LARKINGLASS RACING
RACEHORSE TRAINING - STUD - REST & RECUPERATION
TRAINER - NEIL MULHOLLAND
CLICK HERE FOR NEIL AND BECKY'S WEDDING & BBQ PHOTOS
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LARKINGLASS RACING RACEHORSE TRAINING - STUD - REST & RECUPERATION TRAINER - NEIL MULHOLLAND CLICK HERE FOR NEIL AND BECKY'S WEDDING & BBQ PHOTOS
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July 09 News Please note that our Syndicates (Aconitum and Dolly Will Do) have shares available and our Racing Club is now available for membership - please phone Kay on 01980 862574 or 07769 534147 for more info.... 27th July 09 RHINESTONE RUBY WINS AT WORCESTER & UTTOXETER TWO WINS IN TWELVE DAYS! Rhinestone Ruby ran in the Mare's Novice Hurdle over two
miles at Uttoxeter and followed up her win last week at Worcester with a superb
winning performance under Choc Thornton. She romped home by 26 lengths! What a
star! Ruby ended up near enough making all the running as the pace was not that
strong in the beginning but after jumping the last she galloped to the line to
score by a wide margin. A fantastic night was had by all including Fleur who was
our lucky mascot for the race! Congratulations also to Ali Weeks who turned Ruby
out to such a high standard that she won the best turned out prize! I have never had a winner in my life and now I
have had two wins from this fantastic mare in twelve days. Congratulations also
to my partners in Ruby - Helen Cross and Sarah Keys. The RP said:
RHINESTONE RUBY had conquered Ragdollianna at Worcester
last time and even with the nominal burden of her winner´s penalty she cemented
her superiority in style. Although she dictated the race, the slow pace was as
much an inconvenience to the winner as it was to her rivals, and she treated the
hurdles with scant respect, knocking most of them with her front legs, so a
stronger pace may have enabled her to jump with more accuracy. In any case,
hurdles are surely just the warm-up, for she has plenty of scope and will be a
yet more exciting prospect when she tackles fences.
24th July 09 Three runners went to Southwell today - Tosula, Winsley Hill and Play A Cord. The lorry left the yard at 7am and duly arrived at Southwell just before noon. First up was the beautiful Tosula, owned by Mike Burbidge who was at the races with James to support his home-bred mare. She was beautifully turned out by Ali. Choc took the ride and Tosula travelled and jumped brilliantly throughout the race until the fourth last. She hit it really hard and Choc did well to stay in the saddle! Her chance was gone and she finished midfield. It was a real shame because until that point Tosula looked like the winner. Next up was Winsley Hill, the gutsy mare owned and bred by Helen Cross. Daryl Jacob took the ride. He held Winsley Hill up at the back to start with to settle her and get her jumping with confidence. On the final circuit he made some progress into third position. At the final fence another horse fell leaving Winsley Hill to take second place but to be fair the way she was running she might have run into second anyway. This was another good performance from this mare who is learning the chasing game more with each run and she continues to earn her keep! The RP said: Winsley Hill lacked fluency out the back and, although making up some ground turning for home, was never a threat. She will benefit for a drop back in trip. I don't think I agree with that final statement... Our final runner of the day was Play A Cord who is our Larkinglass Racing Club horse. Play A Cord has been rather disappointing up until now with only one good run at Wincanton to her name when she finished fourth. Daryl Jacob took the ride and rode her very enterprisingly to finish fifth. He eased her into the race and she put in a nice round of jumping. This was a really good effort and we were pleased with the result. This fabulous mare is likely to be entered in the sales in August but after today we hope to run her again before then just to see whether the penny is finally starting to drop...I hope it does as she is a truly lovely mare. Below are some photos of today's runners -
21st July 09 Sula's Legend travelled all the way to Bangor for the 8.30pm Handicap Chase. Choc gave Sula a superb ride as per normal and Sula rewarded everyone by coming third - finishing up at 16/1. He travelled well throughout the race. He got a little low at some of the fences as the tempo increased but stayed to finish a game third. Mike Burbidge who owns Sula's Legend travelled up with Neil to support his horse. As I write this it is now 9pm and I am feeling a little sorry for Liz, Georgie and Liam (who was leading up) as they embark on the journey back to Larkinglass - they will probably get back around 2.30am! The RP said: Chased leaders, pushed along and effort when mistake 7th, 5 lengths 3rd 3 out, went 2nd but not reach winner between last two, lost 2nd flat (tchd 20-1)
15th July 09 RHINESTONE RUBY WINS AT WORCESTER Rhinestone Ruby thrilled her Owners and Fans with a really gutsy win in the Mare's Maiden Hurdle (2m) at Worcester. Choc Thornton rode her prominently throughout the race giving her plenty of room to see the hurdles. He gave her a superb ride throughout. Ruby was headed at the last but stayed on gamely in the run in to see out the race by 3 1/4 lengths. Ruby is owned by "The Rhinestone Partnership" which consists of Kay Stone, Helen Cross and Sarah Keys. Kay and Helen were there to cheer her home as was Kay's husband Phil and also the "Rhinestone Ruby Fan Club" were out in force. A special mention for Gavin, Cai, Terry and John who travelled from Uttoxeter and Stoke to support Ruby. It is a great thrill to me (Kay) that Ruby has so many supporters and it makes the win even more special being able to share it with them. Sarah couldn't be there due to work commitments but we will make sure she gets lots of photos etc! I can't tell you how much this win meant to me. When I got home I had 73 messages of support and congratulations. Thank you to everyone who sent a message. Thank you to Neil Mulholland, Liz and the team at Larkinglass for making my dreams come true! The RP said: RHINESTONE RUBY,
narrowly denied over half a mile further at Uttoxeter last time, travelled well
around the inside and took a narrow lead turning in. She was soon strongly
pressed and headed by the runner-up, but battled back gamely on the run-in, her
extra stamina coming into play. She has plenty of size and remains capable of
better.
