New Syndicate: Gee Force Flyer
As regular readers will know, geegeez.co.uk syndicates a small team of racehorses under both codes, but mainly jumpers. As well as legends such as Coquelicot (won her ninth race yesterday at Nottingham) and Sure Touch (after winning the £100,000 Summer Plate in July he goes for the £75,000 Grand Sefton on Saturday), we have dual scorer Konigin Isabella, and a horse to follow this season in Dartmoor Pirate (4th of 17 in the uber-competitive Grade 3 Novices' Final at Sandown on his only run beyond two miles).
We also have a couple of 'store' horses destined to be part of the next chapter. One of them is fully syndicated and the other has a single share remaining. Full details are below, so read on if this might be of interest...
The Horse: Part 1
This was the situation at the end of May of this year...
A good looking athletic son of top sire Jet Away, this as yet unnamed four-year-old gelding was purchased for €42,000 from the Goffs Arkle Sale last June. His dam, Forge Field, was unraced but is a daughter of Faraday Lady, herself a full sister to RSA Chase winner Lord Noelie. Forge Field's own sister won ten races under Rules! You can view his pedigree here.
He has a half-brother, Forged Well, who in his first season - the one just finished - managed a win, a second and a third from five races. He'll be interesting to follow next season and looks very likely to progress a good bit further for a fence.
Jet Away is still a relatively young stallion, with his first crop currently eight years old. That crop includes the Grade 1-winning mare Brandy Love; and he's since produced the likes of Three Card Brag, third in the Grade 1 Champions Novice Chase at last month's Punchestown Festival; the seven-time winner Clear The Runway; six-time winners Twinjets, Dreams Of Home and Jet Plane; and Listed winner Space Tourist. Most of these are still racing with more to come.
Turning attention to our lad, since being bought a year ago he's been broken in, pre-trained and has run in a private schooling hurdle to get experience of what a race feels like.
Here he is (left hand side, white face) having a canter...
And this is the schooling hurdle where he was asked to do nothing more than travel amongst horses to experience what that's like...
Right now, he's out in a field eating grass and getting nice and fat - growing into that big frame - ahead of coming back for this season's plan, which is outlined further down the post.
As of 12th July he came back in from the field to start burning off some of those grassy calories and get in shape for the season!
The Horse: Part 2
Since going back into training, he's been named and will race as GEE FORCE FLYER, chosen by his current syndicate members.
This is an innovative project as you'll see...
The Trainer(s)
To be trained in due course by Olly Murphy, who is based in Wilmcote, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Olly is in his eighth season training, and has already amassed two Grade 1 wins, four Grade 2's and seven Grade 3 or Listed contests. He's currently on 620 total wins at an overall strike rate of nearly 18%, which is very impressive; and he has 38 wins on the board already this season.
Olly has been a really lucky trainer for us, all five of the horses we've had there winning. They included Oxford Blu, a first Cheltenham Festival runner for geegeez syndicates (and for Olly, incidentally); Swaffham Bulbeck, who won on Gold Cup day TWICE (though not at Cheltenham!); and the aforementioned Sure Touch, who won the £100,000 Summer Plate on 20th July and is now headed to Aintree for a tilt at the National fences on Saturday.
Gee Force Flyer started his season's training at Olly's before moving across to Kinsale, Ireland, where he's being readied for a run in a point to point by Mikey Kennedy, brother of jockey Jack Kennedy. He recently did some very good work at the Curragh's schooling grounds, as you can see below, and is only a few weeks (literally) from a run.
This is him (right hand side, white face, emerging in the middle of the trio that go on) starting at the back of four horses, before passing the other three and winning the gallop:
And here he is, at the back of the trio learning to settle in behind, schooling over fences:
Needless to say both Mikey and Olly are very pleased with where he's at and it's clear that he's just about ready to go.
The plan
The plan for Gee Force Flyer was/is as follows:
- Syndicate him into ten shares [NINE sold, ONE left]
- Send him back to Ireland to continue his 'pre-training' [done], with a view to running in a point to point some time around December [firmly on track]
- Return to UK and run in bumpers (National Hunt Flat races) in the new year [still the plan]
- Next season (2025/26) will be a full season novice hurdling and, as can be seen, he's going to be a cracking chaser in time [still the plan]
As I say, he's being taken care of in Ireland by Mikey Kennedy at Innishannon, about five miles southwest of Cork, and roughly the same distance northwest of Kinsale. It's a lovely part of the world, and one from where my partner Carole's family all hail. The plan is to head over when GFF races and, naturally, to sample the local hospitality!
From there, we'll decide whether or not to continue with a further point run or, more likely, to return to the UK for a National Hunt Flat race or two. Either way, he's receiving an excellent grounding ahead of a full season novice hurdling next year; and he has the make, shape, athleticism and pedigree of a smart chaser in the coming years. That'll be his main job, no question.
*
This project is quite different from any we've undertaken before and, as I say, it will involve a trip (maybe two) to Ireland to watch the horse in his point to point run(s), as well as the associated fun and camaraderie that such a weekend entails.
The investment
OK, so what's the damage?
He wasn't cheap when purchased 18 months ago for €42,000, but of course quality rarely is. To that has been incurred sales fees, transport to and from Ireland, pre-training, and then full training with Mikey, as well as grass keep when he was back at Olly's Warren Chase stables. Since his summer holiday, he's done some work at Olly's and then gone back to Mikey to be trained for a point this side of Christmas. And then we'll think about a bumper in the new year. This is just the beginning of his - and our - journey with all roads leading to his chasing career down the track.
As mentioned, I've syndicated him into ten equal (10%) shares, of which nine are bought and paid for already. There is one share left! The cost of that share is £5,000 + VAT which covers everything to date: purchase, all expenses to date, and training until the end of November (which will be funded by the reclaimed VAT). From 1st December, £195/month per share covers ongoing upkeep. Put another way, I hope and expect that once your share is paid for there will be nothing further to contribute until he's run, or ready to run.
Those figures include everything except insurance - individual members may insure their share if they wish - up to the end of November 2024.
Syndicate members are entitled to two owners' badges each time the horse runs, a 10% share of all prizemoney and any future net sales proceeds, stable visits, and regular updates on progress. With this particular horse, I expect we'll be planning a trip to Ireland to watch him in a point to point in the very near future, and I'm guessing we'll make a weekend of that!
To express interest in this final share, or for more information, drop me a line on my private email here.
Matt
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