Ile De Re

A great day at Ascot where Ile De Re, having his first run for us, won the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers Handicap. Ridden by Yutaka Take he travelled well through the race and won by a comfortable length. We would love to have a crack at the Ebor with him for which he incurred a 4lb penalty, but he's not sure to get in. In any case he is a lovely horse who will contest some big staying handicaps before going jumping, where we fully expect him to take a high rank in the novice hurdling division.



"Dressed to Kill!" Kevin Frost at Ascot

Stevie Thunder

The highlight of the week was Stevie Thunder finally coming good when winning the Grants Whiskey Handicap on 29th July, by four and a half lengths. He was quite impressive in the way he destroyed the field. However the Handicapper took a dim view and raised him a whopping 10lbs. It's been very hardwork getting him to accept the stalls again after he decided he wasn't going to enter them again. A spell hurdling and a visit to "Yarmys" in Newmarket seems to have done the trick as he returned to his very best form, but he'll find life tough enough now racing off a mark of 88.