Tag Archive for: geegeez syndicates

New Racing Syndicate: Seeking Nirvana?

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From time to time, not very often, I buy a horse to syndicate among fellow racing fans and geegeez.co.uk readers. Last week was one such occasion and a few shares are available, more on that in a moment. But first, a little history on geegeez syndicates.

Geegeez Syndicates

I've been involved in racing syndicates since a horse called Love's Design, trained by Julia Feilden, was bought in the year 2000. He was a bit of a legend, winning seven times for us and providing numerous more memorable days on track. Over the intervening 25 years, I've gone from being a syndicate member to being a syndicate member... and manager! Always taking a share myself, we've had a lot of success. In fact, looking at the new OWNER variable in QT (landing very, very soon!), I can see that we've had 42 winners from 295 runners since 2009. That's about one win for every seven runs, and a place rate of better than one in three.

 

 

Overall in the UK, the average in that time is around one win in nine, and just lower than three in ten placed; so we've done pretty well since the start.

More recently, however, I've tried to buy better stock, especially over jumps (my main passion). Unsurprisingly, that has usually meant spending a bit more - but not always - and investing earlier. That's rewarded us handsomely, as this next image shows.

 

 

Let me point a few things out from that table.

Firstly, our jumps horses over the past five years have won at a rate of almost one in four, 23.08% to be precise. That's more than twice the average win rate (see IV figure, 2.14). They've made the frame almost 44% of the time and have been profitable to back at both BSP and starting price. We've had a lot of fun!

The undisputed flag bearers have been Coquelicot, a dual Listed and nine-time winner in total (also 2nd eight times), from just 28 career starts; and ten-time winning Sure Touch, whose big day was the Summer Plate last year. Total earnings for 'Cookie' were £97,000 before she was sold as a broodmare for £40,000 in January this year; Sure Touch, a winner last month on his most recent start, has amassed £130,593 so far and is being aimed at the veterans' series in the spring.

As an aside, Coquelicot is the joint-winningmost horse Anthony Honeyball has trained, alongside those magnificent veterans Regal Encore and Sam Brown; and Sure Touch is the joint-winningmost horse Olly Murphy has trained, alongside the brilliant Brewin'upastorm. We've been lucky as well as good.

The current team is comprised of Sure Touch, Dartmoor Pirate (rated 118), who we think will nearly win next time before tilting at something a touch more ambitious; and Gee Force Flyer, given an opening mark of 118 and for whom a maiden hurdle ought to be a near formality on his next run: we'll again then map out a route for the rest of the season.

The Pirate was a close up fourth in a G3 handicap hurdle two seasons back, and 5th in another G3 as well as second in a Pertemps qualifier last season. He had a few issues which we think we've sorted now. The Flyer won an Irish point to point which is working out brilliantly - winners everywhere - and has run against two of the smarter UK middle distance novices this season in races that didn't remotely play to his strengths (both were quarter-mile sprints off very slow fractions).

As well as that trio, we have a pair of unraced three-year-old fillies, Ashburton and Luna Lux. Ashburton is a big filly who will probably need a year or two to fully grow into her frame, but she's ready enough to have an outing at Doncaster on Saturday in a juvenile bumper. It's likely more for experience than anything, but she's surprised us a lot at how forward she's been. And Luna Lux, a filly I really love, was ready to run earlier in the month before succumbing to a dose of the snots - very common this time of year, especially with the youngsters. She'll be on track before long and I'm very excited for that!

And now we have one more...*

*incidentally, I buy fillies with good pedigrees not only because there is an excellent race programme for them but also because, even if the racing project doesn't quite work out, they have residual value as broodmares.

 

The Arqana Autumn sale is one deep in quality with packed pedigrees aplenty and, allied to the success we've had there before, it’s why I’m prepared to swing the bat a little in terms of hammer price. We had such good luck with Coquelicot, who was bought at the 2017 renewal, and we think we have another potential top-notcher from there in Luna Lux, sourced at the 2023 Arqana Autumn Sale.

 

The Back Story

Since 2017, we were having so much fun with Cookie that we didn’t return to Deauville until two years ago, November 2023, at which Luna Lux raised her pretty little head in our direction. We don’t yet know how that story will play out, but so far so exciting, and she’s developed into a filly of real quality – “a belter” in trainer Anthony Honeyball’s words – who’s lived something of a storied life already. She’s taken us on a journey even before her racecourse debut and that, of course, is the wonderful nature of projects like this.

A side point on Luna Lux is that she is the second foal from her dam, Black Luna; the first foal sold as a three-year-old for €150,000 last June. This is important because I am trying to buy six-figure quality youngstock 'off plan' as it were. If Luna Lux came to market, I'd unhesitatingly expect her to fetch at least £100,000. [It does need to be kept in mind that there are keep costs from November yearling to June 3yo, but nothing like the difference between €50,000 and £100,000, still less €150,000]

To now, and exciting news from that pretty and horse-y enclave in northern France. A filly we (me, Anthony and Tessa Greatrex of Highflyer Bloodstock) loved went through the ring last week, the first of only three on our shortlist. I wasn’t quite up together enough to bid on her at the point she went through but, fortunately, she was bought back by her vendors at €42,000 because they thought she was worth more. They wanted €50,000 and were adamant she wouldn’t leave them for less. She’s an absolute beauty as you'll see in a moment so I can understand why they felt that way.

Anyway, having discounted the second of three on my list and then watched the third one make too much money (she’s a cracker, too, but budget is not infinite!), we were in the strong position of being able to attempt an ‘amiable’: a deal with the vendor post-auction at a price acceptable to both parties. So, the imaginary hammer dropped at €45,000, a full €5,000 less than the vendor wanted but a fair price for them and a value one for us.

 

The Trainer

She'll be trained at the geegeez-sponsored Potwell Farm Stables of Anthony Honeyball. Anthony is having another excellent season and is on track to again break his personal best, which saw a new high last campaign.

 

 

It's not just winners that are improving, but also the quality of the horses/wins, a point picked up in an interview with the trainer in today's Racing Post. Quoting Catherine Macrae from that piece:

The yard's rude health is not reflected by numbers alone. Honeyball has also been delivering in quality, with the trainer fresh from success at Cheltenham's November meeting and a second success in the Badger Beers a week earlier.

Big winners on big afternoons are becoming the norm for the 45-year-old, who is finding he now has the ammunition to fire more than one bullet at some of the season's more lucrative affairs. Such was the case at Cheltenham this month, where a heartbreaking final-fence blunder from favourite Jordans Cross was made more palatable when his stablemate Kdeux Saint Fray was able to snag the win instead. 

Anthony is extremely personable and it's a great pleasure for me that most of his runners sport the geegeez.co.uk logo across the jockey's chests. He is also, more importantly, a brilliant judge of a horse and outstanding at bringing along youngstock to be ready early.

 

The Filly

Introducing lot 557, an unnamed (our job to name her, when most French yearlings come pre-titled as was the case with Luna Lux) filly by Nirvana du Berlais out of a winning mare from a deep Black Type family. She was an early February foal and she looks forward and racy: she should be ready early all other things being equal.

