2021 Yearling Parade

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

On Saturday we hosted our 2021 Yearling Parade and what a fantastic morning it was ! The parade was organised this year to primarily launch our new syndicate 'The Unusual Suspects' and quite a few of the members were able to attend in person. Those who couldn't be there were able to watch the parade live on Instagram. 

It was great to see some owners who were not part of the syndicate also come along to show their support. Paul Smith was there to see his smart Oasis Dream filly on show, she is out of a Sea The Stars mare and he is looking forward to watching her develop. We were also delighted that Joyce Wallsgrove was able to attend, a former owner of ours with Poets Dance.

Our guests began to arrive shortly before 10.00 and were treated to homemade sausage rolls, quiche and cakes courtesy of Newmarket Secret Kitchen. Dan had made a vat of mulled wine which went down extremely well ! Steve Currie (our newest owner) attended with his wife Jackie. This was their first event since becoming syndicate members and our existing owners made them feel so welcome, they are definitely now part of the family here at Chestnut Tree Stables.

The parade itself started a little after 10.30 and for some of our owners this was the first time they had set eyes on their new horses and we hope they were not disappointed. Our staff showed them off beautifully and the yearlings were on their best behaviour ! After the horses had paraded everybody stayed until the end of the morning and enjoyed catching up with each other. We would like to thank our hardworking staff who ensured the morning ran smoothly. It was a great success and I think we can safely say that The Unusual Suspects are well and truly up and running !

Fantastic Fauvette gains third career win

Monday, 08 November 2021

Rae and Rachel's Dark Angel filly Fauvette (otherwise known as 'The Beautiful One' !) made a return to winning ways on Saturday evening at Chelmsford. 

She found the all weather surface much more to her liking after a disappointing run last month at Pontefract on very soft ground. The four year old had been training well at home and with this years Derby winning jockey Adam Kirby booked for the ride she went in to this 6f handicap strongly fancied. 

Drawn 6 of the 10 runners she didn't give herself the best of starts as she was slowly away from the stalls. However, she then made steady progress and settled mid division until just over two furlongs out when she travelled strongly through the field and took the lead a furlong out. Under a hands and heels ride from Adam Kirby she won easily going away by two and a half lengths.

Rachel (who not only owns Fauvette but rides her out at home too) was absolutely delighted with the progression her filly is now showing. As she also picked her out at the sales it is very satisfying to see her faith in her justified. There looks to be plenty more to come from this lightly raced filly.

Another win for Land of Winter

Thursday, 04 November 2021

Congratulations to Paul Smith and Rae for Land of Winter's breathtaking win in the 2m handicap at Nottingham yesterday.

Last month the five year year old son of Camelot ran in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket on ground that was not ideal for him. He appreciated running on his favoured soft ground yesterday and showed his class by the manner in which he won.

Under Rossa Ryan he raced prominently for the first couple of furlongs and then settled into fourth in the leading group. The further he went the stronger he travelled and then they switched over to the near side of the track with half a mile to run. He hit the front two furlongs out and with a furlong to go he was well clear. The official winning margin was two and a quarter lengths but only because Rossa was practically pulling him up at the line ! This was an impressive performance and no doubt the handicapper will think so too !

Land of Winter takes his racing well and often the day after a race is seen bucking and squealing in his box. By the style in which he won, there will be a fair amount of bucking and squealing today !

Copyright: Steven Cargilll Photography

New beginnings

Saturday, 30 October 2021

During recent weeks we have been busy launching our new syndicate for 2021/2022. At this present time (and still without a name !) this new venture follows the same model as last years Chestnut Tree Syndicate with the purchase of three yearling fillies for ten shareholders.

All ten shares sold quickly and Rae found three very nice fillies for the syndicate at the October Yearling Sale. A daughter of Decorated Knight out of a Danehill Dancer mare was real value money. The mare is Maid to Master who is a full sister to the four time Group 1 winner and Champion two year old, Mastercraftsman.

The next one is a compact, good moving grey filly by Havana Grey out of the Fasliyev mare Inagh River. This one looks a proper two year old (pictured).

Finally, the most expensive of the three is a Profitable filly out of the Showcasing mare Showbird. She is a strong looking filly with a lot of speed in the pedigree.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new owner Steve Currie who has joined us in the syndicate in his first venture into racehorse ownership. So wishing all of the members the very best of luck with their new horses and hopefully there are plenty of fun days ahead.

Comings and goings

Friday, 29 October 2021

The last month has been a busy one. With the turf season drawing to a close thoughts turn to the yearling sales and planning for next year. It is a time of change, with several of the older horses including our stable star Aramis Grey enjoying their well deserved holidays out in the field before returning for a winter campaign.

A couple of the later maturing two year olds had their first run. Both Bella Veneta (The Chestnut Tree Syndicate) and Famous Footsteps (Rachel Flynn) went off to Kempton to make their debut. Both fillies ran super races and had a good experience so lots to look forward to there.

With the office desks overflowing with sales catalogues, Rae has been busy at Tattersalls. Last month the Irish September Yearling Sale (relocated to Newmarket) was Rae's first port of call. He purchased two lovely yearlings, a Golden Horn filly for the Top Hat & Tails Syndicate and a Showcasing filly for Mr Colin Joseph. Both have since been broken and ridden away and are going nicely in their early training. At the October Yearling Sale Rae was active again and purchased a strong looking Oasis Dream filly out of Book 2 on behalf of Paul Smith and himself. We also acquired two others, a Book 2 filly by Australia out of Jane's Memory (who Rae trained) and a Tamayuz filly from Book 3. Rae also bought three fillies for our new syndicate but more about them in our next article !