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The Fabulous Four at Chipley Spring, we hope, is soon upon us and although the last few weeks have not been so wet, we have endured a colder period and some crispy mornings. The horses continue to be in good form and we have been lucky enough to enjoy some celebratory breakfasts courtesy of Ivan Thompson who runs The Sausage Shed and Josh, who keeps Mortimers Bakery in business.    It was lovely to get Paloma Blue back on the track after a whole year off. He needed the run, which we knew he would and hope we can get his head in front next time out. The rest of the day at Milborne was pretty mixed! Unfortunately Purdy, who works for us, took a bad fall on her own horse in the Ladies Open and ended up spending several days in hospital before having her collarbone operated on. She has a long road of recovery ahead of her and we wish her well!    The postponed Chipley meeting ended up being a huge success for Josh and the team. 5 runners and 4 winners! Lucky Lara started her seasonal campaign in the Hunt Race which she won well for long standing owners Terry & Rachael Hamlin. Ted The Thief won the Maiden Race getting the better of debutant Goosey Lucy and gave Blackmore Racing Club their first winner of the season. The club enjoyed 5 winners last season and hopefully this is the start of the ball rolling for them. Our third winner of the day was Important Notice, who romped home in the Intermediate under a penalty for Tom & Sally Dalley of Stables Business Park. This was his second winner of the season from 2 runs and we could possibly look at a Hunter Chase for him next. El Capitaine brought home the four timer for Josh when taking the Restricted very easily. He is another recruit from Ireland who has enjoyed the switch to Point to Points and gave his owner, Ivan Thompson, a second win of the season. The Kings Writ ran another brilliant race to finish 3rd under Hannah Morgan in the Novice Riders to round up a brilliant day. A huge shout out to Izzie Taylor and Zena Williamson, who both held down the fort at Chipley with 5 horses!   Our Dylan continues to deliver under rules for 4Racing Owners Club. He ran brilliantly at Taunton to finish 2nd by ½ length under Josh. Vol Royale made his debut for us, after being purchased by Kayley Woollacott Racing Club, after he came home in front at Dunsmore Point to Point when in the hands of Will Biddick. Ben Godfrey gave him a good ride and he will be a better horse over hurdles. Lucky Bere ran another creditable race at Warwick under Callum Pritchard to finish 3rd by ¾ length. Seventeenothree has ran well in two bumpers and looks to make her debut over hurdles on Saturday at Wincanton.   We took 6 youngsters to Larkhill for their Schooling Trials Day. We ran three over hurdles over 2m and three in the Bumper, again over 2m. These days prove crucial for the young horses education and hopefully they can continue in the future. We also took 3 to Chipley Park to school around the day after racing to get a blow and some more education into some who hopefully will be on the track soon. Again, we are very grateful for these opportunities and hope more can come arise in the future!   Onto this weekend, we have entries at both Buckfastleigh and Larkhill and hope the success can continue!   Cover Photo: Ted The Thief and Blackmore Racing Club winning at Chipley Second Photo: Idaho Fire, Unnamed Shirocco and Unnamed Jet Away at Larkhill Schooling Trials Third Photo: Whitsand Bay schooling at Chipley Park under Darren Andrews. Photo by Brian Phipps

New Year and New Faces! A busy Christmas period has been and gone and we have had plenty of runners over the last few weeks and plenty of success with it.    Important Notice finished 2024 on a good note winning the Intermediate at Chaddesley Corbett in pretty tough conditions. Starting off his season over 2mf4 definitely helped and he won with plenty in hand and was described by Josh as one of the best Point to Pointers he has ridden over a fence! He may aim for a Hunter Chase in the near future.   We took another army of horses down to Wadebridge for their second meeting on the 12th January and came home with a treble and numerous placings. Holiday Fund came home in front, getting the better of Jet Smart in the Conditions Race, clocking up his second win of the season. The Kings Writ ran another brilliant race to finish 2nd under Hannah in the Novice Riders. Hearts Corner ran in a seriously hot Open and finished a pleasing 4th. There is plenty of work to do on his jumping but the talent is there. Ted The Thief and Nelson Criq came home 2nd and 3rd in the 4, 5 & 6yo Maiden and will both be in the winners enclosure soon. Clondaw Drake made it 3 from 3 since joining us here at Blackmore Farm and took the Restricted under a penalty. Liwah ran her heart out to finish 3rd in the same race and will continue to give John and Sonia Gardener plenty of fun. The star of the day was new recruit Noble Blue, who won the 7yo and over Maiden impressively. He joined us in December and has improved no end throughout his short time with us. He is owned by Friends Of Sylvie and should be a very exciting horse for them this season.  