As we approach the end off 2022, it seems an ideal time to reflect on the past 12 months. 2022 will be remembered by many, least not because of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who was such a great supporter of our sport.
Whilst a challenging year for many, we have been fortunate to be well supported by our owners and club has gone from strength to strength. We have not deviated from our founding principles of trying to make racehorse ownership affordable and fun.
Our star performer of the 2022 season was no doubt Shahnaz, a horse we picked up for just £8k at the sales and went to first season trainer Gemma Tutty. The team did a fantastic job with her resulting in her winning three times. She isn't the biggest filly but what she lacks in stature she makes up for in heart. If they all had her attitude this game would be easy!
Sabbathical was our leading national hunt horse, trained by Evan Williams, and is incredibly consistent. He won twice last season and got us back in the winner's enclosure on just his second start this season. He is effective over hurdles and fences and looks to have a bright future ahead of him. He really is the perfect syndicate horse who is rarely out of the places.
We have also invested into younger horses who are open to a lot of improvement. These include the Sam Allwood trained Kalabana who ran a very eye catching third in his PTP. He will be turned out for the rest of the year as he will benefit from more time to strengthen. In time he should make a lovely staying chaser.
We also purchased the Phil Makin trained Sioux Nation filly. She is a big girl at 16.2hh. We turned her out during the summer and we have now bought her back into work. She is hopefully only around six weeks off a run. Sioux Nation was the leading first season sire so we are excited to find out just how good she might be.
Finally, we have recently added the Mark Walford trained Doctor Livinstone, a yearling by Bungle Inthejungle. He looks all speed and is bred to be on the track reasonably early in his two year old season. It is very much the case of so far so good, he looks very straight forward and we are excited to start building him up in the new year.
Our hope for 2023 is continue this nice blend of unexposed horses with regular runners who can win races. He finished 2022 with five winners which is a great achievement and I'm hopeful of improving on this again next year. Once again, thanks for the support of our trainers and wonderful owners. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.