Middleham man Jedd O'Keeffe outlines plans for some of his stable stars and pinpoints one or two he hopes might be able to climb the ladder when racing finally resumes.
It’s a bit like groundhog day at the moment, every day is the same, nobody is going racing but we’re coping fine. We’re lucky, we’re out in the fine weather which helps and we have work to do. We’re the fortunate ones.
The horses we had ready for the first meeting at Doncaster had done their final piece of work before the lockdown and were just ticking over. They were very fit and ready to go. Some of the others were aiming for a later start, the ones who want fast ground for example, they had just started galloping but at the moment we’re treading water with the majority of them.
We have to stop some getting too fresh and silly and are trying to gently educate the two-year-olds but not push them too hard too soon and are just in limbo and working out what to do.
The staff have been absolutely brilliant and I think they appreciate the fact they’re working. For people who spend their working days outside to be cooped up inside would be difficult and they are full of enthusiasm and enjoying being here which is crucial.
Our numbers are up a little bit this year and our clients have been absolutely amazing. We’ve had one or two go home either for a short spell before hopefully coming back, while other people have their own facilities at home and decided to take them home and watch what is going on before deciding at what stage they want them to return to training.
Most of the horses have stayed here though which is great.
Our Friends in the North - Jedd O'Keeffe
Stable Star: Air Raid
Horse to Follow: Continental
Handicapper to Follow: Only Spoofing
Older horses
Air Raid
He’s currently our highest rated horse on the Flat and had a great season last year. We have great affection for him. He’s had terrible trouble with his wind over the last few seasons and has had two operations. Last year was last chance saloon with a different wind op and it worked.
He won his races at Hamilton and it was a moment of great pride for us when he won the Scottish Stewards’ Cup, it was a race I’d wanted to win for years. He was going to be ready early as he likes give in the ground and we’ll have missed that, but there will be various times he gets it.
Our principal target is to defend his title at Hamilton and then hopefully the Ayr Gold Cup. We had a disaster last year when he stood on a shoe in the horsebox only a couple of miles away from the yard and we had to turn around and come home again. It was a freak incident and it would be good to head back there this time.
Archaeology
We were getting him ready for the Spring Mile because we didn’t think he’d get in the Lincoln and thought that race would be right up his street. He loves a stiff mile with a little bit of give but does run well on faster ground. A strong pace on a stiff mile is perfect for him. Sadly that’s off the table now so we’ll be looking at those other races for him when we get going. He loves Doncaster and places like that where you can ride a bit of a race on him. He does need a strong pace though.
Breanski
He’s back in training and going well. We’ll be targeting some of the races he’s run well in before and he wants a stiff seven furlongs and a strong pace. Doncaster, Ascot, Newcastle are good places for him – straight tracks do seem to suit but he has run well at Catterick and York too.
Groveman
He’s in the form of his life and put up a really good performance to win at Newcastle last time where I believe he clocked a good time. He’s now rated as high as he’s ever been. Obviously we don’t have a specific target for him but it would be nice to have another crack at the Cumberland Plate, a race he finished second in last year. Carlisle suits him, he stays a mile-and-a-half and he probably has a preference for slightly faster ground. He’s a very able hurdler, and well handicapped in that sphere now, but rarely had conditions to suit. Either a small field, not enough pace or ground being too slow have been against him and that’s another avenue we might explore later on.
It Had To Be You
He was formerly with William Haggas and was placed in his first two races. He’s been gelded and sent north to us by Normandie Stud Limited. He has a beautiful page. He’s by Frankel out of Fallen For You, who won the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. He’s a half-brother to Glorious Journey who was very useful for Godolphin. He’s a lovely looking horse and I’m excited to have our first Frankel.
The owner-breeder felt going up north and a change of scenery might just suit him and we like him and awful lot.
Jedhi
We did a bit with her but we wanted early runs on soft ground. When it was clear that wasn’t possible we roughed her off and she’ll be back to towards the autumn, possibly for a dual purpose campaign.
Kiefer
We love him. The only reason I didn’t pick him for one of the categories at the top is we don’t know enough about him yet. He’s only done a couple of easy pieces of work and was one I didn’t want to bring to a peak and find then we had nowhere to go. He’ll be starting off in staying handicaps. We had originally thought Newbury in mid-April over two miles, we’d talked about the consolation race for the Northumberland Plate too, but it’s all up in the air at the moment. We really like him, he’s very attractive and we think from his family he’s going to prefer fast ground.
Mogsy
He’s an absolute cracker and a pleasure to train. He’s just ticking over waiting for things to get going and we have no fancy plans but he works well and shows us plenty of pace.
