Just occasionally it does happen !

Friday, 16 December 2022

When Rachel purchased Kutaiba this time last year from the Tattersalls December Mares Sale for just 10,000 gns she could never have dreamed that a year later the daughter of Golden Horn would return to the sales ring and fetch 160,000.

After winning a National Hunt race at Huntingdon early last month by an easy margin she was entered into the Cheltenham December Sale. When this imposing dark filly walked into the ring on the 9th December there was some serious interest and when she walked back out having reached 160,000 there were some serious celebrations !

Kutaiba's new owner is Jayne McGivern of Dash Grange Stud who owns Kutaiba's sire Golden Horn. She has been bought to race and we look forward to watching her career with interest. Further down the line we are certain she will be a notable acquisition to the stud and we cannot wait to see her future offspring.

Congratulations to Rae and Rachel on this sale and it just goes to show that just occasionally it does happen !

A bit of a catch up

Thursday, 01 December 2022

This time of year everything is slowing down from a racing aspect but we are still busy in many other areas.

Many of the older horses are now turned away for a holiday as breaking in the yearlings starts to take precedence. We have fourteen babies in the yard with six already ridden away thus leaving another eight still to break so plenty of work still to do in that department ! Our two new syndicates are up and running, The Raffles Syndicate and Lady Cecil, Family and Friends and they have five super yearling fillies between them so plenty to look forward to for both ownerships. Our longstanding owner Kirsten Rausing was honoured at this years Cartier Awards by receiving the Award of Merit in recognition of her lifetimes work in the breeding and racing industry. This topped off a fantastic year for Kirsten coming on the back of Alpinista's superb win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe so congratulations to her and her team.

We have also been busy at the Mares Sale this week the highlight of which was the sale of Fauvette (pictured) whom Rachel bought for just 4,000 gns at the 2020 July Sale. Five wins later plus a second place in a Listed Race the hammer came down at 105,000 gns so congratulations to Rachel for a fantastic bit of business there ! Fauvette has been purchased by Grangemore Stud in Ireland to add to their broodmare band so we look forward to seeing her progeny in the future. Rachel also has Kutaiba in the Cheltenham December Sale and as an easy winner on her debut in a National Hunt flat race at Huntingdon plus a fantastic pedigree there should be plenty of interest in her too. Other owners of ours who had a great result at the sales were BB Bloodstock who sold their Frankel colt out of our former stable star Bahia Breeze, this was at the December Foal Sale and he fetched 250,000 gns purchased by Pantile Stud so well done to all.

As I write two new arrivals have just appeared into the yard purchased from the Mares Sale, two three year old fillies. One Colour who is by Teofilo and Daytona Beach who is by Dubawi out of a Galileo mare, so more to come on those later. So all in all not much happening on the racing front but as always never a dull moment !

Cheltenham not Chelmsford !

Wednesday, 09 November 2022

While Chelmsford is more our usual hunting ground maybe Rae and Rachel should have Cheltenham in their sights after their own Kutaiba ran away with the bumper in some style yesterday at Huntingdon on her racecourse debut !

She was bred by Shadwell and comes with a beautiful pedigree as she is by Golden Horn (winner of the Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc') and is closely related to the 2014 Oaks winner Taghrooda. Rachel picked her out at Tattersalls December Mares Sale last year as an unraced two year old who topped 16.3 hands high then and is even bigger now ! It was clear that she was not a horse for anyone in a hurry but luckily she had found the right owners in Rae and Rachel who have patience in abundance. Kutaiba had a spell turned away in the field which gave her huge frame time to mature and when she came back into work it was a slow progession, but progression it was and so a National Hunt flat race was targeted at Huntingdon.

Daryl Jacob was booked and Kutaiba made the short trip to our local National Hunt track accompanied by Dan and Georgia. She was clearly the standout in the paddock and the money came for her while the race itself could hardly have been more straightforward. She travelled strongly throughout and certainly appreciated every yard of the distance which was just a shade over one mile and five furlongs. Once Daryl got to work on her she went about her job very professionally and in the last furlong drew away to win by an impressive four and a quarter lengths. 