 

 

Let’s talk about that pedigree.

Father

Nirvana du Berlais might not be a name you’re familiar with, but he’s the coming man (in the same way that Masked Marvel was two years ago when I bought Luna Lux - now he's a household name and one of the absolute most sought after stallions in the jumps game).

On the track he was a hurdler himself, winning a Grade 3 and a Grade 1 from just seven starts - all placed bar a debut fall, and the final four in Graded company.

His first crop is just four years old currently, but they include two Grade 1 winners already: the machine that is Lulamba, and Leader Sport, who won a Grade 1 chase the weekend before last in France. The 3rd in that Auteuil G1 was, you guessed it, another notch on the Nirvana du Berlais bed post, this time a filly called Nirvalla.

Keep in mind that he has had very few runners to date and his oldest progeny are not yet five years old!

 

 

Here are the past week or so's UK/Ire results for the sire:

 

 

Three winners, a second and two thirds - from only seven runners!

But there's also the French winners... the image below shows all of his winners in less than the last six weeks.

 

 

I'm convinced he's the real deal. And I'm not the only one: the day after I bought the filly, there was a full feature in the Racing Post's Bloodstock section on the stallion, which I've republished at the foot of this page.

 

Mother

Dad, of course, is only half of the gene pool, so what about mum? Her name is Futura, and she was a nine-year-old primetime mare when bearing our filly. On the track Futura won once from just six starts and, since going to the paddocks, she’d had one previous foal: a Goliath du Berlais colt who sold as a foal for €31,000 – and then resold as a 3yo this summer to Venetia Williams for €60,000. It’ll be very interesting to see how he develops.

The second dam, Funny Feerie, was a phenom:
she was a dual Listed winner over obstacles before throwing THREE GROUP/GRADE 1 WINNERS, ALL OF WHICH WENT ON TO BE STALLIONS! That’s virtually unheard of.

The pick of them is Fuisse, who won the Group 1 Prix du Moulin and was second in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) - all class.

Next is Full Of Gold, who won the 2yo staying (10f) Group 1, the Criterium de Saint-Cloud: precocity and stamina.

And, lest you were thinking it’s a bit too sans obstacles, the third was a full brother to Futura called For Fun. He won the Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil (2m3f, hurdles), among a further plethora of podiums in Pattern races.

It really is a stacked and loaded pedigree as you can see below:

 

 

Nirvana du Berlais is by Martaline, himself a champion sire in France; and Futura is by Motivator, another pre-eminent NH influence. The point is laboured by now, but it’s clearly a wonderful page.

 

The Filly Herself

All that pedigree counts for nothing if the actual horse to which it relates is too small, walks wrong, has poor conformation, or is otherwise less than perfect. That's how we discounted one of the trio on my final shortlist (and several before her). This filly, as you can see below, walks and trots beautifully.

 

 

She has arrived safely at Anthony's yard on the Dorset/Somerset border, had her vaccinations and is now out in a field covered in mud with a couple of other yearlings to keep her company. She's settled in really well and will have a very quiet time of it until the spring.

 

The Plan / Syndicate

The Plan

So she's in the field for a few months, after which, in spring next year (it's not far off, you know!), she’ll benefit from the full scholarship programme at the Potwell Academy. That involves being broken in (being 'laid over', having a saddle put on, ridden around her box, and then ridden in the indoor school and on the local roads) before being turned out for the summer. After the summer next year, she's likely to continue her education with some trots on the round gallop and building to a gentle trot up the searching Seaborough hill gallop; there will also be some jumping practice next year.

And then, in 2027 - it'll be 2026 in a minute - she'll be ready to race granted normal luck.

The Syndicate

She is being syndicated into ten 10% shares and seven six are available now.

Each share costs £4,500 with monthly fees of £125 starting January 1st 2026, and full training fees of £250/month from spring 2027.

There are no hidden costs - all funds go into the syndicate account and any residue is returned to syndicate members.

Owners benefit from stable visits, a dedicated WhatsApp group with regular updates on progress, and, when the time comes, owners' badges for the races. Of course, each 10% share earns a 10% return on prizemoney and eventual sales proceeds.

She’s an absolutely gorgeous filly with a tremendous page, and a really exciting prospect for the track and beyond. This is a genuine opportunity to be involved with a 'could be anything' project and learn about how a young horse because a racehorse.

If you'd like to join me, click here to register your interest.

I'm really looking forward to her.

Matt

 

p.s. Here's the feature on her dad...

 

 

What a run for young, up-and-coming French National Hunt sire Nirvana Du Berlais.

The Haras de la Hetraie resident, whose oldest crop of foals are aged only four, supplied Leader Sport, an impressive winner of the Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois over fences at Auteuil on Sunday for trainer Daniela Mele and joint-owner Walter Connors, and Nirvalla, who defied odds of 101-1 to finish third in the same race for Mickael Seror.

Nirvana Du Berlais' well-touted son Lulamba, who had already put his sire’s name up in lights by scoring in the Punchestown Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle after finishing second in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham last season for Nicky Henderson, then coasted to victory on his chasing debut in a beginners’ event at Exeter on Monday.

To put an exclamation mark on it, Manganese, a three-year-old from the sire’s second crop, overcame significant interference from a loose horse to score easily in a fillies’ juvenile maiden hurdle at Leicester for Max Comley on the same afternoon.

Nirvana Du Berlais’ hot streak didn’t come out of the blue, either. There is supporting evidence to suggest that it is the start of a successful stallion career.

His debut four-year-olds, of which there are 79, also include Semper Fortis, who took a Listed handicap hurdle at Auteuil last month for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, and Victory Valley, who finished second in a Listed chase at the same track in April for Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and Francois Pamart, along with 14 other winners and 11 placed performers under rules.

His second generation of three-year-olds, which totals 100, has meanwhile already yielded five other winners besides Manganese. Among those are Nicos Invicta, who struck in an Auteuil hurdle in April and wasn’t beaten far into fifth in a Listed event at the track in September for Francois Nicolle, and Juste Prix, who scored by three lengths over hurdles at Senonnes in August for Isabelle Pacault.

If Nirvana Du Berlais does take his place in the hallowed ranks of elite French National Hunt sires alongside the likes of Doctor Dino, No Risk At All and Cokoriko, as it looks increasingly like he will, it won’t be the biggest surprise. He has always had an awful lot going for him, after all.

First, he has a terrific French jumps pedigree. He is by Martaline, Haras de Montaigu’s much-missed son of Linamix who is the source of numerous stars on either side of the Channel and another big-race winner in Marble Sands at Cheltenham on Sunday.

Martaline’s other sons at stud include Beaumec De Houelle, who is one crop ahead of Nirvana Du Berlais but hasn’t made nearly as explosive a start, although it does look like he has a good one on his hands in Letos, the brave winner of the Brown Lad Handicap Hurdle at Naas this month for Tony Mullins.

