ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (27th June – 3rd July)

Introduction

Sigrid Nansen does it once again, bolting up at Bath this time under Apprentice Cieren Fallon and defying her five pound penalty. Abroad Gendarme picked up a place and at home the surface is being laid onto the new circular gallop.

Round Up of runners

Mr Minerals got the week under way at Leicester, but it wasn’t the result we wanted. He failed to ease himself down on the quicker ground and so finished in the later midfield.

Gendarme ran next at Argentan and he ran far better than at Beverley the week before, the ground had far less cut in it and this suited him perfectly. Hannah jumped him off well to sit prominently tracking the leader and turning in held every chance. Hannah had the favourite boxed in despite much swearing (unfortunately Hannah doesn’t speak French!),  but he just wasn’t able to carry his challenge in the final furlong as the winner went four lengths clear and second to fourth finishing in a heap, us unfortunately fourth. With hindsight the Beverley run probably cost us second, but none the less we still ran a good race.

A day later at Wolverhampton, Hannah had to race it back and did in the end make it in time to ride Diamond Reflection. Unfortunately this was in vain as Diamond ran a much laboured race and so will have to investigate what went wrong. Sarosota on the other hand ran earlier on in the card and ran well. She was the first of our three Ascot purchases to debut for the yard and so there was huge anticipation. Sarasota blew us away with her run, leading well into the straight and looked to be winning easily, when all of the sudden the chasing pack were carried wide opening a humongous door for the rear dwelling Mister Music to come through and nab us near the finish. Mister Music is rated 84, 23 pounds higher than Sarasota, but was only carrying two pounds more. This gives us great hope for the future and she is for sale to stay in the yard.

Tuesday was a busy day at Chepstow with four runners and it was brilliant to get no less than 13 of you there. De Little Engine and Reshaan ran first in the six O’clock and both were told to be prominent which they both were.  Reshaan kept on well but just faded in the final furlong to be seventh whilst Engine kept on well to the line to be fourth. This race was not without controversy as the loose horse did his best to take out the winner in the final furlong, but there was just enough room for both to manoeuvre. However the star of the night was definitely Jupiter. He ran so well and looked as if he was about to take up the lead in the final furlong, however he just hung left and was then pulled left for room and ended up finishing on the far side of the track. Given he started from stall 17 this was a huge amount of ground to give away and leaves me confident for the future. Gang Warfare brought the day to a close, but a slow jump saw his race slip away and so we may look to a hurdle entry to liven him up a bit.

Hollander ran with credit at Kempton Wednesday, the first time cheek pieces seemingly working. He stayed on well to the line despite hanging slightly in the closing stages, picking up a place close to the line.

However I have very much saved the best till last, courtesy of Sigrid Nansen’s win at Bath. After her win at Brighton we were very much expecting her to follow up under a penalty and she duly obliged by a dominant 5 lengths. We were two pounds ahead of the handicapper under out penalty and I expect we will go up a chunk again for her win. We have had to be very patient with her, arriving nearly a year ago, but the rewards have come and hopefully a hat trick bid is now on.

Open Day

The team in the yard is busy hacking away at every piece of vegetation in preparation for our open day. The gallop and schooling ring are coming along nicely, as well as the flower beds having some TLC. We hope that the good weather will hold and Tom is very busy buying the Pimms for you all!

Statistical Summary

Jumps 19/20

Earnings - £14,957

Wins - 2

Top 4 finishes – 10/21 (47.62%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £123,575

Wins – 17

Top 4 finishes –69/166 (41.57%)

Year 2019

            Earnings - £166,194

            Wins - 20

            Top 4 finishes – 98/245 (40%)

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (20th – 26th June)

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (20th – 26th June)

Introduction

We did it! Back in March our progress was such that I believed we could match last year’s flat prizemoney in half the time this year, I am pleased to announce that this goal has been achieved courtesy of Sigrid Nansen’s emphatic win taking the yard over the line. At home the schooling ring is coming along nicely and I hope to have it finished by the open day, whilst not forgetting work on our new circular gallop has commenced.

Round Up of runners

Seven horses made it out this week, competing at five tracks, returning a win and a further two places.

Broke Away was the sole jumps runner of the week, yet none the less she still gave a good account of herself at Ffos Lass. It was a weird race given that four of the eight hurdles were omitted, however turning in the field was well bunched with all the front six holding chances two out. Broke Away looked as if she was going to make it through the pack, but she never quite did and came up 4 ¾ lengths short of the winner to finish fifth.

