Sedgefield Specialist

01/10/2022

We had a fantastic day on Tuesday when Kajaki won at Sedgefield, gaining his third victory at the Durham track.

He was well represented by his two ownership groups, the MS Borders Racing Club and Greystoke Owners, this being the first win since we launched our Greystoke Owners syndicates last year and a long awaited win for the MS Borders Racing Club.
Those present enjoyed a glass of champagne in the winners bar and we hope they will have many more memorable days at the races.

The win was made even more emotional as very sadly two members of the MS Borders Racing Club passed away recently. Johnny Jeffreys and Sandy Jeffreys, although unrelated they both resided in the same village. Sandy’s funeral was held on Tuesday and part of the syndicate sadly couldn’t be there as they paid their respects to a much missed friend.

Another syndicate member also tragically lost two very close family members in the last few months, and we believe they were all looking down on Kajaki that afternoon.

Kajaki and winning connections at Sedgefield

Back at home the horses workload has increased, with all horses now starting to get fit. We finally got the rain we were waiting for so we could get on with schooling over fences and start to get excited about the upcoming season.
Since the retirement of top chasers like Duke Of Navan, Simply Ned, and Takingrisks we have been patiently waiting for some good Novice Chasers that will hopefully provide us with plenty of success. Sadly, upon receiving the programme book, we have found there are very few Open Novice Chases in the North (about 5 between now and Christmas), this is something that we have raised with the race planning department. We are all aware of the debate about having too many meetings and this doesn’t help matters either.

Some of those progressing onto fences this year are:

Crystal Glory

Nells Son

Snowy Clouds

Universal Folly

No Regrets

Tfou

Everyday Champagne

Castle Rushen

Famous Bridge 

and then there’s the well known talents of Marown, Glittering Love, Houston Texas and Uncle Alastair who will be seen again this season.

Tomorrow (Sunday), we head to Kelso with one runner, Rickety Gate, in the 4:55 Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle. He will be ridden by Conor Rabbitt who has had 3 wins from 25 rides for us since joining the yard just over a year ago.

Our other entry next week is for She’s A Rocca who seems to prefer going left handed, so we have found a nice race at Worcester for her and hopefully she will like a flatter track.
We’re counting down the days until the first Carlisle meeting on 13th October where we hope to be well represented with runners, including Nells Son, who we have pencilled in for the Novice Chase over two miles.

Nells Son and Crystal Glory

Watch:

STRICTLY SKELTON

Fans of Strictly Come Dancing will already be well aware of the participation of Helen Skelton in the BBC TV Show and fans of Nicky Richards Racing will be well aware of our staff member George Skelton (Skelly). The name is no coincidence as he is in fact Helen’s Uncle and is encouraging everyone to vote for her on Saturday nights! Good Luck Helen and thank you for continuing to put Cumbria on the map.

Helen Skelton and dance partner Gorka Marquez