Nirvana Du Berlais is, furthermore, out of Katioucha, a daughter of Mansonnien who finished third in the Listed Prix Finot hurdle at Auteuil for newcomers and is now developing into a real blue hen for her owner Haras du Berlais and partners.

She is the dam of five other winners, including Toscana Du Berlais, a son of Shantou who struck by six lengths in the Grade 1 Prix la Haye Jousselin at Auteuil on Sunday; Triana Du Berlais, a daughter of Presenting who scored at Grade 3 level over hurdles and fences at Auteuil; and Aubusson, a son of Ballingarry who was saddled by Nick Williams to take a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Haydock and to finish a nose second behind Thousand Stars in the Grade 1 Grand Prix d'Automne at Auteuil.

Nice To Meet You, a placed full-sister to Nirvana Du Berlais, has meanwhile produced dual Auteuil Listed chase winner and Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris fourth Niko Has (by Great Pretender) and last season’s young French hurdling ace Nietzsche Has (Zarak), who showed his prowess to British racegoers when he bolted up by eight lengths in the Grade 2 Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow last December.

Nietzsche Has received an enthusiastic reception in his first season at Montaigu this year, covering 102 mares in total, and his supporters will no doubt be delighted to see his ‘uncle’ Nirvana Du Berlais showing it to be a sire-producing family.

There is quality all the way down this page, too. Katioucha is a half-sister to high-class French exports Ma Filleule and Mon Parrain out of Kadaina, a daughter of Kadalko who won a Listed hurdle at Auteuil.

Kadiana was in turn one of five black type-winning jumpers out of the Lyfko mare Kogina, along with Katoune, Klark, Madame Stella and Samson. Madame Stella is the dam of Waitnsee, who won the Imperial Call Chase at Cork four years ago.

Nirvana Du Berlais then lived up to that outstanding breeding in his seven outings for Chaille-Chaille, all over hurdles at Auteuil at three. He won twice, in the Grade 3 Prix Aguado and Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres, on the latter occasion surging 14 lengths clear of the classy pair Kool Has and For Fun.

Nirvana Du Berlais has the good looks to match, being a powerful sort standing 16.2½ hands, although he’s somehow overcome being born chestnut, a towering obstacle to siring talented jumpers in Britain and Ireland. Apparently.

It is no surprise, then, that he has always received strong support from breeders. He covered books numbering 125 and 131 mares in his first two seasons, and word must have spread about the appearance of his early foals as he was sent 185 mares in his third year, 189 in his fourth and 160 in his fifth.

With Lulamba having dropped a big clue in the winter that Nirvana Du Berlais’ progeny have the ability to match their looks, the sire covered a bumper book of 211 mares in his sixth season this year, including quite a few notable names in British or Irish ownership such as Maria’s Benefit, Stormy Ireland and The Glancing Queen.

This year’s Weatherbys Return of Mares also features nine foals by him registered in Britain or Ireland in 2025. Take a bow, the breeders of those horses, for being so ahead of the game: Elms Bloodstock; Scarlett Knipe; Longner Bloodstock and Peel Bloodstock; JP King and Patrick Turley; Phil and Jan Mathias; Olney Bloodstock; Scandinavian Equine Services; and Evergreen Bloodstock – twice, so that outfit must be doubly shrewd.

King and Turley have already received their reward, selling their Nirvana Du Berlais colt foal out of the Grade 2-placed Helissio mare Our Dot’s Baby to Dick Frisby for €68,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale this month.

Knipe is selling her colt out of Lucie Du Berlais, a Saint Des Saints mare from another black-type-packed Berlais family, in the unusual arena of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in Newmarket next Wednesday. Such a well-bred offering is unlikely to be missed among the Flat bluebloods, though.

Several of the other British and Irish-bred Nirvana Du Berlais foals feature among the eight lots by the sire set to be presented at the Goffs December National Hunt Sale next month, alongside the inevitable French pinhooks. They will no doubt be even more closely examined by traders and end users after the exploits of Leader Sport, Lulamba and co.

Pinhookers certainly seemed keen to lay their hands on Nirvana Du Berlais yearlings at the Arqana Autumn Sale in Deauville yesterday, with Carrigeen Bloodstock paying €30,000 for one colt and Brown Island Stables giving €16,000 for another.

It might prove wise to have bred to the sire before now, with his 2026 covering fee still to be announced but sure to go up, and to buy his stock before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon.

It is still early days for Nirvana Du Berlais, but he looks like the real deal to me.

New Geegeez Syndicate: Bringing in some Razzam-atazz!

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I'm super excited to welcome the latest member of the geegeez.co.uk stable, a three-year-old Showcasing gelding called...

RAZZAM

 

He's a very lightly raced, unexposed horse who looks a near certainty to win a maiden or novice stakes at the minimum trip before going on to better things. He will go into training with Mick Appleby, a master at handling sprinters, and below you can find out more about the horse, the opportunity, and how you can get involved!

 

The pedigree

Razzam is by Showcasing, who stands at £45,000. That’s before the breeder has incurred the costs of minding the mare for a year, raising the foal for two years, and then the owner has paid training fees to get him to the track.

 

This lad actually sold at the Tattersalls Yearling Sales in October 2021 for 45,000 guineas (£47,250).

Showcasing has countless highlights on his score card, including the now stallions Advertise, Soldier’s Call, and Tasleet, all of which were very fast racehorses.

The dam, Whispering Bell, only ran three times but won a Windsor maiden before taking on Listed company on her final start. Razzam is her second foal to race, after Zeussina, a dual winner in Italy.

She also has a colt by Too Darn Hot who is yet to race. He sold for £70,000.

Here is Razzam's 'page'.

 

The ‘physical’

Physically, Razzam has plenty of size and substance – a big bull of a horse – and he looks all speed. We expect he’ll prove a different proposition racing over five furlongs under Mick’s guidance.

 

 

The trainer

Mick is perhaps not the most fashionable trainer, but he is undoubtedly top drawer. He’s the reigning all-weather champion trainer, an accolade he has won numerous times; and this year he’s taking his turf season highlights to another level with Annaf running 3rd in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes and Big Evs blitzing a field of 23 by three lengths in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes – he might have won the Norfolk if he’d been entered there - both at Royal Ascot.

Mick trains out of Langham Stables near Rutland Water, and his record when dropping horses back to five furlongs where they’d run over further for someone else last time is highly impressive:

 

 

Such horses include the likes of Saaheq, who arrived rated 71 and won five races and £68,000 while going up to a peak rating of 92; Warrior Brave, three wins and two seconds from seven runs (and £26,700) before selling for 100,000 guineas; Raasel, who has now won over £225,000 for connections; and Night On Earth, who won five from 22 and £66,000 before selling for 2.5x his purchase price.

There is quite simply no better man for improving a horse by dropping it to five furlongs than Mick.

 

The form

Razzam has had six races, placing four times. His full form string is 325243 and a line on each run, as well as a link to watch the videos (if you have appropriate access) is below. You can view his form on geegeez.co.uk here.

The general themes are a burst of acceleration and then not quite getting home over six due to over-racing/wanting to go faster.

