The skies are clear and it has been a beautiful morning here in Newmarket. Johnny Weatherby and his wife Sophie stayed with us last night. Johnny came out to see On The Bill first lot, he is a member of the Old Etonian Partnership who own the horse. We had a fantastic breakfast at Debbie’s Diner afterwards and then we all went out on the heath to see the two year olds they have an interest in, Lunar Mist and Titan. Lunar Mist is a filly by Bated Breath out of the lightly raced mare Time Will Show. Titan is a colt by Prix Du Jockey Club winner Lawman out of the smart Dragonera.
The Tattersalls Book 1 bonus site is now up and running. The ‘Book 1 Bonus’ is exclusively for those horses sold through Book 1 at The October Yearling sale. There are 381 entries and circa 300 eligible races in 2016. Twenty five thousand pounds is an extremely lucrative sum of money and we shall be trying our hardest to win the bonus with our eligible two year olds. We have eleven two year olds eligible for the bonus, among them are an Exceed And Excel colt out of the Dubawi mare Cloud’s End and a son of Mayson out of the speedy mare Crown.
There was some fascinating action at Meydan yesterday with Godolphin claiming the bragging rights courtesy of their hat-trick. Pure Diamond finally fulfilled her potential when winning the 7f Listed contest. Very Special was given a fine ride by James Doyle when landing the 9f Group 2 for the girls. American Hope then cosily won the 7f handicap.
Polar River kept her unbeaten record intact when winning the UAE Oaks but Pat Dobbs was very keen to keep her wrapped in cotton wool. We did not really learn anything new about her. Sheikhzaye Road was extremely impressive when routing the field in the Group 3 staying event over 14f. It was a good appetiser before Super Saturday tomorrow. Solow showed he remained in good heart with a bloodless success at Chantilly.