Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
As with most of my posts, please accept my apologies for the total lack of consistency in updates. The summer became an absolute free for all in terms of people and tasks demanding my attention and this was the first thing to be bumped off the list.
I have no idea where I even got up to with Star's race reports but if you haven't read my blog then you won't know that our mission was accomplished on Sunday 27th September when she won a C Class race (for drivers with 7 or less wins) with my friend George (the lad who trained her for a spell in the summer for me) driving her. She'd raced earlier that same day and finished fourth and the familiar sinking feeling had begun to creep in so once she was on the track I was prepared for the usual lead out, hold them off to the 3/4 or 7/8 and then get passed on the run in. A friend of mine from down south messaged me to put money on her to finish second to the favourite, so I put a bit on with his bet as well for the sake of it.
As you can imagine when you put seven young and inexperienced drivers in a race together, there is going to be chaos. The favourite was hampered at the start and pulled up before the 1/4 marker, the horse drawn inside Star on the gate broke stride as the car accelerated which gave her a clear run to the lead without using too much fuel. My friend Hughie (who drove Star the first time she raced this year) was on his own horse this time and put her under pressure for the first lap but couldn't pass her and pulled in behind her on the rail (I thought G did well to stay calm when his best mate was trying to pass him). Then G's ex-girlfriend (whose family I have had slight issues with this summer) came with a challenge just after the half and I just thought 'of all the people to beat us, come ON'. Down the backstraight for the last time the challenger outside Star couldn't get eye to eye with her and that's kind of when I started to scream...a lot. I was hanging over the rail on the last bend shouting all manner of profanities at G, at Star, at Hughie's younger brother Michael who was, for his sins, stood next to me. And she won. And I jumped up and down like a mad person and then shook uncontrollably and then ran on to the track to wait for Star to come round again and I cried. Absolutely ridiculous for the class of race we'd won but I was as high as a kite!
The following day her joints at the front were a bit swollen and she had slight heat in her tendons so my OH suggested we give her a week off and then aim to race her for the last 3 weeks at Corbiewood. I told him we would be doing no such thing. Star was, for the final time, to retire from racing on the ultimate high. In five seasons of racing she has never shown lame once; she has legs of iron. She achieved the one thing I asked of her, and she didn't need to do anymore. I was not going to risk any sort of injury for the sake of a couple of races - she has years of riding and jumping and hunting and goodness knows what else to do with me so I wasn't putting her through the stress of racing again. My OH was disappointed, as in the subsequent weeks and months since I made that decision, he has admitted that he had one of his best summers in racing with Star because she was such a pleasure to work with. That in itself makes me well up slightly, as she is my pride and joy and I am proud of her and the horse she has become.
Star is currently turned out with my other mare, Rita, who sadly lost her foal at 4 months of age a couple of weeks after Star finished up racing. Rita is an alpha female and Star is naturally submissive and they were the best of friends during the winter when in the larger herd; they still get on like a house on fire now.
For all the talking I've done about Star this summer, she was actually the lowest-achiever in our stable. Stevie went down to Wales for 6 weeks and whilst there won twice, but it was his full brother Wild Bill who stole the show at Crosshill - in 12 starts, he won 5 times, was second 6 times and finished fourth on his last start, having gone from a maiden to a Grade 3 in between July and September. He was Scotland's Horse of the Month for August and won the STAGBI Breeders Premium for Scotland for his efforts.
Top: Shes Some Deal & George Carson, Corbiewood, Scotland
Middle: Young Stephen & Michael O'Mahony, Almley, Welsh/English Border
Bottom: Wild Bill Hikock & John Smart, Corbiewood, Scotland
As for next year, the handicap system is changing and Star would have fared well under it (going from a Grade 2 back down to a Grade 1). However, as much fun as it has been training and racing her, I know she isn't really that keen on racing. She's exceptionally lazy and the only reason she ran so consistently well for me this year is because I tricked her into thinking she wasn't really doing any work - and feeding her the kind of diet she thinks she's entitled to 24/7/365. My OH said that I could put her in foal as soon as the stallion that we think is most suitable for her is standing in the UK (he is currently in Ireland and I'm not forking out for the cost of AI)...I found out last weekend that said stallion is due to come to Wales in March 2016 to stand at stud. Provided I can transport Star to south Wales, we could be getting a baby Big Ears slightly sooner than expected. I know we have better bred mares who have won more races and posted faster times, but OH and I both genuinely believe that had we been training her from the beginning of her career that she would have had much more success. She is sound, has great conformation and tremendous early speed. Her flaws are that she is a little high in her action, perhaps a little heavy boned and lacks stamina. The stallion in mind has great stamina, is fine-boned and clean-gaited, but most importantly has been sound throughout his career. We'll see what happens.
With her out of action one way or another, I have taken charge of Rita's yearling, our full-American filly Crosshill Ace. She is being targeted at the top juvenile races next year for which she is eligible. She reminds me of Star so much at that age in looks, but her temperament is almost identical. Will do ANYTHING for food, licks the bowl clean, is like a lamb and has been foot perfect through her education so far. Wild Bill may be back in again next summer to race; Eternal Flame (who we raced in 2014 with success) may also be in, and her younger half-brother Cassius Clay will definitely be in. We have also been asked to train an outside horse, a filly that OH bred and subsequently sold called Carolina Cherry. We broke her in last summer and it seems the job we did was sufficient that the owner would like us to train her next year.
Crosshill Ace (aka Big Ears #2)
Plus with Corbiewood being awarded some high profile trotting races, I am also on the lookout for my first French Trotter. Living with a man who doesn't say 'no' when I suggest buying another horse has the potential to be a curse. Right now 11 horses is plenty to look after!