We feel strongly that dropping him to five furlongs is the key to unlocking his potential.

 

3/6/22: 3rd/4 Class 3 Bath novice 5f GF. Blew the start before recording the fastest time in each of the last four furlongs. Razzam’s only run at the minimum trip. Winner ran in Norfolk next time, rated 87 currently.

https://www.attheraces.com/atrplayer-popout/VOD/1270889?showResult=yes

 

17/1/23: 2nd/12 Kempton 6f. Car park draw (11), dropped in, fastest final 3f split, passing 8 horses last quarter mile.

https://www.racingtv.com/racecards/kempton-park/427629-unibet-supports-safe-gambling-maiden-stakes-5?show_all=true&sort=racecard&non-runner_display=false

 

 

15/2/23: Kempton 6f. Jumped well from middle draw, over-raced for quarter mile, didn’t get home. Disappointing effort. Winner now rated 105, 2nd 80+.

https://www.racingtv.com/racecards/kempton-park/431330-unibet-breeders-backing-racing-ebf-maiden-stakes-5?show_all=true&sort=racecard&non-runner_display=false

 

 

5/5/23: Newcastle 6f Standard/Slow – Raced widest, travelled strongly, came with winning run but got mugged close home. Sectionals again solid.

https://www.attheraces.com/atrplayer-popout/VOD/1345637?showResult=yes

 

15/5/23: Wolverhampton 6f – Turned out 10 days later, good inside draw but nearly put through the rail by a rival on the outside. Did well in the circumstances.

https://www.attheraces.com/atrplayer-popout/VOD/1348204?showResult=yes

 

 

8/7/23: Nottingham 6f Good – First start after gelding; again over-raced, before not quite getting home. Winner a very smart horse, ran off 77 here, put up 8lb to 85 and looks a 90+ performer all day long. Was beaten a neck for second.

https://www.racingtv.com/racecards/nottingham/452760-premier-league-offers-at-rhino-bet-handicap-5?show_all=true&sort=racecard&non-runner_display=false

 

 

His Work

Razzam was given a week to settle in to his new surroundings, and did his first piece of fast work on Saturday 22nd July.

He worked with a horse called Juan Les Pins, who is rated 98 and was last seen finishing third in the Wokingham Heritage Handicap at Royal Ascot; in other words, a very smart horse.

And, as you can see, he worked very well. He's the horse near side with the yellow cap. [The video quality is not great, I'm afraid, as it's taken from WhatsApp]

 

 

The plan

The plan is pretty clear. Revert to pure sprint distances, jump and run. He seems best accelerating from off the pace but we may need to learn about how best to ride him. The one five furlong run was his debut, where he missed the break quite badly through inexperience.

He has been bought for the all-weather season but that is not to say he can’t run on the turf, too. At some point, either immediately or by mid-August, he will have a break to freshen up ahead of the winter season.

The syndicate

Razzam is being offered as 12 equal shares. The initial cost to join is £4,000, which will cover the purchase price plus VAT. The VAT will be reclaimed by the syndicate and used to fund training and any racing expenses to the end of October.

From November 1st, members will each pay £208 / month to cover training and racing expenses.

At the end of the all-weather season, we will decide whether to continue to race or to offer Razzam at the Guineas ‘Horses in Training’ sale at Newmarket. A further decision point will be the July Sale at Newmarket, where he will sell unless we unanimously agree to retain him.

Naturally, each syndicate member will receive a full pro-rata (i.e. 1/12th per share) dividend of all prize and sales revenues.

Members will be entitled to one owner’s badge (and the option for a second when available) each time Razzam runs.

To express your interest and to receive a copy of the syndicate agreement, which contains further details of how to get involved, click here.

 

 

Matt

 

 

Geegeez Racing Syndicates Update

/in /by

In some ways, it's an odd time to be updating on the progress of our racehorse syndicates. Why? Because currently they're all National Hunt horses and most of them are on summer holidays! Most, but not all, as we'll get to. And there is one share available in one horse, as we'll also get to, if that might be of interest. Either way, here's the latest...

The team is split between runners with Anthony Honeyball, whose Dorset yard is sponsored by geegeez.co.uk, and Olly Murphy, who is based in Wilmcote, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Let's catch up with them.

Team Anthony

Coquelicot (click for form)

Bought as a yearling in 2017, 'Cookie' as she's known has been a star. She made her debut in a junior bumper (for three-year-olds) in November 2019, finishing second to a stablemate. She was also second on her follow up at Newbury before rattling off a hat-trick of bumper victories culminating in success in a Listed event at Kempton in March 2020.

The following season, 2020/21, was her first over hurdles and it's fair to say she took her time to get the hang of it. It's not unfair to say she was far from a natural! In spite of her leaping inexperience, she managed to finish 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 4th and, starting last season (2021/22) she was ready to go handicapping.

Her handicap debut was at Chepstow over three miles on soft ground and she made all to win easily. A few coughs and splutters kept her off the track until February at which point she went to Hereford for a small field, but high quality, handicap with a prize fund of £20,000. She and a mare called Bellatrixsa had a duel throughout the three and a quarter miles on soft ground, so much so that the favourite was pulled up, unable to live with the searing tempo. In the end, Cookie gave best but still collected over £5,000 for running second. The winner has gone on to score in the Chester Plate (consolation race for the Chester Cup) on the flat, securing another £26,000 for her owners.

Cookie only ran twice last season and we're looking forward to getting her on the track plenty more in the 2022/23 season, probably starting in November.

Konigin Isabella (click for form)

'Isabella' is a German bred mare, Konigin meaning 'Queen'. She started out in the same junior bumper at Warwick as Cookie did, and she finished third. She then went to the same Newbury bumper and finished third. After that, she had two further spins in similar races, finishing with promise (fifth, fourth) but didn't quite match our expectations. She's thriving in the field this summer and, as a young filly with another summer on her back, is very much entitled to progress in her novice hurdle campaign starting in the autumn. Isabella has already schooled nicely over hurdles and we're excited to see how she goes this coming season.

Team Olly

Makthecat (click for form)

I'm sure you know this. Sometimes in racing, things don't go to plan. And Makthecat has been a case in point. We bought him at Tattersalls in Newmarket in the summer of 2020 and, for a variety of reasons, he failed to make the track for us until... yesterday. He'd had a decent flat career, winning and running well on a few occasions; but the thing we loved was his bumper run on career debut, when he was second to a horse called Ocean Wind (now rated a mighty 112 on the flat). He had a Listed bumper winner in third and loads of winners further back in the field that day.

Alas, Mak suffered an injury which kept him away from the racecourse for a good while. Yesterday, myself and a couple of the syndicate (Pete and Den) made the trip to Southwell to see him blow away some of the cobwebs. Olly had left plenty to work on so this was never intended to be his 'cup final' after such a long layoff. Very excited to be racing again, and expending plenty of nervous energy beforehand, Mak was a little clumsy at his hurdles, too. [At home, he'd schooled brilliantly, but the fixed brush hurdles at Southwell are a different obstacle altogether].

