Not the busiest of months racing wise but some good runs amongst those that did have a go.
Hashtag Boum got the month off to a good start with a well deserved win on her second attempt at 3m. Given a good ride by Henry Brooke she showed a typically game attitude to prevail. Her jumping was not as slick as normal and we plan to school her over fences to remind her to respect her obstacles.
Lavida Adiva put up another good performance at Market Rasen stepping back up in trip again. I also had her dropped in to see how she settled and to see how she picked up at the end of the race. She ran a little in snatches and stayed going without picking up at the end. Diva is qualified for the Go North Herring Queen novices final at Kelso in April and that may be an option for her.
Roebuck Bay ran another solid race despite being beaten further than I had hoped. She lost a shoe and didn’t love the tacky ground. Having been placed in two out of three of her bumpers she will now switch to hurdles.
Swedish Icon confirmed what we had suspected – he has absolutely no interest in being a racehorse. He has headed off to a new home with my vet. He will be based on a livery yard and will do pleasure rides this summer before trying his hand at hunting.
Sounds Russian made his belated seasonal debut at Haydock. Reverting to hurdles he ably demonstrated why I was quick to put him over fences! To be fair to him I believe he would have travelled and jumped better on either softer or quicker ground rather than the tacky ground he encountered. I have no immediate plans for him however he will stay over hurdles for the remainder of the season.
Miss Controversia finished a well beaten fourth on just her second start over hurdles. Her jumping tends to improve as the race progresses and she should improve for racing as she is still rather green.