Horses in Training

“Greg” joined us in September 2020 and is a strapping 4 year old with a real presence. His dam is unraced but his breeding includes both speed and stamina as her full sister, Tawaag, and her half-sister, Ascendancy, were both multiple winners on the flat and over jumps and another of her half-siblings, Nicholas Copernicus, won several times over 1 mile 4 furlongs for Ed Walker. Greg’s only two runs to date have been disappointing but they can be excused on the grounds that he has needed time to fill his large frame and to strengthen up. He has spent the last few months in his paddock, growing up and enjoying the Summer. He is now coming back into work and we shall look forward to watching him develop.

“Angel” is Silver Lily’s third foal. We used to train Silver Lily and she won 4 hurdle races for us and had a great fighting spirit. Angel’s sire, Nayef was top class winner at one mile to one and a half miles and was half brother to the great Nashwan. Angel is a lovely filly with an impressive frame and shares her dam’s lovely attitude. We backed her this Summer, with lots of long-reining and lunging before she was ridden away and she took to it all very well. She has now been given a break but will come back into work in the Spring. We are looking forward to continuing her education.

“Benny” is a big, good looking 3 year old son of Jet Away, a Juddmonte stallion who was a multiple winner over 1 mile – 1 mile 2 furlongs. Benny’s dam was a multiple winner on the flat (both on turf and on the all-weather) and also won over hurdles and she is a half-sister to Pragmatist, a triple 6-7 furlong winner at 3 and 4 years old and to Shy who won several times over 1 mile 4 furlongs on the turf. Benny had been lightly backed and then turned away when he joined us and has continued his education this Spring. In view of his breeding and his conformation, we are very much looking forward to seeing him on the racecourse this Autumn.

“Brecon” is a very exciting member of the team. He is only six but has won two bumpers (one under a penalty) and has had an excellent novice hurdling season, winning twice and being placed in others, including in the valuable Dovecote at Kempton. He was second, only beaten four lengths by Brewinupastorm at Huntingdon when conceding six pounds to the winner and beat several other top novice hurdlers of the season. He finished his season at Aintree but didn’t achieve a fairy-tale ending as the unexpectedly rain-soaked ground didn’t suit him at all. As he was bought as a chaser in the making, his very successful novice hurdle campaign was a real bonus. He is now taking a break but will return in the autumn, possibly running in one or more handicap hurdles before switching to novice chasing. We are very much looking forward to running him again.

“TJ” is the first foal of Silver Lily who we used to train and who won 4 hurdle races for us and who had a great fighting spirit. His sire, Mawatheeq, is a young stallion by Danzig and part of the Nashwan family. He won several races, including the class 1 Cumberland Lodge Stakes over 1 1/2 miles at Ascot, and he has produced a good crop of winners already. TJ has now had two runs for experience, a bumper and a maiden hurdle. He is showing a good attitude and should win races once handicapping.

Homebred by us, “Cinders” is Call at Midnight’s first foal. Call at Midnight won her bumper, two hurdles and a chase and is full sister to both Call Me A Legend and Call Me A Star and so there is plenty of black type in the family. Cinders’ sire, Pether’s Moon, won the Coronation Cup over 1 mile 4 furlongs at Epsom and is an up and coming NH sire. Cinders has been backed and ridden away and shows a very competitive temperament, just like her mother. She should be on the racecourse soon.

Dreamboat Dave is a compact powerpack with a great attitude. He was bought for The Old Eatonians out of top Irish flat trainer, Ger Lyons’ yard in County Meath, following our Irish expedition at the end of April when William rode several lots for Ger, including this one. The horse has been placed in all five of his latest runs, over trips from 1 mile up to just over 1 mile 2 furlongs. He has shown a great attitude in his races and has settled into our yard brilliantly. He will continue to run in flat races over the summer and may well then go novice hurdling.

Gold is a 9 year old son of Passing Glance. He has joined us from Tim Vaughan’s yard and runs for our racing club, Yen Hall Farm Racing, winning on his debut for the yard (and for the Club) on 9 September at Uttoxeter. He is nicely bred, his grandmother being a full sister to Lord Windermere, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2014, and a half-sister to Sub Lieutenant. He is versatile in trip and ground and will run over both hurdles and fences and so will give club members lots of opportunities and fun.

Graineyhill is a 4 time winning 9 year old gelding by Craigsteel who has joined us from Gordon Elliott’s yard. With a highly commendable career record of 4 wins and seven places and having proved himself over distances ranging from 2 – 3 miles and on going varying from good to heavy, he is a very exciting addition to the Yen Hall Farm Racing club. He is more than capable of winning from both his hurdle and chase marks and will give a lot of fun and excellent days out to club members.