We were a little disappointed with the distance he was beaten but expected him to run fourth or fifth - he finished fifth - so it was a reasonable first step. The truth of it is that we were delighted to be back on track with him and, as he seems fine so far this morning (if a little stiff, a bit like me on Sundays after playing footy on Saturday mornings!), we'll look for a good step forward in a fortnight or three weeks' time. After that second run, he'll be two-thirds of the way to a handicap mark, we'll have had another great day at the races, and it'll be all to play for.

Sure Touch (click for form)

And so to the newest recruit, brand new in fact!

A really nicely bred horse - he's by multiple Gold Cup (Ascot) and Goodwood Cup hero, Yeats, out a Festival Plate and Topham Chase-winning mare, Liberthine, who was also fifth in the Grand National - he was owned by this year's National-winning owner, Robert Waley-Cohen, who also bred him (Liberthine raced in the Waley-Cohen colours, too).

Sure Touch has had six races to date, with form figures of 102432. He won on his debut, in a heavy ground bumper in January last year. He was then massively upped in class for the Grade 2 Aintree Bumper won by Knappers Hill, where he struggled. That race was one of the best in terms of upwardly mobile horses: the 77 subsequent runs from starters there have yielded 26 winners! Those 26 wins were shared between every single one of the 12 horses to have run since which finished in front of him.

After his summer break last year, he went hurdling and finished second and fourth over two miles. Upped to two and a half for his handicap debut, he found Fakenham too tight for him though was still beaten just a length and a half in third place having gone wide in the closing stages. Then, most recently, he was second on a softer surface and upped again, to 2m6f, at Hereford. He was again beaten a narrow margin (a length and a half) by a horse who ran a very good second next time out. The third horse from the Hereford race has won both his starts since.

Sure Touch had a wind op before his most recent start and my own research shows that, generally speaking, the benefit of wind surgery is delivered incrementally over four to six subsequent runs. So we're very much hoping there's more to come in the near future.

I say 'we' because I've agreed to syndicate half of him - Olly is keeping the other half. The syndicate is five 10% shares, and four are taken. I have one left. Sure Touch is ready to run, and everyone I've spoken to at Olly's is sweet on him - both for his demeanour in the yard but also because he might be progressive. My feeling is that perhaps his former owner, who tends to have Grade 1 and Grand National-winning horses in the main, has let him go a bit too soon. Respectfully, I certainly hope so!

Sure Touch will be running as soon as there is some rain. Knowing our climate, that will be no more than a fortnight from now 🙂

If you are interested in joining us as the fifth and final syndicateer, please do let me know - click here to email me directly.

Matt

**Exciting New Syndicate** Novice Hurdler

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As you may have read here, I was at the sales recently looking to buy a horse with flat form to go hurdling this winter. I was actually looking for a three-year-old but, with my choices either making fortunes or having one or two potential issues, the horse I've secured is a year older and, I now feel, represents excellent upside potential.

The only real implication of that is he won't be targeted at the Fred Winter or Triumph Hurdles, assuming we were good enough for that job. Instead, we have a horse with the size and scope to jump a hurdle - and maybe a fence in time - and who might just make up into a smart winter recruit without the eye-watering price tag normally associated with such prospects.

Almost Sold Out

Three shares remaining!

 

The Horse

He's called Makthecat, and was formerly trained by Karl Burke. He won a mile novice stakes at Southwell in January, and has been fairly busy since the resumption of racing. In the past three months, he's run six races, placing third twice. My feeling, and more importantly that of Olly Murphy, who will train the horse in his new career, is that he's probably got more to show over a longer trip, and perhaps (though not definitely) doesn't want to be ridden so assertively from the front either.

 

He has flat form off a rating of around 70 but, most interesting - and relevant - of all, he ran in one *excellent* bumper. On that first day in school, at Huntingdon in November last year, he finished a close second, splitting a pair of subsequent Listed bumper performers - with six lengths and more back to the other dozen runners in the race.

The winner and third - whose subsequent form you can see below - both won Listed races within two starts of the Huntingdon race; and both ran in the Champion Bumper, a notoriously difficult contest for four-year-olds, with Ocean Wind managing an impressive sixth of 23 starters. As you can also see from the image below, they were rated 130 and 118 respectively ahead of that Champion Bumper contest.

"Junior" bumpers are run over a trip shy of two miles - this one was a mile and three-quarters - so stamina has ultimately to be taken on trust. But he wasn't stopping there, and his stride/cadence metrics fit the profile of a horse that would normally stay two to two-and-a-quarter miles. I cannot categorically say he will stay but I obviously feel he will, or I wouldn't have signed for him!

His run at Huntingdon gives plenty of hope that we're right about trip and riding style, but obviously we now get to roll the dice and find out!

The Plan

Makthecat was picked up last week from Newmarket and has gone directly into a field where he'll have a short break to freshen up and acclimatise to his new surroundings.

After that, in a couple of weeks' time, he'll head to Charlie Poste's farm where he'll be schooled over barrels and poles and, in early to mid-October, he'll join the routine at Warren Chase, Olly's training base.

With a following wind, he'll be ready to run in a novice hurdle in middle or, more likely, late November. So we'll be on the track sooner rather than later, assuming no hiccups between then and now.

He looks a really nice horse with which to try to win a novice hurdle and, after that, we'll see how far he can go in his new sphere. It might be he can get competitive in conditions races; more likely we'll be running in handicaps, hopefully good and valuable ones.

The dream is always to have a horse good enough to compete at the spring festivals. Olly realised that dream for us at the first attempt with a horse called Oxford Blu, who won on debut by 20 lengths (!) and went on to run in the Fred Winter. Sadly he was badly hampered in that race but it was a day as owners we'll never forget.

Most horses are not good enough to compete at that level, and the balance of probabilities is that Mak will find his place at a lesser table (you need to be 140+ to get into most Cheltenham Festival handicap hurdles these days).

Regardless, he looks sure to give us plenty of fun through the winter, spring and beyond.

The Syndicate

I'm syndicating Makthecat into eleven shares. I've taken one myself, as always, and have sold three more. So there are seven shares available.

The cost to join the syndicate is £4,000, which covers 1/11th of the purchase costs, plus all training and racing expenses in year one, up to 31st August 2021.

Full details can be found in the syndicate agreement, which you can download here.

As a syndicate member, you will be entitled to an equal share of prize money and any sales proceeds down the line, in line with your shareholding (i.e. 1/11th). There are no charges built in for running the syndicate month to month, but I do propose to take 7.5% of the sale price, assuming the horse is sold, for my trouble. That is for another day, of course, but I want to be completely transparent about it from the outset.

Also, as a syndicate member, you'll be able to take part in yard visits to Olly's stables near Stratford-upon-Avon and will be entitled to at least one owner's badge each time our lad runs. Where there is availability, you may request a second badge but these cannot always be accommodated.

And, naturally, you'll receive updates on our horse's well-being, current work load, and the plan as it unfolds.

In essence, you'll be able to get up close to the sport you love as a racehorse owner.

What next?

