Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In July

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In July: Spring Cleaning and Breaking Babies – July Begins!

Susan Corbett heads the table 6 months in

Apache Angel kicked off the week with a much-improved run, which was encouraging, though we've still got some way to go with him. He's heading for his next race with a bit more confidence under his belt, at least!

The rest of the week? Well, we've mainly been spring cleaning and breaking in young horses. 'Paco,' a gorgeous two-year-old by Outstrip, has been an absolute delight and is now trotting around the arena like he's been doing it for years.

The two Nelson Racing fillies – one by Frontiersman and one by Schiaparelli, both out of our winning mare Ebony Rose – have started their education with lunging and long reining. They're taking to it beautifully.

Monday brings the last youngster to break in this summer – the just-arrived 'Dolly,' out of Dolly Hall (rated 116) by Champion Stayer in France, Ice Breeze. She's from the same stud in Ireland as Pinot Rouge, and she's for sale to stay on the yard if anyone's interested.

'Paco' 2 year old by Outstrip – newly broken

Our new boy, Jimlis Island, has joined the Girsonfield Racing Club, and the staff absolutely love him. He's got this huge length of stride and he's just a lovely big horse to work with. His stable mate from the same yard, See a Stride, is having her break with us too.

She was sold for £47,000 after winning a point-to-point, then had an injury, and now we've got her. I have two young members of staff on the yard who are determined to be jockeys, so she may well turn into their teacher!

The foals had a terrible week – vaccinations and feet trimmed! They were not impressed, let me tell you. I'm starting a small breeding syndicate for Bahrikate, whose three-year-old will be in work soon. It'll include Bahrikate and her filly foal by Kingston Hill – it's a four-year plan. If you're interested, please ask for details. I need two people to make it work.

We're incredibly lucky to have world-renowned equine artist Jay Boyd Kirkman coming to the yard to practise his techniques. He is simply amazing – he created that beautiful pastel of Samwise in under two hours! He also does commissions if anyone's interested.

Sunset Hill by Jay Kirkman

Now it's countdown time to bringing the horses back from the fields to start their proper training. We'll be training 30 horses this season, and I'm really looking forward to showing them all off at our Open Day on 4th August at 2pm.

No racing this week, but it was lovely to see the yard at the top of the Hexham trainers' league. Let's hope we stay there over the next five meetings!

The Open Day Countdown and Breaking Drama!

First of all, the Owners Open Day is fast approaching, and we've got a real live auctioneer coming to help with the charity auction – Jack Walton! Some brilliant items are already lined up, plus the framed jockey breeches from the Dante, 2000 Guineas, Cheltenham, and the Derby (massive thanks to Les Waugh for those!).

We also have a stunning print donated by equine artist and friend of the yard, Jay Kirkman, and a Middlesbrough shirt signed by the 23/24 players (not framed yet). Full list coming next week!

If you want to bid but can't make the day, please email or text me your bid – it's all for brilliant causes: cancer charities and Graham Lee's Injured Jockeys Fund. Please RSVP this week if you haven't already – 4th August at 2pm!

This week we've been breaking horses and had our first mishap when a young Irish filly decided to erupt! Luckily, no one was hurt (much!). We've been spoilt, really, as the other three breakers have taken to the job brilliantly. This is the last week for most horses to be out at grass, apart from the ones that have just gone out for different reasons.

Theatre Light and the girls

Jimlis Island, bought by the Girsonfield Racing Club, is losing his 'plumpness' and starting to work much better. We're hoping to get the haylage in over the next two weeks, so please, no rain dances!

Staff are taking their holidays while Jamie continues to make improvements to the yard – it's never-ending with the circle and the gallops needing upgrades.

More Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In July

Rogers Dream was on her way to Redcar today for her third race to get a handicap mark. I'm hoping she's improved from her last two runs and will be properly competitive once she's in her grade.

Next week we've got Infinite Honour at Chester over a mile and four furlongs. Having won his last start, we're hoping he takes to Chester's quirky track. That race has turned out to be a good yardstick, with both the second and third winning since. Our next jumps runner will be Jimlis Island – probably at Perth on the 17th August.

Rogers Dream (aka Harriet to those who know her well!) did brilliantly to finish fifth at Redcar despite her 100/1 tag. She'll get her handicap mark on Tuesday, and we should start seeing some proper results when she's racing in her grade.

The Calm Before the Storm!

It's been another busy week for our 'Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In July', despite being the 'calm before the storm.' We're backing the last of our young horses this week – 'Freddie,' a three-year-old out of our winning mare Bahrikate by Frontiersman.

Jamie has broken most of the youngsters this summer with Amanda's assistance, and Freddie will get ridden away this week. He's staying in training as he's a very mature three-year-old.

This season should see both the filly Hope & Promise and Freddie starting their careers as the first graduates from the Girsonfield 'stud division.' How exciting is that?

Saturday saw us head to Chester with Infinite Honour, who didn't disgrace himself with a fourth-place finish on that quirky track against older horses. He'll improve from that, and we should come down in the handicap as a result.

And so the summer break is finished for most of our horses – they're coming in tomorrow for what I think is the very best stage of the year. They'll be in full training but turned out for the rest of the day – best of both worlds for their health and happiness.

Beyond The Verge with Amanda

The hay was cut and baled on Friday, giving us excellent forage for the winter and a good field for the horses to graze overnight. Today the rest of the three fields were cut, and hopefully, we'll have a good week to get it all baled and wrapped.

Redmills test our haylage every year to check its quality, hygiene, and the content percentage of protein, water, etc. This means we know exactly how much hard feed each horse needs based on the quality of the forage – which we feed ad lib to emulate the horses' natural grazing culture.

Horses in, yard disinfected, roofs fixed, new areas created to keep everything tidy – bring on the next season!

Rogers Dream goes to Redcar

This week:

• 2nd August – Apache Angel tries seven furlongs at Musselburgh, down to his last chances for the Race4Fun Group
• 2nd August – Rose arrives from Ireland to help create our Open Day magic
• 4th August at 2pm – Parade of horses, auction and raffle for charities, tea! And then the season truly begins...

But here's the thing that's really got me buzzing with anticipation – one of the horses we've been working with this summer has shown something in his homework that's made everyone stop and take notice.

I'm not one to get carried away, but if he reproduces even half of what we're seeing at home when he gets to the track... well, let's just say you'll all want to be following this one very closely indeed!

Susan email:girsonfield@outlook.comTel: 7713651215

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In June

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Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In April

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In March

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In February

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In January