I just watched Come On Jazz - thought you might be able to steal it then it ran out of stamina and fell. Thankfully our horses never get hurt - it was a heavy fall.

Just one winner today for me

The Roofs On Fire won the Ascot Novices Maiden Chase well by over 4 lengths

congratulations to the winners and placers

thanks to the team

great comms as always

The handicaps have arrived and the places for me have as well!

Also had 2 make the money in NH listed races this week so far.

Roll on tomorrow and week 3 for more handicaps

Excellent start to the season guys, the league has never been better

Flat
R11 Identity - Had a lot of weight and trip was on the sharp side. Ran ok and hopeful of much better when he steps up in trip. Most likely target at this stage is the Cambridgeshire.
R14 Roman Holiday - Didn't run too bad but clearly not up to this level and will now switch to mile h'caps.
R16 Golden Shot - Ran much better than on debut tho could hardly have run any worse.
R17 Perseus - Hoped for a better run than that. Could be conditions didn't suit or more likely he's just not very good.
R18 Young Generation - 2 runs and 2 really woeful efforts.
R19 Crush - Ran as expected and faded out of contention last furlong.
R20 Secret Agent - Simply isn't good enough to compete at level weights and current rating looks too high for him to have any chance in h'caps. Retirement beckons.

Jumps
R12 Fairy King - A decent chaser up to 2m4f but he is completely useless over hurdles.
R13 Grey Skies - Abysmal effort. Should have run Bang Bang instead.
R14 Rocky Creek - Great run, jumped well and qualified for the MM Final. Job done.
R20 Daylight Robbery - Ran a shocker after such a promising debut.

King Kong, Ramses and Billy The Kid all failed to negotiate the fences.

All in all a bad day at the office for me.
Great job from our commentators and well done all winners and placers.

Jumps only
Monday got my first winner Tony Sams in race 2
Race 7 Loch Dark ran good 5th and will win a race or 2

Tuesday no winner
but some very good runners
R12 Festival Empress good 3rd and some very slow jumps
R13 Sea Salt Ii good 2nd at 3m5 ,,, will be better over another 2 furlongs
R14 Applaude jockey went for home 5f out bad ride plus a bit too far but good 5th
R17 Brokethegate Garanciere ran very good 3rd one of my fav in stable
R19 Prize Much fell .. i know this one will run many good races

Great comms
well done all trainers
Del

FLAT

Race 11, Morbid Curiosity, was a long way behind with a furlong to go but finished strongly for 2nd place, just beatoen by a short-head.
Race 13, Elbourne Girl, was never really in the race and finished 8th. A listed race was probably too high a level for her.
Race 17, Highland Croft, ran a nice race to finish 2nd.
Race 18, Grizzled Warrior, finished 6th in a maiden. Handicap races beckon, but may be too heavilly weighted too be a good handicapper.
Race 20, Allstar Hero, finished 13th, definately out of his class in this race. More handicaps beckon.


JUMPS

Another nice day for my shorter race horses, but my 3m+ horses stink.

Race 12, Quiet Man, won first time out so had high hopes for him. Finished 4th, but a good distance behind winner. I think either the horse or the jockey were drunk as the horse wandered all over the track. With 2f to go he was well placed and then in the space of 100yrds he was on the inside, then the outside, back to the inside and finally back to the outside.
Races 13 & 14, the Moores Millions, my horses were very poor, one pulled up and one fell early on. When you look at my horses green bars they look great, but my horses are just not competetive.
Race 15, Juniper Maid, finished 1st in NH Flat race. She hit the front with 3f to go and ran on strongly.
Race 16, Highstepping Girl, ran a strong race to finish 3rd. The race was probably a furlong too short for her. Might be more to come.
Race 17, Death Star, first outing of the season and finished 5th, but a very long way behind Pauls horse who looked impressive.
Race 20, another distance race, another disapointment, with Mileport Lad running well out of his class, finishing 14th.


Great comms as usual. Well done to all those who took part.


Finally, I must apologise for the ending of Race 17 on the flat, the Mercedes Benz Handicap. I must have got excited because my horse was in contention and pressed the wrong button.

Note to self, "Do better in the Future".

Another sold day for my flat horses.

Bluffing 1st, just a out and out stayer. Will run in all the good 2m2 furlong races.
Tedburrow 3rd another solid run but not good enough to beat the best.
Persian Heights 2nd, hopefully will run well in the 2000 next week.
Snurge 1st, named after one of my fav horses and the St.Leger is the big target.

Another very good day for my jumpers.

My Princess Laura 1st, probably the most impressive winner I've ever had. Shame about the name.
Polishing 1st, a real good 4yo hurdler who won well.
Last House fell, not far behind my best chaser Present Abbey.
Karrelo Bay 2nd, travelled on the bridle but the distance was to far. Back to 2 miles for her.
Run to Lauras Hill 0, ran a shocker but should have a good mark in H'caps now.
Present Abbey 1st, the best chaser I've ever bred on So6. I love her to bits.
Loving Around 2nd, not sure what the jock was doing in the last furlong. A lovely front runner.

Last season was my first to run races and sometimes I done the same, u watch u horse and forget about every other horse. U learn to watch the whole race by the end of the season.

After week 1's washout i actually have some positives for this week!

First the negatives...
Crockadore fell early and Peripheral Vision and Justonefortheroad were both no shows in the moores millions. Latter two just not good enough.

Dubai Prince ran a screamer for a long way and his finishing position doesn't do him justice. There's definitely a handicap in him over 3 miles.

