Winter Derby
20/03/2006
The Winter Derby ended up being quite a tough pill to swallow. I was glad to see Nayyir back in very good form but yet again he met trouble in running and didn't get his due rewards. I was quite aggrieved as it was such a valuable race for a Group 3 and it is a race that we have tried to win on several occasions but never before having a horse of Nayyir's calibre to run in it. It just goes to show how much luck in running you need at Lingfield these days.
Compton Bolter put in a very rare lacklustre performance which is quite surprising and I have no idea why. I will always give him the benefit of the doubt and we will aim for the Chester meeting in May which always seems to rekindle his spirits.
Our attentions are turning to the East this weekend where we have Jack Sullivan running in the Godolphin Mile. It is a million dollar event and it is always a competitive race. Jack seems to be in very good form and as I said before, I was very pleased with the work he did on the 15 th so we are very hopeful of a good performance. Eddie Ahern is due to ride.
We kick off the new Flat Season with Prime Number due to run in The Lincoln Handicap at Redcar on Saturday. I have been very pleased with his work during the last couple of months. However, I would not be keen on running on very soft ground.
We have some further tentative entries at Kempton Saturday and Brighton on Sunday.