Only Spoofing
He’s very reliable. I’ve a lot of time for him and he won three for us last year and four the previous season. He doesn’t like it too soft but can handle a bit of give and quick ground and a stiff five is absolutely ideal for him. Carlisle, Beverley and Ascot suit him. One of our targets last year was the Portland at Doncaster and I think the five-and-a-half furlongs there would have suited him down to the ground but he didn’t quite get in. If he has another good season and creeps up another pound or two he might make it this year.
Piedita
We bought her relatively cheaply and I don’t know why. A bloodstock agent friend of ours bought her and sold her to us as a project to go hurdling. I’m excited about her. She schooled well and ran once at Doncaster in a funny race where she was a bit too keen and a bit too fresh in desperate ground and she couldn’t get cover. She was going to finish a promising third when she just got bumped jumping the second last and Joe Colliver got knocked out of the saddle.
It was an encouraging start but we’ll now be looking at Flat races as that will resume first and see what she can do there before going back over hurdles.
Saisons D'Or
He’s a cracking handicapper who is so reliable. He’s back in but no quite ready but is doing everything right. We’ll be looking at the same races as previously in the north, as that’s where the majority of his owners are based. He loves a turning track and seven furlongs or a mile on fast ground. He likes making the running.
Sweet Dime
She has had a wind op and will be off a little while but is a really nice filly. We were slightly disappointed with her run at Newcastle where she finished behind Groveman but she made a bit of a noise and we’ve done work on her wind and hope she’ll be back later in the year.
Theatro
She was just about ready to go. She loves give in the ground and likes a mile-and-a-half upwards, she got the mile and six on her final start at three at Nottingham when second to Goshen, with some nice horses behind. I really like her, she’s progressive and from a family who improve with age.
Three-year-olds
Continental
She’s a filly John Dance bought as a yearling and paid a few quid for. She just had a number of niggly little problems last year that stopped her getting to the track but we nearly had her ready. This year she’s grown, strengthened and is a very powerful filly. We haven’t done much fast work with her yet, she started later on, but what we saw last year means she’s one we’re excited about.
Salsada
She's another we’re quite excited about. She won her novice at Newcastle on her third start and is a big filly who we are bringing along gently. She has a handicap mark of 76 and I’d hope by the end of the year she’ll be higher than that. We were waiting for the turf with her, she’ll probably want a bit of give an ten furlongs and I think she’s progressive.
Strait Of Hormuz
We’ve just backed off him a little. Again we thought he’d want a bit of give in the early part of the season which we’ve missed. He’ll be back and while he isn’t very big, he’s all there and full of character. We’ve only done a couple of bits of work with him but they were very encouraging and we believe he was well thought of in his previous stable.
St Just
He was bought by Quantum at the February Sale out of William Haggas’ yard. He won his nursery at Lingfield and we’ve gelded him. He was never going to start early but has begun cantering and we like him. William said we’d bought a nice horse and would have a lot of fun with him.
Queen Of Camelot
She’s a full-sister to Theatro and is another I could have picked out for the three at the top. We like her a lot. We felt when she made her debut in a maiden at Newcastle that it was a decent enough start for one of mine but Graham Lee expects she’ll be much better on turf. We have run Theatro at Gosforth Park a couple of times and she didn’t excel there and we think the family are better grass horses.
She’s got one or two fancy entries that had to be made at a very early stage and she still holds those. Quite what we’re going to do with them now I don’t know. The plan would have been to start in the ten furlong maiden at Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting so we’ll look for a similar race for fillies when we’re back. She’s another we like a lot, she’ll appreciate some give, and we’re excited about her.
Two-year-olds
I don’t normally have early juveniles but we had three we were looking to run in April. They weren’t going to go in the Brocklesby, but are early sorts.
Colton
He’s by Lethal Force out of Lady Poppy, a mare we trained towards the end of her career. She won a nursery at York for George Moore before we inherited her when he retired. She was very quick, fast out of the gate and loved fast ground. He looks to have inherited speed from her and his father and we like him. He’s a strong, chunky sort who we thought was going to be early.
Unnamed juvenile (Sepoy x Spirit Of Sound)
Another we like. He’s a real sprinting type and looked early as did Sandhoe, a nice filly by Gutaifan, who has been showing us speed. When they debut now I don’t know, we’ve had to back off them and we’ll bring them back to the boil when we know what’s happening about a resumption.
Abundant Moon
She’s the first Galileo I’ve trained and John Dance bought her privately in Ireland. She hasn’t done much but is very sweet and very attractive with a lovely pedigree. We’re very excited to have her but she’ll be one for the back-end. I feel privileged to have her in the yard.
Also in the series...
- Richard Fahey Stable Tour
- Mark Johnston Stable Tour
- David O’Meara Stable Tour
- Kevin Ryan Stable Tour
- Karl Burke Stable Tour
- Tim Easterby Stable Tour
- Michael Dods Stable Tour
- John Quinn Stable Tour
- Brian Ellison Stable Tour
- Ben Haslam Stable Tour
- Phil Makin Stable Tour