A Grand National Winner and a Trainer!

This week started much the same as last with sales prep, this week it was the GoffsGo online sale which had quite a few nice looking Point to Pointers and stores. The stores season is just getting underway and getting in early was the plan, so Jerry and I had a good chat and prepared our list ready for Thursday when the sale closed.

It was a very busy start to the week for Carla and Graham down at Charlock Stud with minimal sleep for both as they welcomed 3 foals in 3 days. I must say the photos and videos I have seen they look very nice and I am looking forward to meeting them when I am a little more mobile.

In an injury update, the swelling is going down and the bruising coming out. Unfortunately, those that know me will know that i'm not really one for not doing anything so I probably could be resting it more.

Wednesday quickly came round and the GoffsGo sale opened we had 4 or 5 that we were keeping tabs on and we wanted to see where we were on Thursday morning. By then 3 were no longer on our list and we were down to 2. I must say Online sales from a purchasing perspective is a lot worse on the nerves but 2pm came where the first lot closed, each lot closed 2 minutes after the last but that was irrelevant to us as Lot 1 was our primary target and I am pleased to report that we got her!

She is a GBB 100%, 3 year old filly by Passing Glance, sire of Grade 1 winners Dashel Drasher, Strong Leader and Millers Bank. She is half-sister to Blue Beach who finished 2nd in a Grade 2, her dam is a half sister to a Grade 2 Winner and she is also from the family of Grand National and Irish Grand National winner Numbersixvalverde!

A proper English pedigree. She is heading over to D & K Racing in Lambourn to be broken in and pre-trained by Katie Croft and David Fehily. We are really excited for her future and are hopeful she will see the racecourse later this year either in bumpers or the Junior hurdle series.

"Ellie"

Something I didn't actually get chance to market was that I was going to offer the first shareholder the opportunity to give her her stable name. Within 24 hours of her being purchased her first share was sold to Kate who has chosen the name Ellie for her. Shares are likely to go quite quickly so get in touch if you would like to get involved, if you click on her picture it will take you to her page for more info. We are delighted to welcome our first trainer to the Emris Racing team. "Ellie" will be trained by Fergal O'Brien at Ravenswell Farm in Gloucestershire. Ferg has a great record with fillies and we see him as the perfect fit for her. He is also a top guy and excellent communicator as well as being a top trainer. On sunday morning I had a good chat with Ferg and I'll be popping over to Ravenswell in the next couple of weeks to talk plans moving forward.

All of the yearlings are in fine fettle. Enjoying the sunshine and the copius amounts of grass they have available to them. "Paul" is still filling out nicely, "Emma" still growing at a rate and "Pam" making the most of the space in their huge field. Plans will be made over the coming months for the start of their education towards the end of the year.

All in all a pretty busy week, lots to arrange and conversations over the next couple of weeks.

Until next time.