must be lucky omens Eamonn, you will have to send them again !

First yearling arrival !

Thursday, 08 September 2022

Sales season is upon us and Rae wasted no time at all in purchasing our first yearling. 

On Tuesday he headed up to Tattersalls to attend the Somerville Yearling Sale. This sale was formerly the Ascot Yearling Sale but relocated to Newmarket in 2020 and last years sale produced plenty of winners most notably the Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner, Bradsell. 

Rae looked at plenty of horses throughout the day but his eye was caught by a striking bay filly with a white face and two white socks. She is by the first season sire Havana Grey who has made such an impressive start to his stud career. He was a brilliant two year old himself and his first crop of two year olds appear to have inherited his precociousness. The dam is the Ifraaj mare Soul Searching and this is her first foal. Further back on the dam's side is the excellent broodmare Zomaradah, herself the dam of super sire Dubawi and also in there is High Tern, the dam of Epsom Derby winner High Rise.

So we are excited to see what the future holds for this filly and we are looking forward to her beginning her first steps on the training ladder.

Fauvette reaps the reward of her foreign excursion

Thursday, 25 August 2022

Rachel Flynn's Fauvette gained herself some valuable black type during her recent trip to Germany. The daughter of Dark Angel was beaten by the narrowest of margins to finish second in a Listed race at Hoppegarten in Berlin.

Fauvette travelled for two days by horsebox and ferry accompanied by Georgia Lea with a stopover in Cologne on the first night. They arrived at Hoppegarten racecourse at the end of day two where Rae and Rachel were waiting to greet them. Fauvette had travelled like a dream, staying relaxed and drinking plenty of water throughout. The following day was spent recovering from the journey as Georgia gave her plenty of walking in hand to ease any stiffness. Raceday fell on Sunday 14th August and it was a very hot day. Ours was the third race on a very competitive card of which the highlight was a Group 1 race. Fauvette's race was the Listed Hoppegartener Flieger Preis over 6f and eleven runners went to post.

Thore Hammer Hansen was booked to ride and in the race itself she broke a tad slowly from stall 10 and initially travelled at the rear of the field then as they tracked over to the rail she crept into the race and travelled well. Once the race began to unfold she hit the front and was unlucky to be beaten by a head on the line by the fast finishing French trained Kindred Spirit. We would like to thank Georgia for being travelling groom on this six day trip and for taking such good care of Fauvette. Thanks also to Rapido for shipping her out to Germany and dealing with the endless paperwork and especially Michael who did the driving. Thank you also to Dan for packing everything for Fauvette for the trip and making sure that nothing was left to chance.

The importance of this mare gaining black type cannot be underestimated as this will increase her sale value as a broodmare dramatically. Her form has also been franked again by Highland Princess winning last weeks Gr 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York's Ebor meeting, Fauvette won a race back in February in which Highland Princess finished third ! Needless to say there have been several enquiries from potential purchasers but it is highly likely that she will head to the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls. All being well she should still be able to take in a couple of races before she retires to the paddocks but she owes us nothing and we will look forward to watching her offspring in the future. Well done Rachel, your bargain basement purchase has done you proud !

New arrival

Monday, 15 August 2022

We welcomed an exciting new arrival into the yard this week, a filly we have looked forward to since she was born.

Passion Tango is the daughter of Berryessa who Rae trained back in 2017/2018. Her sire is the great California Chrome, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Dubai World Cup and twice American Horse of The Year. There is an interesting back story to this filly's arrival as her sire actually stayed here in the yard during the lead up to Royal Ascot in 2015. His owners Perry and Denise Martin then joined Rae in a three horse syndicate with Berryessa being one of the three. A plan was hatched for Berryessa to be sent to the US on her retirement to be covered by California Chrome when he started his stud career with the resulting foal to be trained by Rae. And here she is ! (pictured).

However, there is a sad footnote to this tale as Denise Martin sadly passed away and will never get to see this filly race. We hope Passion Tango can repay her faith in us and we are sure Denise would have been filled with pride when she makes her debut. We would like to say to Perry Martin how grateful we are to him for sending this filly to us and we look forward to seeing him when he comes over to the UK. In the meantime Passion Tango is settling in beautifully and we look forward to seeing how she develops. Watch this space !