The Galloping Greys
Mon 16 May 2022
WINNER 41 OF 2022: SHOULDVEBEENARING, trained by Richard Hannon and ridden by Joe Fanning: 'The Hammond Associates Celebrates Yorkshire Spoon's 30 Years Novice Stakes ' over 6f at Ripon.
Our 2-year-old son of red hot sire Havana Grey, made his debut over 5 furlongs at Goodwood at the end of April. He was the Racing Post 'eyecatcher' from that card, as they remarked "open to significant improvement after a strong-finishing debut." This time, on his second start, he was upped to 6f and was second favourite, in the hands of Joe Fanning.
Drawn in 4, he was bumped at the start and ended up on the outer, racing wider than ideal. At the 1 pole, he was going the best of the field though and when Joe asked him for an extra effort, he smoothly went into the lead inside the final furlong, winning the race under hands and heels, 'going away' by 1 and 3/4 lengths.
"Shouldbebeenaring opening out to score quite cosily." Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Ripon/15-May-2022/1440
Timeform rated it a nice 89 performance, saying: "Left debut form well behind to get off the mark in good style over 1f longer trip; awkward leaving stalls, raced wide, mid-field, travelled fluently, good headway 2f out, led final 1f, edged left, kept on well, well on top finish; will go on improving.”
Simon Mapletoft remarked on Sky Sports Racing: "We may well have seen a Royal Ascot contender in Shouldvebeenaring. That was a nice performance.”
See the official photo gallery here: https://louisepollard.co.uk/album.php?id=1019
WINNER 42 OF 2022: COPSHILL LAD, trained by Milton Harris and ridden by Kevin Jones: 'The Milton Harris Thank You to Owners Open Maiden National Hunt Flat Race' over 2m 1/2f at Stratford.
We switched codes for our second winner of the day, as Copshill Lad was making his debut for us at Stratford. He was a £50,000 purchase at The Cheltenham February Sale, after a 2nd place in an Irish P2P on his sole start to date. There was plenty of pressure on him, with Milton sponsoring the race and onlookers latched on to that, making him favourite.
Setting off to the fore, he disputed the lead, as they went a steady pace. He had his ears pricked pretty much all the way, as Kevin injected some pace as they came around the home bend. Pulling away to take a 2 length lead without too much effort, Kevin had time to look over his shoulder 3 times in the home straight looking for a challenger. Under hands and heels, he crossed the line with ease, winning by 2 and 3/4 lengths.
"Copshill Lad is far too good!" Watch the full race replay here: https://www.racingtv.com/videos/watch/horse_racing_replays/390139-milton-harris-thank-you-to-owners-open-maiden-national-hunt-flat-5
Timeform rated it as 94+ performance, saying: "Looked a useful recruit as he went one better than in an Irish point in the winter, another well-bought youngster by a yard that's enjoyed a staggeringly successful year or more; disputed lead, went on back straight, quickened clear entering straight, eased late on, won readily (value double).”
It was the final race on the card, with the Racing TV team reviewing the races at the end of their broadcast, saying : "He was set up for that race by Milton and delivered in pretty good style, winning decisively.”
There were plenty of cheers as he returned to the winners enclosure:
See the official photo gallery here: https://www.sdphotos.co.uk/view--order-pictures/938156
Syndicate manager of both horses, Tim says: "We love it when a plan comes together! Both horses won well and it was a great set of results of 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd and 4th from our 6 runners on Sunday. I was delighted to see Shouldvebeenaring become another winner for the red hot leading first season sire Havana Grey and for him to take our 2-year-old record this season to 3 juvenile winners, from 6 to have made their debut. Richard Hannon knows how to prep a 2-year-old!
You could say the same for Milton Harris too, as his year has been amazing. His bumper horses have come out and showed their class and thanks to Milton, our lad has joined that winning cohort. Huge thanks to Milton and his team for his owners event at Stratford yesterday, that was very generous of him. Even better that our owners were able to celebrate their winner in the marquee.
We are pinching ourselves at the moment, with the results we are producing across both codes for our owners. Last week we organised badges for 216 owners to attend the races, with 106 enjoying their runners over the weekend; Paris longchamp included at the French Guineas Festival.”
We now have just 15% of shares remaining in our Havana Grey colt in training with Marco Botti. See his share details here