JustBookies Racing Club - Latest News, Information, Press Releases
Yearling Sales start next month - join us! July 10, 2010
The yearling sales season starts at Doncaster towards the end of next month. It's amazing how quickly it comes around again, and it carries on until December. I think we proved we can buy a nice horse for not a lot of money. JustBookies Dot Com cost us just under £10,000 and after his runner-up spot last time, he looks a nice prospect. We knew he was nice before we started bidding. He was such a 'stand out', to our eyes anyway. He has been rested in advance of what we hope will be a long and fun three-year-old campaign.
Why not join us in a new horse? Please make contact, because if we know you want a quarter share in a new yearling we can purchase more readily. Please contact Noel.
JustBookie Dot Com gelded today and rested, May 25, 2010
JustBookie Dot Com came out of his last race with a touch of sore shins. Instead of soldiering on and trying to work around this niggle, we have decided to geld the horse today and give him a break. Twelve weeks in a field should allow him time to strengthen, mature and come back in good physical shape for an extensive three-year-old campaign. The Polytrack all-weather surfaces are certainly fast and seem to take their toll on young legs. I guess all the complaints about the level of kick-back over the years means the surface has got thinner. Southwell's Fibresand is known for its deeper / slower track but the complaint there relates to the level of kick-back. More kick-back and a safer surface please.
JustBookie Dot Com fast-finishing second today, May 17, 2010
JustBookie Dot Com was a fast-finishing second over five furlongs at Wolverhampton today. The 2007 champion jockey Seb Sanders confirmed the obvious impression, that the horse ran green and needs further. It was a deliberate ploy to drop the horse in and let him run at horses this time (though not to give that much ground away at the stalls!). After his rotten break, he needed every inch of the 5f 20yds to get second close home and was the fastest finisher of the eight runners. It was not a strong event (which is why we ran there) but it marked a public improvement from JustBookie Dot Com. His homework is better than that. There is more improvement to come, particularly over further.
JustBookie Dot Com runs at Wolverhampton May 17, May 15, 2010
JustBookie Dot Com is running at Wolverhampton on Monday (May 17). There are just eight runners and it looks a weak race on paper. The main issue may be this tight, turning track which I don't think will suit him, but it should be a learning 'curve'. He was 10th of 16 at Warwick first time and did not enjoy the rain-softened ground. I was surprised, when I saw his action completely go on the ground and undulations, that he was beaten as few as eleven lengths by the winner. He also ran too free too early that day. One good sign, Seb Sanders took some time to pull him up. The horse does more at home than he did at Warwick. He looked very green and I fear the same story at Wolverhampton. But it is a bad race and I know if he ever showed on the track what he does at home he would win a moderate race like this with ease.
JustBookie Dot Com entered for Warwick May 8, May 4, 2010
JustBookie Dot Com has been entered for the two-year-old race on Saturday (May 8) at Warwick (6.20pm). He will be trainer Louise Best's second runner and her first two-year-old runner. This race is over five furlongs and is part of the yearling bonus scheme. This means that if JustBookie Dot Com were to win he would receive an extra £10,000.
There are 39 entries so a full field of 17 runners is expected. JustBookie Dot Com only needs a couple to drop out ahead of him at the declaration stage to get a run.
JustBookie Dot Com targets May 8 debut, April 16, 2010
JustBookie Dot Com, our two-year-old colt, is being aimed at a race at Warwick on May 8. That is Plan A. It may come a bit soon but unless he has a setback then the month of May will see his debut.
Ziggy given racecourse gallop and a new name, March 9, 2010
Ziggy, our Fath 2yo colt, has had a racecourse gallop at Lingfield on the all-weather track. We expected him to be green in the new environment but he took to the Surrey racecourse well. He was surprisingly professional and it was heartening that he handled the Lingfield bend into the home straight at speed. We had a bigger older horse accompany him and sit on his outside to stop any potential wandering but Ziggy never looked like being wayward. We had a Southwell Maiden Auction race on March 31st in our sights. It is one of the first 2yo races of the season but we have decided not to rush him and his likely first run will on the turf in May.
Ziggy has now been named "Justbookie Dot Com". It doesn't exactly trip off the tongue but it has been designed to promote our websites. With prizemoney levels low at the bottom end of the UK's racing pyramid, marketing money should be welcomed into an industry that employs so many. Without the added appeal of promoting our commercial interests we may not be in this ownership game at all.
Louise Best granted trainer's licence, February 22, 2010
Ziggy's trainer Louise Best has finally been granted her trainer's licence after what has felt like a never-ending process. The light at the end of the tunnel sometimes seemed very distant, if it was there at all. In fairness, all the courses, form-filling and BHA due diligence is laudable. The barrier to entry needs to be set high to ensure competence, integrity and professionalism within the sport. It is lucky for some of the long-established trainers they got in the game while the going was easy.
Ziggy (Fath colt) doing gallops work, February 16, 2010
Ziggy, our Fath 2yo colt, has been cantering since early January. It took a while for the penny to drop and we had to be patient to win him round. He got going before Christmas but was then held up by extreme snow. It felt like going back to square one once we could use the gallop again. He has been going up the gallop six days a week since January. He has learnt that it is great fun and his attitude on the gallops is now very professional. On most days he is doing three times up the four-furlong, uphill, all-weather gallop (a gallop responsible for preparing various Group 1 sprint winners). Ziggy can do it all now. He is used to being behind, in front and working upsides. We think he has ability and as he has been merrily carrying 12st up the stiff uphill gallops half the time, he will feel he is running loose when he hits a racetrack with just 9st on his back. Click for latest pictures.
Ziggy (Fath colt) broken and hacking out, November 20, 2009
Our stunning Fath yearling colt (stable name: 'Ziggy') has been broken and is hacking out on the roads. He is a sensible individual who was easy to break, a situation probably aided by the excellent groundwork that had been done at his stud. Prior to being broken, he was allowed to settle into his new environment and lunged daily. He is likely to encounter the gallops next week when he will do some first canters with a rider on board. Shares are still available.
Yearling Bonus Scheme: Good, bad and ugly, November 13, 2009
We have paid the owner's instalment for the Yearling Bonus Scheme on behalf of our Fath colt. This needed to be done prior to December 15 to keep his eligibility live. This scheme means that if our colt were to win a maiden race as a two-year-old he would receive a £10,000 bonus. The Yearling Bonus Scheme is innovative but it is a sad state of affairs that the pockets of owners and breeders have to be picked to fund an acceptable level of prizemoney. All maiden races should have a minimum value of £10,000 as standard. But that would mean the Levy would need to be raised from its current paltry 10% of gross profit on UK horseracing betting revenue. That would never do.
We purchase a yearling colt, October 16, 2009
JustBookies Racing Club has purchased a fabulous yearling colt at the Newmarket sales. He is strong and well bred on both sides of his pedigree. If you would like to know all about him including his breeding, looks and costs involved then please see this page for details.
Attending the sales, October 12, 2009
JustBookies Racing Club is attending the Tattersalls Newmarket October yearling sales this week to purchase a sprint-bred yearling colt. We have instructed one of the country's leading bloodstock agents.