I expect this syndicate will sell out quite quickly: it's a 'point and shoot' type arrangement with a fit horse from the flat who just needs a little time to re-train for his new job. He'll be ready to race in little more than two months assuming all goes well (it sometimes doesn't, so keep that in mind!), and that's more appealing to many who don't enjoy the longer road associated with, say, a store horse.

Anyway, that's a verbose way of saying that, if you're interested in potentially joining this syndicate, do please read the agreement linked to above and make sure you're comfortable with it, and then drop me an email at ma**@********co.uk

Very much looking forward to this fellow!

Matt

p.s. here's a link to Makthecat's form

New Data: Weird Experiment

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Harsh Reality

There was a big horses in training sale at Newmarket this week. Late August seems a perfect time to acquire a three-year-old off the flat with a view to going hurdling and so I set to work on a mission to find such a horse.

Sadly, though obviously not surprisingly, I was not the only one at that public auction with that intention: the place was crawling with the great and good of the bloodstock agent and training ranks all seeking the pick of the sophomores to embark on a change of subject.

The reality of racehorse syndication is that there will always be people with deeper pockets; actually that's just a reality of life which is also reflected in the microcosm of the sales ring. But, as in life, so it is the case that some smaller owners are consistently 'lucky'. They make their limited budgets stretch far beyond wealthier purchasers for all that the very top prizes are still almost always out of reach.

Getting 'Lucky'

In recent times we've been 'lucky'. Luck, as Gary Player famously once articulated, is primarily a function of effort and persistence. So I try hard to find a route in which, if not exclusive to me (there's very little new under the sun, especially where such sums of money are concerned), is generally under-utilised. And then, importantly, I rely heavily on my data-driven research being underpinned by expert conformation eyes. When the data agrees with the eyes of experts, we want to play. Naturally, so do many others.

But sometimes horses slip through the net.

We bought Coquelicot, who was at the time already a half-sister to an Ebor winner and Melbourne Cup second and by a rising star of the stallion ranks (Soldier Of Fortune), for €26,000. She was a three-time bumper winner, most recently in Listed grade, in her first season.

We bought Windswept Girl, a 13-length winner of her only start to date, for £20,000. Both are exciting mares' novice hurdle prospects for this term and, because of their pedigrees, have long-range broodmare possibilities, too. We recently bought a Kayf Tara full sister to a Grade 2 winner (and twice G1 fourth) for £22,000. She is showing early promise and has a similar blueprint at a similar price point to her pair of proven predecessors in the geegeez livery.

Previously I've bought two three-year-olds to go hurdling. Both were sourced for me, though they had a similar style: not small, recent winners on the flat, likely or certain to stay, proven on softer turf. In the world of juvenile hurdlers, where so many are either too small or can't see out the trip, that's enough to win races; at what level is the remaining question.

Of that pair, Oxford Blu won a Fakenham juvenile hurdle on his debut for us by 20 lengths before running in the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival. Swaffham Bulbeck was very consistent but didn't quite see out two miles and/or wanted softer ground than he typically got. He won twice, though, on Gold Cup day this year and last, both at Fakenham and both decent prize money. Importantly, they both gave us a lot of fun. That is pivotal when seeking a syndicate horse.

And so to Project Three-Year-Old Hurdler...

As ever, I was looking for an edge, and one thing which I think is not (yet) subsumed into this market is stride length and cadence. This is a new dataset that has emerged from the Total Performance Data sectional output. We store this data in our database but do not yet publish it. Attheraces already do publish it.

I'll not talk much about stride length and cadence because that master of matters sectional and striding, Simon Rowlands, has written some excellent introductory pieces, which are linked to from here.

The crux is that a longer stride covers more ground (duh!) and implies a bigger horse; a lower cadence (speed of stride) implies an ability to switch off - not over-race - and suggests stamina: it is very difficult to stride often and for a sustained period. Try sprinting 600 metres!

My theory, then, mindful of not having endless resources, was to find a biggish horse capable of relaxing in its races and therefore having the best chance of getting home when upped to two miles.

The Research, Part 1: What's Flat Got To Do With It?

One thing which seems fairly unclear at this stage is whether there is a correlation in National Hunt racing between stride data and performance. There may or may not be: hurdlers stride shorter and turn over their stride less frequently, due to the longer trip, the often softer ground, and the need to conserve energy to leap an octet and more of obstacles. Moreover, a greater proportion of jumps races are not run at an end-to-end gallop.

So what's the point in measuring strides?

Crucially, I was interested in the relationship between a horse's stride data on the flat and its subsequent hurdling ability. In other words, does a certain stride/cadence configuration imply a greater chance of success in the winter sphere?

Step one was fag packet research. Or, more correctly, back of an envelope research. I first looked at Class 1 and 2 UK juvenile hurdle winners.

C1/2 UK Hurdle Winner Flat Stride Lengths

C1/2 UK Hurdle Winner Flat Stride Lengths

 

I found that, for those which had raced on the flat at 10f+ (and for which stride data was available), they had generally achieved a 24ft+ peak stride length and somewhere between 2.2 and 2.3 strides per second during the flat race in question.

I then grabbed another envelope, a slightly bigger one, to review UK Class 4 and 5 juvenile hurdle winners' stride data from their previous flat careers. This is what that recycled paper looked like after I'd data vomited across it:

UK Class 4/5 juvenile hurdlers: flat race stride data

UK Class 4/5 juvenile hurdlers: flat race stride data

 

Here, I found that their cadence remained quite consistent at 2.2-2.3 strides per second; but their peak stride length was shorter. That might simply be as a result of these being smaller horses: regardless, it does seem at least a touch material.

The Research, Part 2: Projecting Forward

Mindful that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, I set to work in applying this half-cooked quackery to the upcoming - now just passed - sale. Armed with the timeform sales guide, a snip at £50 (well, if you're about to spend £30k on a horse...), the ATR striding data, and a spreadsheet, I listed every three-year-old that had achieved a TF rating of 75+, plus a couple of vaguely interesting extras.

[I eliminated some trainers from whom I would never buy because, for whatever reasons, they leave very little with which to work]

And then I added in some breeding intel, some ratings intel, and some stride intel.

Then, just for fun, I created a composite figure for each horse's official and Timeform ratings (added the two together and divided by 20).

And I created a second composite from stride length and cadence (stride length plus [[10 - cadence] x 2]) divided by five. Examples will help.

Camouflaged had an OR of 76 and a TF rating of 83. His ORTF composite, then, is (76+ 83) / 20 = 159/20 = 7.95

He had a stride length of 24.93 and a cadence of 2.21. His StrCad, then, is

(24.93 + ((10-2.21) x 2)) / 5 = (24.93 + (7.79 x 2)) / 5 = (24.93 + 15.58) / 5 = 40.51 / 5 = 8.102

Camouflaged's total was the sum of those two numbers, 16.05

 

These formulae are obviously sub-optimal. They're a stab in the dark on the basis of a tenuous going in position and, as such, they may be worthless. But this is what the embryo of progress looks like: data fertilised by an idea, loads of chucked away doodles and partially credible beginnings eventually whittled down to something which may form a basis for more robust and rigorous analysis.