Me and Helen Ruby's First Trophy!!
13th July 09 Neil sent two runners to Newton Abbott today. Classical Act ran in the Mare's Novice Hurdle but pulled up and Spiritual Society ran in the handicap hurdle finishing in 8th place. Spiritual Society now heads to Ascot Sales tomorrow. 10th July 09 Clovis travelled to Newbury to run in the 1m2f 51-70 handicap. The pre-parade ring is next to some private marquees which have glass fronts and Clovis thought it was rather peculiar to see his own reflection in the glass! Clovis started in his usual way and weaved his way through towards the front. Dane O'Neill, his jockey reported that Clovis loves to overtake horses on his way towards the front but in this instance when horses came to overtake him he wasn't too impressed! Clovis finished 6th out of 15 runners so was far from disgraced. David Bridger and his friend Donald were there to support Clovis and a pleasant evening was had by all! The RP said: In rear, pushed along and headway from 2f out, stayed on throughout final furlong.
8th July 09 You couldn't make it up! Yesterday we all travelled to Uttoxeter with Rhinestone Ruby who was entered in the 9.20pm Handicap Mare's Hurdle for which she was joint favourite. Five hours each way in the lorry for Liz, Liam and Ruby and three and a half hours in the car for the rest of us. Ruby's fan club was out in force as usual as well. What happened is well documented - the course crossings became waterlogged and the ambulances could not get over them and therefore racing was abandoned. But what I want to know is how come they don't get this problem in the winter months - apparently they cover the crossings - the wet weather was well forecast so why couldn't they have covered them yesterday. Mis-management by the course again has cost the Owners dearly (and this time - that's me!). I will be loath to support Uttoxeter again in a hurry! On a more positive note today - Neil had two runners at Worcester and today racing went ahead! Tosula ran in the handicap chase finishing third and Spiritual Society ran in a hurdle race finishing sixth. Tosula ran well with Choc on board. She jumped and travelled well. Spiritual Society was lit up by the addition of blinkers and led for most of the way but weakened towards the finish.
1st July 09 At 10.30am this morning Liz, Steph and I left the yard in the lorry for a very hot journey to Worcester with Spiritual Society who was to run in the Selling Hurdle race. Neil and Woody travelled in a very nice air-conditioned car (I might add :) ) After 3 hours of travelling we all arrived at Worcester and the first race duly took place. After this race 2 horses were suffering from the heat and a lot of the water from the containers in the paddock was rightly used to alleviate the heat exhaustion being suffered by the horses. However, once that was over the horses for the next race were already parading but the race could not get underway until the water containers had been refilled. There appeared to be only one meagre hose doing this job which was not sufficient. By now the horses in the next race had been in a very hot paddock and the handlers were starting to use the water being served by this one hose to cool the horses in the paddock down and we then entered a "Catch 22" situation where they were never going to get enough water in reserve for the next race so at 3.30pm racing was abandoned, this was 50 minutes after the scheduled start of the second race. It was not Worcester's fault that the day was very hot but the weather has been correctly forecast so water provision could have been more carefully planned. We were just one yard out of many that had a wasted journey in the heat and our Owners were just one of many who wasted money on travel and for those in the second race, money on Jockeys when with better planning it could all have been avoided. We arrived back in the yard at 7.00pm. 6th July 09 Yesterday we set off for Market Rasen at 6.00am from the
yard. We had a really good run arriving at the course at 11.30am. Winsley Hill
travelled really well and hardly sweated up at all on the journey. She was
entered in the 2m6f handicap chase. The race was run at a really fast pace - a
little too fast for Winsley if the truth be told. It affected Winsley's jumping
a little and she wasn't as fluent as she might have been had the pace been a
little steadier. However she did herself justice as usual and finished in fourth
position. Winsley Hill is a brave mare and always battles on and gives her best.
Helen Cross, Sarah Keys and myself were there to cheer her on as well as Liz and
Tom. The RP said: Winsley Hill improved from the
rear on this handicap chase debut but could make no further inroads after a
mistake three out. Winsley Hill at Market Rasen |
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Tosula
Winsley Hill
Play A
Cord
Sula's Legend
Ruby
coming into the Winners Enclosure!
Ruby's
Friends!
Tosula ridden by Choc, led by Liam
