Inventor’s Day Update

June 13th – Inventor’s Day in Hungary. And that is not a made up fact.

A limited amount of racecourse action has taken place of late. Normally it is even quieter by his time of year, but we have a few able to have a spin on the flat this summer, and the rash of abandonments earlier in the year, plus the enduring soft ground, has meant that the some of the jumpers who do not need the mud have been able to keep on the go somewhat longer than usual. The best placing was achieved by SHAW’S CROSS at Fontwell, where he was an honourable third, just losing second to an opponent coming in seeking a hat trick. The pair of them fell foul of a winner that demonstrated the rapid benefits of a wind operation. That was the ninth race for Shaw’s Cross since coming to Shovelstrode and he has finished in the first four in six of them. Great consistency from a horse now twelve years old. Another highlight is getting ATALANTA’S BOY back on a racecourse and out of retirement. Despite advancing years and twenty-one months off he ran a belter at Kempton over six furlongs, leading until inside the last furlong. He goes to Sandown on Friday, but we are looking to get him primed for a race at his favourite course, Goodwood.

Finally a note on a horse that might want to take a lesson on exerting himself from the two veterans referred to previously. After his win at Huntingdon, Flemen’s Tipple went to Warwick to try and double up. It did not work out and when he pulled up before the last, he had the vet thinking that he might have broken down quite severely. Within an hour and a half, he had improved to “don’t gallop him without getting him checked over first” and the following day, turned out in a field, he was at least 99% fine. With the football Euros imminent, Flemen’s Tipple has already set a high bar for injury exaggeration. It is unlikely that Shaw’s Cross approves.