Rogue was our next runner of the week and represented something special for the yard. Rogue ran at Chantilly, yes Chantilly, and so was our first ever runner to compete in France. Rogue ran with credit jumping off to settle in just behind the leading bunch, turning in he was ridden to pick off the early leaders going head to head with the second without being able to trouble the leader. A third place on our first start in France was a great achievement and opens up further possibilities for horses come the future.

Tuesday was D-Day for the yard, with no less than four runners being sent out. Waqt went first at Beverley trying to defy his punishing eight pound handicap rise, courtesy of his Brighton win. We fitted him with a pair of cheekpieces for the first time and told Rossa to save as much ground as possible which he did and then to make headway in the later stages. Waqt did all this, but it just wasn’t quite enough and went head to head with the winner who was always just ½ a length up. However Waqt collected £1,377 for his efforts, leaving us just £1,700 short of last year’s £117,010. 

Gendarme soon picked up the baton, alas though it was not to be. The ground which had a lot of cut in it suited Waqt, but not Gendarme and so he faded in the closing stages. However seventh still collected £300, meaning we were now just £1,400 short.

Que Brighton and both Sigrid Nansen and Punkawallah were due to run in a mile three affair at Brighton. They both jumped well with Sigrid settling more prominently than Punkawallah, yet turning in Hannah was so comfortable she was able to look around for the best path through. Sigrid soon obliged so much so that when Hannah looked up at the screen they were well clear of the field and so was eased down crossing the line. Sigrid won £2,995, taking us clear of last year’s total by over £1,000 pounds with a week to spare! This was a great achievement and hopefully Sigrid can follow up at Bath in a few days’ time.

With our goal achieved it meant that the pressure was off Ventura at Kempton. She finished ninth and it was disappointing so we will reassess for future plans.

Catch us if you can

As mentioned there was a certain £117,010 that we have been chasing down, and we did it with a week to spare. Last year we ran 197 runners to get to this total, accumulating 15 winners on an eight percent strike rate. The margin of achievement this year is such that with only 156 runners we have accumulated 16 winners on a ten percent strike rate, 41 fewer runners than last year.

In light of this, this progress has been achieved for multiple reasons with no single one eclipsing another. Our new facilities have obviously helped and good staff go a long way too. The target now is to chase down £200,000 on the flat and we currently stand at £118, 652.

Statistical Summary

Jumps 19/20

Earnings - £14,957

Wins - 2

Top 4 finishes – 10/21 (47.62%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £118,652

Wins – 16

Top 4 finishes –64/157 (40.76%)

Year 2019

            Earnings - £159,830

            Wins - 19

            Top 4 finishes – 92/235 (39.15%)

Reply

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (13th – 19th June)

Introduction

A few less runners this week, but none the less we still enjoyed some success. French Mix and Argus battled it out on two well attended Saturday cards, whilst at home we have begun work on our new schooling ring.

Round Up of runners

French Mix took on the big boys in the Queen Mother's Cup at York, the first of our two Saturday runners. She jumped off well and got into a good position early on, however such was the step up in class of race that this was the fastest pace that she had ever gone. Despite this, she maintained her position throughout and turning in held every chance, yet we were found lacking for a bit of toe in the finish and was just outpaced to finish a respectable eighth of thirteen, beaten 6 lengths. It would have been amazing to win this race, since the winning jockey receives her weight in Moet Champagne, yet despite the Welch’s had an amazing day out and French Mix only went down a pound for her efforts.

Argus ran next, only a few hours later and what a run it was.  Argus was returning to the track after a 95 day break and ran to his mark staying on gamely all the way to the line, finishing a strong third. He jumped off prominently and was steadily dropped in behind, coming to the final three furlong marker he turned on the power passing rivals all the way to the line with the leader just out of reach. It was great to see Noel and his daughter at Sandown, having owned Argus now for nearly three years.

Reshaan ran much better for a return to a softer surface, finishing sixth of twelve. He was given a much better ride this time, ridden far closer to the inner, resulting in a far improved finish.

The British Lion rounded off the week at Brighton, a track that we have had much success at. He finished seventh of the eleven strong field and we are probably now going o give him a small break to bounce from.

Statistical Summary

Jumps 19/20

Earnings - £14,647

Wins - 2

Top 4 finishes – 10/20 (50%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £113,980

Wins – 15

Top 4 finishes –62/152 (40.79%)

Year 2019

            Earnings - £152,240

            Wins - 18

            Top 4 finishes – 89/228 (39.04%)

ALEX DUNN RACING WEEKLY REPORT (6th– 12th June)

Introduction

It appears that we are in the midst of a wash out, but this has not halted the results by any means. We sent out three winners in three days, built a new car park and have finished the foundations for our new schooling circuit. Therefore it would appear that progress is the name of the game this week.