First Benjal was having his first run over 4 miles and he surprised the hell out of me. Probably just ran out of puff in the last quarter of a mile. He'll be aimed at the lower rated marathon handicaps.

While Blue Bajan didn't set the world alight he actually put up an encouraging run for a long way. Not up to the standard to be competitive off level weights, but might just find a handicap down the road.

Suffice to say my runners will be predominantly aimed at the handicaps for those on the lower end of the rating scale!

last week i got a 2nd this week a 3rd and a shed load of front runners that run out of steam - i dont remember telling them to race handy lol - i wont give up, but Last Ben is already my first nominee for eviction after a fall and a refusal will have to hunt for some stamina filled back up mules.

thank you everyone for another very entertaining week, now for 4 days of boredom

The Doug Warren Racing Stables say "Bring on the low rated handicaps!"

My observation so far is that I think the over all standard of horse this new season is much higher than last season.
The top trainers are still at the top but there is a much larger mid to upper training group/pool this season.
I think the discussion that has started about races to accommodate these trainers is timely.

FLAT

Big surprise for me today in Race 25, the Whitney Stud Maiden over 1m 6f. Prime Number made all the running and finished 1st. When he hit he front in the first furlong, I thought he would fade badly in last couple of furlongs, but he stayed on for the whole race at an even pace. The rest of the horses in the field were hold-up horses and none of them really made any kind of significant move during the race. I am delighted with the win, but like all my flat horses, they were aimed at mid-level handicaps and now Prime Number will be too well handicapped to do anything for the rest of the season.

The rest of my flat runners today finished well down the field.


JUMPS

Another good day for my stable.

Race 21, Pinnacle Boy, got the day of to a great start by comming 1st in the Thunderspark Maiden.
Race 23, Scarface Lad, finished 5th in the 3m 1f Stratford Beginners Novice race. At last a successfull ride by one of my longer distance horses.
Race 24, Deathbringer Maid, finished 5th in the Only Fools & Horses race. A couple of nice steady runs for her in the early weeks with a 3rd and a 5th.
Race 26, Enemy Below, finished 4th in the Ballybrit Novice Chase. Before the season started, he was one of the horses in my stable who I thought would do well, but he had a disastrous race in week 1 and was on his last chance to perform. After todays race, he will get another outing.
Race 32, Banterbury Maid, finished 4th in the Starters Orders 6 Qualifier. Now that she has qualified for the final in week 13, I don't know whether I should save her for the final or give her more races.

The rest of my jumps horses either fell or finished well down the field.


Overall, a very nice week 2 to the season.

Flat - 1 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 1 x 5th

Jumps - 4 x 1st, 3 x 3rd, 4 x 4th, 3 x 5th


Congrats to all who took part and brilliant comms to enhance the race experience.

Would love to say something nice about one of my horses, but sadly there is nothing to say

Well done to all winners, placers & those at the back.

The improvement of trainers since I played back in season 1 is phenomenal especially in the NH.

But a big up for all the guys hard work, from comms. to handicapping, thanks for all the effort put in.

Based on the way the first two days went, I figured day three would pan out like this, much disaapointment. I think I now face the somewhat frustrating prospect of having a group of horses who are just not quite there for the graded races (least on the jumps as my flat team are rubbish) but too good to be favourably handicapped. Going to be a grumpy season

Flat:

Storm Rising - Stayed on one paced, nothing much to like. 9th

The Prisoner - Made a promising push at 3f out, then flatlinned and never challenged. 8th

Love Nor Money - So nearly gave me my first ever flat league winner, closed really nicely over the last 2/3f to just be pipped on the line, shock and disaapointment in equal measure. 2nd

Need for Speed - Showed a little promise last week for a 2nd. Usual service resumed today, mid pack never featured. 10th

Hugh Jengine - Ran on well enough after being held at the back. 7th



Jump:

The Stunner - Ran in the trailing group as is her preference, but left all to do and it was over before the jockey got to work. 7th Disappointing.

Disposing Quiz - I would have said my best two mile hurdler, beats Dominion of Saints in trials frequently, but yet to get going here, always in contention never looked like winning. 4th

The Mentalist - Not wearing my usual silks, jumped well enough and put himself in the frame at the 5f mark, but never able to close. 7th

Affairs of State - Really looked like she would win this, awful last two jumps made it hard for herself, and then never given room by the jockey. Line came too soon. 3rd Very disappointed.

Indian Summer - Hated the ground and was never able to quicken in it, eased by the Jockey at the end, fecking muppet. 7th

Emergence - Not really gotten going this league, looked ok until a horrible jump at the 6th. Fell

Dominion of Saints - What the Jockey was doing here is anyones guess through the horse looked skitish. Ran at the back, then charged to the front, then back to the back, by the time he realsied he was in a race it was all over never able to make up the ground. 4th Disappointed and a smidgen pissed off............

The Estate - Held up as he should have been and moved up steadily from 9f, took it up at 6f, looks like he eased a little to give Misbeat some daylight and then could not really stay with. 3rd Disappointed again............

Casual Mist - Ran midfield and stayed there. 7th

Gloria Slap - Showed a little more form than last time out, but not a great deal to like though she stayed well in the closing stages. 4th.

Rabbling Rebel - Just not very good this one, ran in the back group, little late headway but more to do than ability available. 8th

The Ghost - Benefited from a small and weak field. Made some horrible jumping errors before flying over the last and running onto 3rd. Was always outpaced.

........I should have been a farmer.............