Hello, Friend,

I hope you've had a decent start to your week.

Below I have repeated resident pro-punter, Adam Norman's, notes from his recent trip to Hexham. As always there's the odd nugget to ponder and horse to note down for the future.

On Saturday a good group of us descended on Haydock to watch Kaleb run for our Racing To Profit Syndicate #1 (which also includes Proud Mari). (photo above) There was a mix up with the colours but he'll be back in our 'green & gold' next time. We had a great day and it was superb to be at a 'Grade 1' fixture and have a runner in a Listed contest.

Only in racing can you be within feet of Paul Nicholls, Henry De Bromhead, Alex Ferguson et al, with many always happy to have a brief chat. I think our loyal band of owners enjoyed themselves.

Kaleb ran well, sticking to his task and evidently has a fair amount of ability. We're going to have plenty of fun with him. We are pondering throwing him into a Grade 1, as it's now or never, with the reality that down the line he's likely to be a very good handicapper. I've already started pondering the Lazarote Hurdle at Kempton in January 2024! (you heard it here first) I think he could be best over 2m4f-5f, time will tell.

If you're on twitter, you can watch Jack Quinlan's video debrief HERE >>>

A week today another group of RTP Syndicate owners will be heading to Southwell to watch Shandancer make his debut for us in a maiden hurdle. He's been flying at home and schooling well (a video of him on my Twitter page also, here>>>).

We shall see if he transfers his homework to the racecourse and what that means! Amy has already transformed him (as expected) since he arrived over here from Ireland and I'm hoping he'll be another cracking value buy at what was around 10k all in. Some of his Irish bumper form suggested he could be a 115-130 horse. If he wins a few for us we'll all be delighted, at whatever level. You can't beat the adrenaline of watching your own horse.

It will be fun finding out how good he is, and we will be running him on the Flat next season also, as he's shown a fair bit of pace at home against various work horses (he's related to Frankel after all!). In any case, it's hurdles first, and he's there to win at Southwell if good enough - fitness shouldn't be an excuse.

We do still have some shares available, and you can find out more HERE >>>

(hopefully they won't last long when he bolts up next Tuesday!)

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Adam's Racing Round-Up

I won't repeat the whole post as that's for members' only, but his notes from Hexham are informative, and you can read below...

Hexham (Nov 16)

Not a bad card with hint of quality here and there. ‘Handsome is as handsome does’ was the watchword after Crystal Glory made the successful transition to fences with a simple victory under Sean Quinlan. He’s not the most orthodox looking horse in the world but is quite likeable and looks an athlete, which is more important than anything else. He wasn’t left with much to beat when the gorgeous looking Mossy Fen bowed out early on – a horse sadly with a bigger hole in him than a polo mint. None of those in behind are worth following in the near term – Hillview has the size for fences but probably wants to come back for spring ground. Donna’s Double has strengthened up but could do with another year on his back, however he’s one to keep in mind as he’s an out and out chaser with ability.

You Wear It Well is no great looker but we found out how good she might be, running her own race against a moderate bunch – don’t forget she was penalised for winning at Worcester and knowing the connections she’ll be heading for Listed company before long in search of some black type. I wasn’t at all disappointed with the performance of Rathgearan in a clear second, Chris Grant’s maiden is a good strong gelding who can improve on the bare performance, especially up in trip now that he’s settling better. On the negative side, recent bumper winner Percolator may have found this coming too soon but he lacks size and scope and isn’t going to achieve a great deal over timber.

This track is not a jumping test for hurdlers with the obstacle in the dip absent currently and that suited Bingoo, who won quite impressively on his debut despite jumping in a very novicey fashion. He’ll be found out on a more orthodox track if he doesn’t smarten up in that department but he’s probably quite useful and will be one to watch when it all comes together.

Milldam, from the stable of You Wear It Well, was asked to win in similar dominant circumstances but he doesn’t make all that much appeal physically and could be something of a rogue the way he curled up here. That said, the times tell us that Sheehan went too quick early on and he may yet be worth another chance. Copper Beach may have gone into too many notebooks to be backable next time but he’s quite a nice little project this season especially with some extra real estate to cover.

One horse I’m very keen to be involved in next time is Diegos Way, a horse with a nice amount of scope and a fine jumper who would have been far too good for his opponents over a shorter trip. He’s often shaped like a thorough stayer but was too keen in this four miler and he failed to get up the hill. His Irish point form is quite decent and he should still have half a stone in hand if he returns to these shores.

Paddy The Horse strikes me as one with quite a bit in hand of the assessor at present and can land a hat-trick – there’s no reason why he can’t operate elsewhere and he looks a stronger individual than 12 months ago.

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All the best,

Josh