Wrexham/St. Moritz/Cheltenham.
Newsletter #63
George talks…
I’m not a major footy fan but I do follow the main results now and again. During the week for whatever reason I’m not sure, I watched Manchester United v Barcelona. The first 90 minutes of “football soccer” I’ve watched since United won their last champions league. If I was to nail my colours to a team it would be the Red Devils. But I find myself searching for the results of a certain national league team in Wales, namely Wrexham FC.
Why?
Disney Plus is the culprit. I watched the documentary about Wrexham while I was sick in January, and have since watched their every move throughout the season. The power of a good story. A masterstroke in branding and marketing from Wrexham’s new owners of Hollywood fame Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. If you have a Sunday evening to kill, go and give it a watch.
In keeping with the footballing theme, the January transfer window is a time for teams to reshuffle. Chelsea restocked in a manner not too dissimilar to Godolphin at Tattersalls Book 1. The racing equivalent of a winter shuffle comes in the form of the Tattersalls February sale. We had a bit of a squad shake up ourselves. We bid farewell to the disappointing, CANDAIAN FIRE, she held so much promise but failed to replicate it on the track. We also sold our never to be forgotten filly ATTRAZIONE. The horse that gave us our first winner. This was a hard decision to make but one that we ultimately made on the back of advice from her trainer, George Boughey.
While we sold our two flag bearers from last year we picked up one horse from the sale ourselves. COVERTLY, is a tall, slow maturing yet sound filly who will need summer ground and a trip to be seen at her most effective. She ran during the week for George Boughey over 6 furlongs, a nice introduction to her racing career. Outpaced for most of the race, that should sharpen her up as we step her up in trip going forward. She will be a horse that we hope can run regularly throughout the summer around the country tracks of the UK, providing owners with some fun in the sun!
To complete our current squad of horses for 2023 we have our DANDY MAN filly now in Newmarket with her trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy. She came over from Brian O’Connell with a quite the reputation and has been pleasing Kevin at home. She has been doing slow conditioning work thus far and will step up her training in March.
Rapido Racing Transport have trucked several of our horses to the track over the past 12 months. They have built a very successful business transporting horses of all shapes and sizes around the globe. We are proud to have their logo across our silks for the 2023 season and welcome them as a sponsor for the racing season ahead.
Saffie Osbourne donning the Brownsbarn Thoroughbreds colours with sponsors Rapido Racing Ltd.
We do have our first Syndicate event of the year coming up March 9th. Our Cheltenham review night this year is being held at The Claddagh Ring, London.
Tickets are £15 but we do have 5 spare for subscribers to the newsletter, several owners unfortunately cannot make it so there are some available for free. If you are knocking around London and would like to attend reply to this email and let us know.
Charlie talks…
I’ve been lucky enough to go racing at some beautiful racecourses around the world. Santa Anita and Killarney racecourses would have been top of my list as regards setting and location. However after my other half decided to surprise me with a birthday trip away to St Moritz last weekend, I might have to re-evaluate that list.
Emir des Forges and his connections after winning the opening trotting race on the card
The “White Turf” was in town transforming St Moritz’s ice lake into a spectacular temporary racecourse. Held over a couple of weekends in February each year. It was fascinating to see a crowd of over 10k people (mainly tourists) enjoying this unique spectacle nestled in the Swiss Alps.
The day itself consisted of 6 races. 2 trotting races, 1 ski race and 3 flat races. The feature being the 100k Grand Prix of St Moritz. Bar recognising a few British runners and jockeys on the card I had no idea of the form or horses racing myself. It was great to see so many people were enjoying the occasion even though they clearly were not race going regulars.
When you hear all the doom and gloom at home about how the sport has to change to attract younger people and to appease the people who just want it banned. It was refreshing to see so many people enjoying the pure joy and thrill of cheering on horses and the great atmosphere on offer. At the end of the day our sport is very simply to showcase the main attraction “The Horse” and this event does that really well with the different events it puts on. I would highly recommend a visit next year if you have not been before and who knows maybe one day we will have the Brownsbarn colours carried around the Swiss Alps if not on horseback maybe in a Bobsleigh!
Runners parade at the start before the feature race of the day the Grand Prix of St Moritz
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