Round Up of runners

Some 13 runners were sent out this week, accumulating two wins on the flat and a further win over fences, but not forgetting three other places as well.

Thursday was a busy day with no less than four runners across three tracks. Punkawallah ran first and was given a strong ride, with ultimately the trip finding him out to finish tenth of fifteen. Tsundoku ran next and what a run it was. She raced keenly the whole way, settling on the inner to take up the pace on the last bend where she kept on strongly despite leaning towards the chase track and ridden out to win by Charlie. This was her third run of the season over hurdles coming second, second, first and it was great to be there with Dave Arthur.

Rogue was the third to run, but could not follow up on Tsundokus success. He ran well for the majority of the way, but was caught wide. He began to falter coming to the last furlong and ultimately weakened close to the line to finish sixth of eight. One of my favourites Guaracha, closed the day at Chelmsford to finish fifth. He ran well for most of the way, but like rogue wasn’t able to maintain his run to the line.

Friday was a day of torture for me, knowing we had four good chances going to post. Minella Voucher, looked obvious to follow up on his previous success at Market Rasen and for most of the way it looked as if this was going to be the case. Jumping well and travelling with ease, he moved up to take closer order coming into the last bend, when just as I was wondering when he would make his challenge he hit the deck, slipping up on the wet bend. I am happy to report that he did indeed get up and is back home now with no obvious injuries, though we are going to be extremely careful. Speaking to the jockey he believes the horse did not clip heels, but in fact hit a patch of false ground. Thankfully Waqt did not see what happened at Market Rasen and delivered a great win at Brighton. It was an odd race due to the atrocious downpours and so the entire field, bar for Waqt went wide on the apparent better ground. Waqt took full advantage of this, taking up the lead from two furlongs out on the inner to win by 4 ½ lengths. When taking this all into account, I cannot believe that the handicapper has put Waqt up by eight pounds, five would be fair enough, but eight in a race that fell apart is cruel indeed. The as mentioned conditions caught out De Little Engine, who simply put hated the conditions. He finished eighth of nine, but this was only by 6 ¾ lengths which the handicapper recognised by not dropping him. French Mix closed the curtain on Friday at Goodwood, finishing a creditable third. This was her first run since a small lay off and so we knew a few cobwebs would need to be blown out, none the less coming third was an excellent benchmarker. She was giving the winner 21 pounds and the second 13 pounds, only getting beaten four lengths, thus showing that this was in fact a great run.

Saturday saw a return to Chepstow with two runners starting at the track. Sigrid Nansen was the first of the two to start, and was miles quicker jumping out of the stalls. She led for most of the way, just getting headed by the front two from three furlongs out and headed from a furlong out for third to finish fourth of twelve. Gendarme was able to go even better, tracking the leaders like a hawk, pouncing two furlongs out to be ridden clear and eased down across the line to give us another winner. We had pulled Gendarme back in trip from twelve furlongs to ten furlongs, and so this gives us lots more options going into the future.

No runners on Sunday sadly, but we did have one on Monday. We have played around with Foxy Lass a fair bit and you will have noticed that John was leading her around at the start. These new tactics have worked a treat for her and saw Foxy jump off at the front, leading for the majority of the race. The well in Hurricane Rita soon ran us down along the back straight, but Foxy fought hard with the other leading three horses to battle on for fourth place across the line.

We sent two runners out on Tuesday, the first being Reshaan to Lingfield. Reshaan was found out by the firm going at Lingfield, due to the course receiving 45mm of rain in the 24 hours prior to racing which hardens the sand. This combined with a wide draw made it very difficult for Reshaan to compete. Panatos however went on an expedition to Carlisle, but the expedition ultimately proved to be in vain as he finished fifth of fifteen. He broke very well from the stalls, but he settled in behind a horse that struggled early in the race and saw us lose ground. It didn’t cost us the win, but a third place finish could be argued.

Next Week

Both Newton Abott and Haydock look to vulnerable to waterlogging and it would not surprise me if these and other cards were abandoned. All being well Regulator is declared for Chepstow Thursday and French Mix heads off to York Festival on Saturday. We have a further two declarations at Bath and another at Sandown. Looking into next week we will have a spread of entries at Brighton, but the rain will influence a lot of our runners next week.

Statistical Summary

Jumps 19/20

Earnings - £14,647

Wins - 2

Top 4 finishes – 10/20 (50%)

Flat 19

Earnings - £112,418

Wins – 15

Top 4 finishes – 61/148 (41.22%)

Year 2019

            Earnings - £150,678

            Wins - 18

            Top 4 finishes – 88/224 (39.29%)

Gendarme  

Another of Gendarme 

Tsundoku  

Waqt

Sigrid Nansen