“Roobee” joined us this Summer. He is a strongly built chasing type who started his career with an impressive win in a bumper at Plumpton in December 2017. On the day, he was sent off at 28-1 and beat some well-fancied rivals. His progression to hurdling was then sadly interrupted by an injury. However, he has been given plenty of time to recover and, since joining our year, is now back in work and, the more he does, the better he looks. I am looking forward to seeing him back at the racecourse before long. By a complete coincidence, Roobee’s dam, Sharp Action, was bred by us out of one of our point to point horses, Straight Touch.

“Sean” is a gorgeous, strapping, 5 year old who ran in a bumper for experience just before the pandemic shutdown of racing.

He jumps and moves brilliantly and has a real touch of class. Although a relatively new sire, Getaway has been making a very good name for himself with excellent progeny including Verdana Blue, Talkischeap and Getaway Trump and others rated well over 140. We bought him privately on a recent expedition to Ireland. He has been well backed and schooled and has had a short holiday as we didn’t want to risk him on Summer ground. He is a very exciting prospect as a hurdler before ultimately going chasing. He is precocious and tough and a very exciting top class prospect. FOR SALE – 50% share £35,000 + vat; 10% and 25% shares also available. VAT recoverable.

Carlos came to us as an unbacked colt and, having been gelded, is going to start his career on the flat before hopefully going hurdling. He has a wonderful temperament and takes everything in his stride. His sire was a top class group winner, winning in Britain, Ireland and France, generally over 1 mile 2 furlongs and his dam is half-sister to multiple winner, Demolition, who won 9 times on turf at up to 1 mile 4 furlongs. Carlos is coming back into work and will run in the colours of Yen Hall Farm Racing.

“Warrior”, who is unraced, is a strong, traditional chasing sort with excellent paces and a real stamp of class. He is well-bred, and his unraced dam came from a prolific winning family. His elder sister, Clondaw Caitlin (2015) has won 4 of her 5 starts and is already rated 135 over hurdles. He is a very exciting prospect and is currently for sale.

“Pumpkin” is Call At Midnight’s second foal. She is a lovely stamp of yearling and could be very special. Clovis Du Berlais was a smart hurdler and chaser in France and half-brother to the high class Caid Du Berlais. Pumpkin is among his first crop of foals. Call At Midnight won her bumper, two hurdles and a chase and is full sister to both Call Me A Legend and Call Me A Star and so there is plenty of black type in the family. She has been lightly backed and long-reined around the farm and will now be turned away to mature further.

“Rum” was bought as a 4 year old store. He has taken to his work very well and is an exciting prospect. He was placed in his only run to date, a point to point bumper, which he ran for experience and was very green but learnt a good deal. His dam won a bumper and over hurdles and another of her progeny, Ballymoy, won four races in a row for Nigel Twiston-Davies in 2018, including the valuable Novice Championship Final at Sandown. He has subsequently won two more races including a class 1 hurdle at Ascot in 2019 and is now rated 152. Rum’s dam is half-sister to Invictus who was a prolific winner for Alan King and had a handicap of 150 over fences. Rum is a natural jumper and has the scope to jump both hurdles and fences. He will start off novice hurdling and is a lovely horse that we have always regarded very highly and he should have a very bright future.  25% share still available. VAT recoverable.

“Magic” has a lovely big frame and has already won five races, including a 4 year old point to point in Ireland, a bumper, three hurdle races and a chase. We bought him for The Friday Lunch Club at the Grech and Parkin dispersal sale at Doncaster in May. He has had a very busy season and needs a break. We believe that he will benefit from more individual attention in a smaller yard and seems to be loving his holiday out in the field with Brecon, The Happy Chappy and Irish Sovereign. He will continue his holiday until later in the Summer and will then return to work with a view to running in the Autumn.

The Happy Chappy is a lovely, big athletic gelding with enormous scope. He won both his maiden and restricted point to points in the spring of 2016 before moving to Paul Nicholls. On his first run for us he was third by 2 lengths to Step Back who is now rated 144 over fences. Chappy then won a staying hurdle race at Huntingdon in May 2017. After a summer break, he was a very good second in a beginners’ chase at Worcester on 17 October and then won with a superb round of jumping in a 3 mile 2 furlong novice chase at Sedgefield on 2 November and followed that up with a win in the feature race, a 3 mile 1 1/2 furlong race at Ludlow on 16 November. As the Racing Post commented, “he is an exciting young chaser”. After a disappointing time in 2018, he was second in the Cambridgeshire National at Huntingdon in March 2019 and followed that up with another placed result at Fontwell. We are looking forward to seeing him run again early this autumn.

Whitton is an unraced four year old son of Yeats (a leading NH sire and an exceptional stayer who won the Ascot Gold Cup 4 times) out of Hazel Mist, whose only other runner to date is Our Rockstar who has won twice and been placed over hurdles. Whitton is a strong gelding who moves really well and is showing a good deal of promise. We plan to run him in a bumper or two this Autumn before progressing to novice hurdling.