Lahore and the trusty Galloway Hills spearhead the squad for 2020 as jockey-turned-trained Phil Makin guides us through his horses ahead of the season.
We’re looking forward to the season ahead and have some nice horses that we're looking forward to running. The two-year-olds that we have look a decent bunch although I suspect the majority of them will be out later in the season.
Our Friends in the North - Phil Makin
Stable Star: Lahore
Handicapper to Follow: Fennaan
Older horses
Fennaan
He is a nice horse who we learnt a lot about throughout the year. I’ll campaign him differently this time. He needs dropping in and taking your time with him. These tactics can be hard to execute, but if they do work in a race he has plenty of ability as he showed when he won well at Newcastle at the backend of the year. We slightly tinkered with his wind and i’m sure he can win a race or two for us this year.
Galloway Hills
He's a grand horse who enjoys a bit of cut in the ground as he showed when winning a big field handicap at York in June. He lost his form a little at the tail end of the year but that has meant he is now 5lb lower than his last winning mark. He's had a nice winter break and has come back looking fit and well, so hopefully we can have a good season with him.
Colonel Slade – We got him out of Brian Meehan’s yard and won a couple with him in the Autumn. He’s a big horse with plenty of scope and although his form is over a mile, I think he might get a little further in time.
Jungle Inthebungle – He was a talented two-year-old who appeared to lose his way a little last season. He’s come down the weights to what looks a winnable mark and we quite like him. He wasn’t far off being ready to run before the break and I’d be hopeful he could be competitive off his current mark.
Lahore
On ratings he’s our best horse and hopefully he’ll take us to some of the big meetings. Big-field handicaps suit him and he just needs things to drop right. He needs a good pace to run at over a stiff five furlongs or six furlongs, with the ground either good or with a little ease in it.
Storm Over
He’s a grand old horse who enjoys the all-weather although does have form on the turf. We’ve given him a little break but he’ll be back in work soon and I think he can add to his tally of wins.
Three Card Trick
He was recommended to me by Kevin Ryan who used to train him. I know the family as I used to ride his full brother Tiddliwinks who was a good horse. The family are quite slow developing and he has bits of form which give me encouragement. He looks really well and I’m looking forward to getting going with him.
Three-year-olds
The Bell Conductor – We always thought a fair bit of him and he was probably a bit unlucky not to win before he did. We had to wait until November when he won a race at Southwell over the minimum trip. I think that form is solid, as the second trained by Mark Johnston won a couple after that and is rated in the early 90’s. Our lad is rated in the low 80’s which gives me hope he might be not badly handicapped. Ideally he’d want it good or slightly softer.
Borstal Bull
He never stopped growing through the season. We eventually got him out in October at Doncaster and he ran quite well. He then ran well finishing second at Wolverhampton when nothing really went right for him. I think he’s more of a three-year-old and would prefer ease in the ground. He should be winning races for us this season.
Order Of St John – He hasn’t been with us that long but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I think he might have been a bit weak last year. He looks really well and he had a couple of nice pieces of form over 6 furlongs with give in the ground which gives me cause for optimism
Penmellyn
She's a Dark Angel filly who ran a couple of nice races over the winter and was perhaps a little unfortunate not to win. She’s had a good break and will hopefully get a mile and a quarter. I’d be hopeful she can pick up a race.
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