So there is certainly a bright future in front of this imposing filly and we are delighted for Rae and Rachel. Thank you to Daryl Jacob for riding her and also to Dan (assistant trainer) and Georgia who looked after her at the races. Plus, a huge well done to Amelie who rides her at at home. Great job team !

It's number 9 for wonderful Aramis Grey !

Thursday, 03 November 2022

The Musketeer's amazing mare Aramis Grey notched up a ninth career win at Kempton last night. The gallant grey has now won four races this season at four different racecourses and unbelievably at five years old she is still improving. This was her thirteenth run of 2022 and she obviously thrives on her racing.

Yesterdays win followed up last months success at Chelmsford however this was a tougher assignment being a Class 3 Handicap. Several of the owners were able to make the trip to Kempton, these were Peter Sakal, Alan Davies and Ann and Darren Lewitt and we are sure the remaining members roared her home just as loudly watching on TV !

Regular pilot Callum Shepherd was back on board and they have formed a great partnership. She was drawn 3 and as they jumped from the stalls she was body slammed by the horse next to her but our battle hardened Aramis was unfazed and being the professional she is just settled into her rhythm and got on with her job. Travelling well throughout and buried among horses in the middle of the field she occupied a slightly more prominent position than she usually does. Going into the final furlong Callum's timing was impeccable as he brought her rallying down the outside to hit the line a neck in front of the favourite Apollo One. This race was the last chance to qualify for the London Sprint Series Final and Rae has entered her this morning. She fully deserves to take her chance.

Our warmest congratulations to the Musketeers and a big thank you to Callum Shepherd for a fantastic ride. Well done to the team at home who keep Aramis happy and healthy and the biggest well done of all to our superstar herself !

Annual yearling parade

Monday, 31 October 2022

On Saturday we held our annual yearling parade which was very well attended by owners old and new plus their guests.

This was also the day when we announced the yearlings for our new three horse syndicate for 2023. The syndicate does not yet have a name so any ideas welcome please ! Rae had already selected two of the yearlings for the members and they were the filly by Harry Angel out of L'Eglise plus the Havana Grey filly out of Soul Searching. That just left the third one to be chosen on the day and Rae decided it would be a fun idea to draw the name out of a hat. Chris and Lesley Mills young granddaughter Ellie drew the name and revealed that the final yearling was the Masar filly out of Ape Attack, much to the member's delight. They have three super fillies and we wish them the best of luck going forward.

Those who couldn't be present on the day were sent videos and photographs of their horses parading. These included Derek Willis whose newly named Malibu Rising is a lovely filly by Expert Eye out of La Chapelle, Eamonn Duggan's homebred Lia Rose, named after his little granddaughter, this grey filly is by Ulysses out of Rosa Grace, and Keith Walton and his family's filly by Due Diligence out of Really Chic. Keith has reserved the name Family Matters so she will be named in due course.

The Rainy Day Partnership's new yearling was on show, a filly by Camelot out of Whirlygig from a family that Rae knows well. We were delighted that Jon and Sophie Mitchell could attend as they were able to see their Postponed filly out of Indicia as well as the Camelot x Whirlygig (they are also members of the Rainy Day Partnership). It was great to see Bob Goodes and Barry and Alex Stewart of the Storm Again syndicate whose colt by Tasleet out of Mawqed had only arrived into the yard the day before. Barry and Alex were late arrivals and literally walked into the yard just as their colt was about to parade ! We were also delighted to see Colin Joseph was able to make it, owner of the two year old filly Show of Hands. Out of the three fillies for sale on the day interest has been expressed in Noble Mission x Volver and Tasleet x Alwafaa. The filly by Camelot out of Trail of Tears is still for sale but with the black type in her pedigree and the second dam being the super sprinter Cherokee Rose it won't be long before she is snapped up too.

We welcomed John Brosnan and his father Billy who are interested in ownership and we hope they enjoyed the morning and meeting some of our existing owners. The food was provided by Jo Sharkey at Newmarket Secret Kitchen and as usual was enjoyed immensely ! Thank you Jo. Special thanks to all of the hardworking team behind the scenes at Chestnut Tree Stables who helped to make the morning a success. Final thanks to our fantastic owners for their ongoing support and we wish all of them the very best of luck with their lovely horses in the future.