Impakt St Georges made his debut for us at Larkhill on the 18th January. He is another ex Irish recruit and again, has improved physically so much since joining Blackmore Farm. Now owned by John and Floss Symes, he won the Maiden comfortably after sprinting from the back of 4 out and Josh reported that he jumped very well. He is another to look forward to for the future and is a pleasure to have around the yard.    On New Year’s Day, Seventeenothree made her debut in a National Hunt Flat Race at Exeter. She has done plenty of homework and it was great to get her to the track. She ran very well to finish 4th and it will be exciting to see where she goes from here. Stellar Stream appeared through the fog at Chepstow and came home with a wet sail to finish 2nd at Chepstow under Callum Pritchard on the 5th January. Five Quarters made a pleasing start to his National Hunt career and finished 2nd at Taunton to bring home a 1-2-3 for British Pointing, which is great for our amateur sport.    Onwards to this weekend, we have Chipley and Cocklebarrow with a handful entered at both. We will be taking a good few back to Chipley to school afterwards and Larkhill are also hosting some schooling races at the track next week which we are looking to support.   Cover Photo: Noble Blue taken by Jill Hurst

Wonderful Wadebridge We took 8 horses to Wadebridge on the 8th December for what looked like it could be a successful day! The horses delivered beyond our wildest dreams and we walked away with 5 winners, 1 third and 2 fourths. A fabulous day for the whole team and it was brilliant to spend it with so many owners and members of the team.   The day kicked off with The Kings Writ winning easily under Hannah Morgan in the Veteran and Novice Riders Conditions Race. It was never definite that Brian, as he is known at home, would run this season, but after spending the beginning of the season leading the babies and thoroughly enjoying his time in training, we thought we would pop an entry in for him. He showed everyone that his enthusiasm is very much still there and it was great for Hannah to enjoy a much deserved winner.   We took both Divisions of the Maiden with two very smart horses who have made the switch back from under rules. Talimar Pearl has been a consistent hurdler for owner David Churches when at Joe Tizzards and it was great for him to get his head in front and gain plenty of confidence from it. The other Division went the way of El Capitaine for Ivan Thompson, who again had not managed to win under rules and backed up his good 2nd at Knightwick at the beginning of November. Nelson Criq finished 3rd behind El Capitaine and we have no doubt that he will be in the winners enclosure very soon.    Hearts Corner had his first experience in Open company and took the Ladies for Becky Roach with Izzie Hill in the saddle. He has his own unique way of jumping, but Izzie rode a very good race on him to come home a head in front. Purdy Peaster, who works for us, finished 2nd on her own horse, Sizing Cusimano, which was also brilliant!   John and Sonia Gardeners’ Clondaw Drake made his reappearance after winning at Dunsmore and came home in front again, this time in the Restricted. He has taken time to adapt to our routine but between Hannah and Emilie, they have done a marvellous job and it has thoroughly paid off!   Five winners for the yard and three for Josh in the saddle proved a very exciting and busy day! Breakfast rolls and bubbles were enjoyed the following morning.    To the National Hunt horses, Our Dylan has come back bouncing after his close 2nd at Hereford and won under Josh in the Pony Racing Graduates Handicap Hurdle at Exeter! He has been a great horse for his owners and we can’t wait to see what else he can do. Diamatiste was just denied at Exeter by ½ length after being left tight for room on the run in but nonetheless, ran a super race. We hope he will get his head in front very soon as he has been running very well.   The 3yos are all getting on really well and we are very excited about them. They will enjoy a quieter period over the Christmas period and we will have a small handful of National Hunt entries along with a couple Point to Point entries at Chaddesley.   We hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and New Year!   From everyone at Blackmore Farm!