To this crackpot code I added some delicious conditional formatting and it all looked a bit like this:

Then I Watched Some Races

The numbers, good or bad, will only take us so far. We must subsequently trust our peepers and our people. Eyes first.

I watched a lot of races involving the horses on my shortlist. I was looking for nods towards stamina, or horses being asked to do the wrong job, or racing with the wrong run style.

The challenge with those at the front is always whether they got outpaced or were simply not good enough. Honestly, I can't usually tell the difference. With those finishing off their races from further back, it's easy. Or at least easier.

To my spreadsheet I added some comments, which have not been sanitised below, so apologies for any offence caused:

The Sale Context

And then the sale began. I was buying this horse to be trained by Olly Murphy, and I relied heavily on his eye for conformation in conjunction with those on my list I considered more likely. That meant the most obvious horses - which would go for considerably north of my top budget - were not inspected.

The ones listed in green on my sheet were those I felt we had a chance of getting. As it turned out, they either went for plenty more or had underlying issues which meant they might be hard to train. Some will take a punt on such horses, and a subset of those punters will get lucky: consider Hilltop Racing's £2,500 purchase of Sceptical. He was a horse who hadn't stood training but managed to win a bunch of races and place in Group 1's in what turned out to be a short but illustrious career. He has since sadly perished, fatally injured while galloping.

Hilltop's modus operandi is thus - horses with great pedigrees, latent ability, but physical weaknesses - and it must be terribly attritional. That is their business, of course.

Looking for a biggish horse with a clean bill of health on a middling budget is tough. Here is my spreadie with the hammer prices and purchasers appended. I've removed some comments about physical issues observed.

What Did I Buy?

There was little of interest to me on the first two days, though I felt Far Rockaway and Chankaya might have been good. I wish their new connections luck but had reservations which precluded a bid.

The horse I liked on Tuesday made bundles - £82,000 - and might be decent. He kind of wants to be for that sum.

There was most to go at on Wednesday but, when my marker horse - Camouflaged - was knocked down for £90,000, I was resigned to the game being up.

The one that might have got away is Just The Ticket. It's possible, maybe even probable, I overrated his form a touch; and, if I didn't, his hammer price implies a potential physical issue. The agent who bought him buys for owners in the Arab states so I guess at least I'll not be frustrated to see him win the Triumph Hurdle..!

The horse we eventually bought was...

a four-year-old!

Makthecat was not what I went looking for at all; indeed he was already bought by Olly by the time I looked at his form. Almost all of his track form - a mile and a half clunk on the Southwell fibresand aside - has been at ten furlongs or less and ridden prominently or on the lead.

But... hark back to his career debut and his only run on turf beyond a mile and a quarter... where he finished second in a junior bumper... where he had a Listed bumper winner in front of him... and another one directly behind him! Six lengths back to the fourth.

Makthecat handles soft ground, looks likely to stay, and has a good size about him. He was bought for 22,000 guineas, and I am syndicating him right now. Current syndicate members get first dibs as always.

Oh, and he has a stride length and cadence 'in the zone': quite what that is worth, time will tell. I've added all the spreadsheet horses to a QT Angle so I can see how they go.

 

What About You?

This exercise took time, and it may ultimately have no nutritional value. But the process is important. Asking questions is important. Seeking candidate solutions is important. Trusting yourself to look for hints, clues, answers is important.

Some of you will not be curious, most will not trust themselves, or simply will not have time or inclination for such a project. Fair enough. But if you are curious, do trust yourself, and have both the time and the inclination to look inside the box, there are mysteries to unravel and there is value to be had, be it at the sales, in your punting, or in another walk of life entirely.

And, crucially, the process itself was great fun for me regardless of how things pan out. Life, as far as I can tell, is a series of journeys where the destination is often irrelevant.

Thanks as always for reading.

Matt

p.s. here's the new lad 🙂

Geegeez Syndicates Update

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The community here at geegeez.co.uk is one of the most considered racing fan collectives in these fair isles, something which doesn't happen by accident. We deliberately cultivate a thoughtful dynamic: I want this to be a place where people who love to engage with the cerebral side of the puzzle hang out. And I want to help racing fans to get as close to the sport as possible, in as many ways as possible.

One of the ways geegeez has facilitated that is through racehorse syndicates. You may or may not be aware that so far in 2020 our syndicates have celebrated ten victories, including one at Listed level. And that's in a year where we lost three months or so to the lockdown!

The challenges of syndication are threefold: the right trainers, the right horses, and the right co-owners.

Let's start with the trainers.

Trainers

We currently send horses to four trainers, two predominantly flat and two predominantly jumps. They are Mick Appleby and Wilf Storey on the level, and Anthony Honeyball and Olly Murphy over obstacles. These are four of the many excellent trainers in Britain.

Each operates in a very different way, each works for us with a different sort of horse, and each has given us great pleasure on and off the track.

Anthony Honeyball was the first of the four and, as well as having horses trained by him, geegeez.co.uk also sponsors his yard and his two jockeys, Rex Dingle and Ben Godfrey. We currently have two exciting mares in training with him at his base on the Dorset/Somerset border, with a third likely to follow later this summer.

Olly Murphy is a rising star of the game having raced to 223 winners (at time of writing) in a splash more than three years. He sent out his first winner, Dove Mountain, on 4th July 2017... and his first Cheltenham Festival runner was a geegeez.co.uk syndicate horse, Oxford Blu.

Training from a large estate in Wilmcote near Stratford-upon-Avon, Olly also saddled the consistent Swaffham Bulbeck to win a couple of races for us, on consecutive Gold Cup days! After the second victory, in March this year, he was claimed and we don't currently have any horses at the Warwickshire base. But we're on the look out for an exciting juvenile hurdler with which to dream of the Cheltenham Festival once again.

Wilf Storey is an unassuming trainer based in Muggleswick, County Duham, and the horses we have there are generally private syndicates. A sheep farmer mainly, Wilf has had a terrific career which includes something that neither Olly nor Anthony has achieved to date, a Cheltenham Festival winner. Great Easeby was his name, and he won the 1996 Gold Card Handicap Hurdle, now the Pertemps Final. Wilf doesn't have jumpers any more but he punches above his weight with a handful of 'cast offs' that nearly always win at a price.

Mick Appleby is the most recent addition to the team. Perennially all-weather champion trainer, we sent two syndicate horses to him last summer, both of which have won twice for us. Importantly, both ran frequently, collected a fair amount of prize money, and gave their owners plenty of good days out. One of the pair was sold last week, the other 'bought in' to re-frame that syndicate; and we'll be looking to acquire another horse to run late flat season and through the winter in the coming months.

Horses

The team of horses shared amongst those trainers varies from time to time. The biggest 'string' we had was ten and, to be honest, that was too many from an admin perspective. I run the syndicates personally and they do take a chunk of time to look after. So it'll be a smaller squad going forwards, and currently numbers five though will be rising to seven or eight by year end.