Thanks for following Star's progress all summer (when I actually posted), hopefully I'll be back next spring with news on how Ace is coming along
I have no idea where I even got up to with Star's race reports but if you haven't read my blog then you won't know that our mission was accomplished on Sunday 27th September when she won a C Class race (for drivers with 7 or less wins) with my friend George (the lad who trained her for a spell in the summer for me) driving her. She'd raced earlier that same day and finished fourth and the familiar sinking feeling had begun to creep in so once she was on the track I was prepared for the usual lead out, hold them off to the 3/4 or 7/8 and then get passed on the run in. A friend of mine from down south messaged me to put money on her to finish second to the favourite, so I put a bit on with his bet as well for the sake of it.
As you can imagine when you put seven young and inexperienced drivers in a race together, there is going to be chaos. The favourite was hampered at the start and pulled up before the 1/4 marker, the horse drawn inside Star on the gate broke stride as the car accelerated which gave her a clear run to the lead without using too much fuel. My friend Hughie (who drove Star the first time she raced this year) was on his own horse this time and put her under pressure for the first lap but couldn't pass her and pulled in behind her on the rail (I thought G did well to stay calm when his best mate was trying to pass him). Then G's ex-girlfriend (whose family I have had slight issues with this summer) came with a challenge just after the half and I just thought 'of all the people to beat us, come ON'. Down the backstraight for the last time the challenger outside Star couldn't get eye to eye with her and that's kind of when I started to scream...a lot. I was hanging over the rail on the last bend shouting all manner of profanities at G, at Star, at Hughie's younger brother Michael who was, for his sins, stood next to me. And she won. And I jumped up and down like a mad person and then shook uncontrollably and then ran on to the track to wait for Star to come round again and I cried. Absolutely ridiculous for the class of race we'd won but I was as high as a kite!
The following day her joints at the front were a bit swollen and she had slight heat in her tendons so my OH suggested we give her a week off and then aim to race her for the last 3 weeks at Corbiewood. I told him we would be doing no such thing. Star was, for the final time, to retire from racing on the ultimate high. In five seasons of racing she has never shown lame once; she has legs of iron. She achieved the one thing I asked of her, and she didn't need to do anymore. I was not going to risk any sort of injury for the sake of a couple of races - she has years of riding and jumping and hunting and goodness knows what else to do with me so I wasn't putting her through the stress of racing again. My OH was disappointed, as in the subsequent weeks and months since I made that decision, he has admitted that he had one of his best summers in racing with Star because she was such a pleasure to work with. That in itself makes me well up slightly, as she is my pride and joy and I am proud of her and the horse she has become.
Star is currently turned out with my other mare, Rita, who sadly lost her foal at 4 months of age a couple of weeks after Star finished up racing. Rita is an alpha female and Star is naturally submissive and they were the best of friends during the winter when in the larger herd; they still get on like a house on fire now.
For all the talking I've done about Star this summer, she was actually the lowest-achiever in our stable. Stevie went down to Wales for 6 weeks and whilst there won twice, but it was his full brother Wild Bill who stole the show at Crosshill - in 12 starts, he won 5 times, was second 6 times and finished fourth on his last start, having gone from a maiden to a Grade 3 in between July and September. He was Scotland's Horse of the Month for August and won the STAGBI Breeders Premium for Scotland for his efforts.
Top: Shes Some Deal & George Carson, Corbiewood, Scotland
Middle: Young Stephen & Michael O'Mahony, Almley, Welsh/English Border
Bottom: Wild Bill Hikock & John Smart, Corbiewood, Scotland
As for next year, the handicap system is changing and Star would have fared well under it (going from a Grade 2 back down to a Grade 1). However, as much fun as it has been training and racing her, I know she isn't really that keen on racing. She's exceptionally lazy and the only reason she ran so consistently well for me this year is because I tricked her into thinking she wasn't really doing any work - and feeding her the kind of diet she thinks she's entitled to 24/7/365. My OH said that I could put her in foal as soon as the stallion that we think is most suitable for her is standing in the UK (he is currently in Ireland and I'm not forking out for the cost of AI)...I found out last weekend that said stallion is due to come to Wales in March 2016 to stand at stud. Provided I can transport Star to south Wales, we could be getting a baby Big Ears slightly sooner than expected. I know we have better bred mares who have won more races and posted faster times, but OH and I both genuinely believe that had we been training her from the beginning of her career that she would have had much more success. She is sound, has great conformation and tremendous early speed. Her flaws are that she is a little high in her action, perhaps a little heavy boned and lacks stamina. The stallion in mind has great stamina, is fine-boned and clean-gaited, but most importantly has been sound throughout his career. We'll see what happens.
With her out of action one way or another, I have taken charge of Rita's yearling, our full-American filly Crosshill Ace. She is being targeted at the top juvenile races next year for which she is eligible. She reminds me of Star so much at that age in looks, but her temperament is almost identical. Will do ANYTHING for food, licks the bowl clean, is like a lamb and has been foot perfect through her education so far. Wild Bill may be back in again next summer to race; Eternal Flame (who we raced in 2014 with success) may also be in, and her younger half-brother Cassius Clay will definitely be in. We have also been asked to train an outside horse, a filly that OH bred and subsequently sold called Carolina Cherry. We broke her in last summer and it seems the job we did was sufficient that the owner would like us to train her next year.
Crosshill Ace (aka Big Ears #2)
Plus with Corbiewood being awarded some high profile trotting races, I am also on the lookout for my first French Trotter. Living with a man who doesn't say 'no' when I suggest buying another horse has the potential to be a curse. Right now 11 horses is plenty to look after!
Thanks for following Star's progress all summer (when I actually posted), hopefully I'll be back next spring with news on how Ace is coming along