A Super Start To The New Season Last weekend saw Point to Pointing return and it was brilliant to be back spending weekends watching our hard work pay off. El Capitaine kicked off our good weekend with a 2nd at Knightwick. The race was not run to suit but he was only touched off 3 lengths by a Tom Ellis 4yo who cost €64,000 as a store.    Dunsmore was on Sunday and we took 4 runners and came away with 3 winners! Tip Top Mountain made his debut for The Garton Partnership and won the Mixed Open by 2 1/4  lengths. He was purchased for Tilly Garton to ride, who works very hard in the yard. Tilly is waiting to have her Point to Point license approved and in the meantime, Josh will take the ride.    Clondaw Drake and Holiday Fund brought up the treble for Josh and the yard and a double for long standing owners, John and Sonia Gardener. Holiday Fund stayed on well to gallop strongly to the finish line and win the Restricted by 6 lengths. John and Sonia purchased him off the back of his win at Bratton Down last season. He has improved leaps and bounds and should be an exciting horse to go through the grades this season. Clondaw Drake was purchased at Goffs UK Spring Horses in Training Sale at Doncaster out of Mick Goff’s yard. Both Hannah and Emilie have worked very hard to settle him at home and it duly paid off with an impressive performance to win the Maiden.   We have had a small handful of runners under rules. Iris Des Issards made his seasonal debut at Exeter and having looked outpaced turning for home, he galloped to the line resolutely and finished an extremely pleasing 3rd under Callum Pritchard. Stratton Oakmont and Stellar Stream went to Ffos Las on Sunday, both ridden by Ben Godfrey. Stellar Stream ran very well albeit finishing down the field, he was only beaten 17 lengths over 3m on Good to Soft ground. Having won the North Wales National last season over 3m5f and on heavy ground, there are plenty of positives to take away from this run. Stratton Oakmont ran another consistent race to finish 3rd in a competitive handicap for the Kayley Woollacott Racing Club. He has provided his owners with so much fun and we are excited for another season with him.   Our Dylan did the honors of partnering up with Jane Reed for the British Horse Society Charity Race last week. They finished 6th against some highly rated flat horses and gave 4Racing Owners Club a fabulous day out with Princess Anne in attendance. Jane raised an incredible £4,510! This was the perfect prep run before heading to Hereford on Tuesday, where he battled it out to the line to finish 2nd beaten a neck!    We took a handful of youngsters back to Dunsmore on Monday morning for a school. It is brilliant that courses give us the opportunity to take horses for an away day to give them some education.  Fingers crossed the horses stay in happy and healthy form!   Photos: Tip Top Mountain after winning the Mixed Open Holiday Fund jumping the last in the Restricted 3yos by Jet Away and Shirocco having a jump at Dunsmore

A Very Busy October! October is very much an all set sail month. The horses’ fitness work has all stepped up with the majority having had a good couple pieces of work. With the rain over the last few weeks, it has allowed us to get back onto the grass and keep the work very varied. The first bunch have been away for a racecourse gallop and Kayley and Josh have started plotting engagements for the ones that will be ready to run early doors.   All the horses have enjoyed a school on grass and we are really impressed with how our 3 year old store purchases have taken to jumping. They have been out on the grass on a couple of occasions with them all showing a great attitude and willingness towards their work which is so pleasing at this early stage. They will continue to do plenty of jumping and we can look forward to Yogi Breisner coming in next month to do some schooling with them at Chard Equestrian. We took 7 to Larkhill at the end of last week to have a good blow. This seemed very beneficial and we will try and get as many out as possible for an away day before they run.    On Saturday, we welcomed Blackmore Racing Club into the yard to see Ted The Thief. He is another candidate that we hope to get out early in the season. We have a wonderful group of members who have joined the club and we hope we can supply them with another enjoyable season. Soup, sausage rolls and cake were provided from our great support team and I think everyone enjoyed their morning.    The very last handful of horses have come into work which leaves us with a huge team to represent both Kayley and Josh’s yards this season. We have some really lovely prospects and several to get very excited about. We will have our first “winter” National Hunt runner hopefully this week and have a couple aiming for Dunsmore for the first weekend of the Point to Point season.   On the 7th November, Jane Reed, who has spent the last few months riding out for us, is taking part in the British Horse Society Charity Flat Race at Newbury. She will be partnering Our Dylan who she enjoyed a racecourse gallop on at Larkhill. The link for Jane’s Just Giving Page is below:   https://www.justgiving.com/page/jane-reed-1713889073516 Main Photo: Work days at Blackmore Farm Middle Photo: Ted The Thief looking a picture for his members Bottom Photo: Josh and Cue Jump