These are our current horses:

Coquelicot

A four-year-old filly by Soldier Of Fortune out of Moscow Nights, she has the same 'mum' as Heartbreak City, who won the Ebor Handicap and was a very close second in the Melbourne Cup. Another half-sister is Melburnian, currently trained  - like Heartbreak City - by Tony Martin in Ireland. She bolted up in a Premier Handicap at Leopardstown last autumn and is currently rated in the mid-80's on the flat.

Back to Coquelicot - Cookie - she was bought for €26,000 as a yearling at the 2017 Arqana Autumn sale by me (with help from Anthony, Ryan Mahon, and Ron 'Double Trigger' Huggins, as well as syndicateer Jeremy Blackburn, who was also part of that jolly boys' outing) and the plan was to find a racy dual-purpose type. A small niggle put paid to the planned backend juvenile flat spins, but the time out allowed her to develop physically and still be ready for a 'junior bumper' campaign.

That campaign, as can be seen below, was highly productive: she ran five times, following up two runners-up efforts with a spectacular hat-trick culminating in that Listed race win at Kempton. Her full form is below:

She'll go novice hurdling this season and we're excited to see how far she can progress. Once racing is done with, she'll be a valuable broodmare proposition, too; and then we'll get to cheer on her babies in years to come!

Windswept Girl

Another unraced filly, this time a 'store', we bought this now five-year-old Getaway mare privately from a field in June 2018 for £20,000. Her dam, Chicago Vic, was a hardy consistent performer with multiple black type (Listed and Graded) placings to her name.

Not flashy at home we were just hoping for a bit of promise when she made her somewhat belated debut over Taunton's sharp two mile trip. The ground was horrible that day but she seemed to relish it: after running green and gawky in the early stages, she barrelled away from her field to score by an ever-widening 13 lengths at the line. And there were we thinking she wanted three miles!

In fairness, it was probably not much of a race, but she couldn't do more than bolt up and we remain excited about her in the context of a greater stamina test.

Nearly There

We currently have two horses with Wilf, Nearly There and Somewhat Sisyphean. They are fun handicappers, a little different in type.

Nearly There was placed in a couple of bumpers before getting handicapped on the flat. He's a consistent performer who just gallops. A winner of two, most recently in March, he's been undone by a slow pace the last twice, his jockey each time being suckered into thinking he's travelling like the winner. If he's travelling like that, he's about to get outpaced off a slow early gallop!

When he has a pace to run at, such as when he won at Redcar finishing best, or when he is made plenty of use of, such as when he ground it out from the front at Newcastle in March off steady fractions, he will always be a threat at his current level. He'll be winning again soon.

Somewhat Sisyphean

This lad is proving very well-named. Having completely fluffed the start the last thrice, he's been beaten less far at the finish than he lost at the outset on each occasion. He'll win when he breaks at least moderately alertly, we hope!

As an aside, Wilf's horses are usually a price. Indeed, here's the handicap form of the horses he's trained for us:

They're collectively +26 points at SP. But who in their right mind bets at SP? 😉

Elhafei

This chap is the embodiment of racing's enigmatic appeal. A half million-plus purchase as a yearling, we acquired him for marginally less (ahem) - £20k - at the Tattersall's May sale last year.  He'd run five times for John Gosden over seven furlongs and a mile, mostly with promise, and was rated 74 when we got him.

He worked like a very good horse and we were excited about his debut at Newcastle over ten furlongs. But he ran flat, perhaps just needing his first run for 371 days. Next time he was third, a position he secured on three further consecutive starts, before breaking that sequence with a second place finish at Sandown again over ten furlongs.

Consistent, slightly frustrating, but accruing a few quid back into the kitty. What to do? Up in trip? Down in trip? His stride data suggested seven furlongs to a mile, his pedigree - Speightstown out of a staying mare - offered mixed messages. He really was proving to be a conundrum.

We decided to drop him back in trip to around a mile, at which distance he ran generally moderately though with legit excuses on a couple of occasions. Finally, out of desperation more than anything, we pushed him up to a distance beyond a mile and a half for the first time on 8th June. He fair dotted up, travelling easily and quickening away off a decent early tempo. Bingo!

Next time, over a similar trip at Wolverhampton, he bumped into one: the Wolves specialist, Gold Arch (career handicap record: 4 from 9, Wolverhampton handicap record: 4 from 4). Despite getting whacked seven lengths there, he had just shy of ten between himself and the closest of the other eight rivals, and he did miles best of those racing close to the speed.

Most recently, back at Lingfield though switched to turf and over a mile and six, he burrowed up the inside rail under Oisin Murphy to prevail in a tight finish. This was exciting not just for the manner of victory in the moment, but also because it showed his ability on turf as well as synthetic surfaces and in a steadily-run race as well as in a more truly-run affair. The fine margin of his verdict had two further benefits: firstly, his rider suggested afterwards that Lingfield's slopes were not ideal, teasing of more to come; and second, he only went up two pounds in the weights.

The moral of the story is, there is nearly always a different path to take, a different thing to try. We'll be a touch disappointed if Elhafei is not able to win again before probably heading to the October sales after which he might make a promising novice hurdler for somebody.

Owners

The final component of a good syndicate is, or are, the right owners. Racehorse ownership is not for everyone: as can be readily seen from the above, it requires patience - sometimes before a horse is ready to run (Coquelicot, Windswept Girl), sometimes to get the right setup (Nearly There), and sometimes to find 'the key' (Elhafei, Somewhat Sisyphean).

There are more disappointing and frustrating days than exhilarating ones, but they all have their place and they all contextualise and enhance the owner experience.

Owners lose money. This is a harsh and brutal reality; anyone presenting a different perspective should probably be avoided. But drinkers lose money, anglers lose money, golfers lose money, and so on. Spending leisure pounds on a leisure pursuit is a tremendous pleasure for those lucky enough to have some disposable income; and, for horseracing fans, syndicate ownership is a great way to get (relatively) affordably involved.

In my time running syndicates under the geegeez.co.uk banner, I've welcomed more than 70 people into those groups. There have been a couple (like, two) who I found a little more difficult than ideal, mainly because they didn't fully grasp the nature of the game. The rest, the vast majority, have been engaged in good times and less good times, and have taken all that comes as part and parcel of the experience. [It really is an 'experience', by the way, rough and smooth; great days out, on the track and at the yard; memorable moments aplenty, mostly but not exclusively for good].

What next?

As you may have seen from my recent emails, and from the notes above, I'm going to be active at the sales in the next couple of months. I'm looking for a store horse project, a potential juvenile hurdler, and a lad or lass to run on the flat, including through the winter. If you might be interested, you can find more information - and tell me which type of setup would be your preference - here >

Regardless of whether or not you're interested in a future syndicate, I hope you've learnt a bit about how we operate and the horses we have; and I hope you'll cheer them on when you see them running!

Matt

p.s. please don't message me asking if I fancy one. They are ALWAYS doing their best (obviously), the clues are all there in the form book regarding optimal conditions, and I've specifically teased out most of those clues in the above. Use your own skill and judgement thereafter 😉