Elmley Lovett on a windswept walk back from the gallops
AYR is one of the courses to beat the weather this week so we’re heading north with two runners. LIMERICK LEADER (2.00) takes his place in the two-and-a-half mile hurdle alongside plenty of others, since it’s a qualifier for the Go North Series final at Kelso later this month.
He promised a lot last season but this year he’s underachieved compared to what we expected him to be. His last run was poor, over fences at Musselburgh, so we’re hoping the switch back to hurdles will reinvigorate him. He’s a lovely-looking horse who goes well at home, so he’s not one we’re giving up hope on.
His mark is an attractive one so if he runs well enough here to get qualified, his course form at Kelso - he won a novice hurdle there 12 months ago - would give us encouragement. He was placed in the autumn so hopefully that version of him turns up today!
We then run a lovely homebred mare called ELMLEY LOVETT (4.20) for a new owner in the yard Mike Creed. She spent her early years in Ireland and is a nice, big six-year-old mare. She is a big girl so I think the fact she’s been so patiently handled will be a good thing for her. She looks like a chaser in the making.
She has done everything we’ve asked of her well at home but it’s on the track you really find out about new horses. There are a few nice mares in the race today so what we really want to see is her seeing out her race well and offering up plenty of hope for the future.
All going well, I would imagine the plan with her would be to get two or three runs into her then have a break over the summer before coming back to see what she can do next season.
We will also be involved at Ayr on Saturday, with ROCKONSOPH (2.10) taking her place in a good mares’ hurdle. We have put a tongue tie on her because she just hasn’t been finishing off her races well so hopefully that helps her see it out better.
I think the track will suit her and the ground will be ideal. She’s a mare we thought a bit of after she won her point but she’s got something to prove now but there’s definitely decent ability in there.
CAPTAIN QUINT (2.45) has been running well this season and a decent run here will qualify him for the Go North Monet’s Garden final at Carlisle at the end of the month. He’s run well there in the past, finishing second last time a few weeks ago, and the form of that race has been franked with the winner going in again next time too.
Two-and-a-half miles around there in the final is a very good target for him so we’re looking for a good run here to set him up perfectly for that.
We’ve not had a winner for a while now and have had a few frustrating seconds, but it’s been a quiet couple of months for the yards runners-wise. But we could really do with getting one over the line so hopefully one of our four this weekend can do the business!