Latest News « McGoldrick Racing

Tragic news as Becky the Thatcher is put down

So desperately sad to report that our beautiful 7yo mare Becky the Thatcher has been put down as a result of a recurring problem involving displacement of her colon. No need to go into great detail, except to say we all knew Becky had not been performing to her usual high standard this season, and was being treated for colic and colitis. Eventually, after being diagnosed with having a displaced colon, Becky was operated on, but shortly afterwards her colon flipped through 180 degrees again, and we knew we were in trouble. The situation was discussed with Phil Cramp, Chief Vet at Hambleton Equine Clinic, and, because Becky was in constant pain, the advice was either further surgery with major risks, or to have her put to sleep. Becky proved to be the ideal horse for a small syndicate such as McGoldrick Racing. Always did her best as her stats will forever show. Total runs under rules 43 (22 flat..21 hurdles) wins SEVEN, 2nds ELEVEN, 3rds ONE a 44% win and place ratio to runs. Her earnings grossed at £57, 831, to which a further £5,000 can be added for her winning the Pontefract Stayers Championship 0f 2018.

NEWCASTLE Bumper well worth the journey

Richard Longley On February 24, 2020 / Latest News, Romeo Brown / Leave a comment

After all the disappointments of Romeos last five races 14th of 15…fell…fell…5th of 6….pulled up, it was extremely encouraging to see Romeo running a half decent race on Newcastles last minute arranged Bumper / Jumper card on Friday 21st Feb. I had seen the card, as had our member from Keighley, and both were of the same opinion that it was worth having a look. Great minds thought alike in this case as Phil Kirby had also pencilled in Romeo for one of these Bumper races as an excellent way of beginning the upward curve in Romeos performances members were desperate to see. And it worked out very well, as on a cold, wild and windy afternoon with hardly any racegoers present, and not even the big screen vehicle in attendance, Romeo raced enthusiastically to finish a highly respectable 2nd, beaten one length by an unfancied 16-1 Rebecca Menzies gelding, which, cometh the day, won`t be beating us again. The race I`m sure will have done Romeo a lot of good, and members too. Sean Quinlan was also delighted with the run, as was Phil Kirby who, after watching the race at Huntingdon where he also had runners, phoned to

Disbelief as results go from bad to worse

Richard Longley On February 4, 2020 / Becky the Thatcher, Blaster Yeats, Latest News, Romeo Brown / Leave a comment

Back in October 2019, all members were eagerly looking forward to the season ahead with Romeo Brown and Becky the Thatcher having flown the flag big style for us in the previous season. Add to that the addition of Blaster Yeats, who looked a shrewd purchase, giving us three horses to start the current 2019 / 2020 NH season. Fast forward to today, the 4th Feb 2020, and yours truly plus members are completely shell shocked and left wondering just how much worse can things get. Why ? read on…. Becky started the ball rolling with a nice 5th of 16 opening effort at Wetherby on 16th Oct `19 over a distance (3mls) which we suspected would test her stamina. Next day Romeo Brown ran a blinding first race of the season at Carlisle when a fast finishing second over 2ml 4f which augured well for the season ahead. Three days later, our new kid on the block Blaster Yeats ran his first race under rules at Sedgefield in a 2ml Maiden event at Sedgefield, finishing a very promising 4th of 12. Blaster then went on improving by running an excellent 3rd on 8th Nov at Hexham and an

ROMEO Passes the hurdling test

Richard Longley On January 13, 2020 / Latest News, Racing News, Romeo Brown / Leave a comment

CATTERICK THURSDAY 9th JAN 2020 With his latest 3 form figures reading OFF its not surprising the majority of us were just hoping for a clear round from Romeo Brown on his first visit to Catterick. Sean Quinlan was booked to ride. Earlier on in the week, Phil Kirby had said ..(his yard is only 2mls from Catterick Racecourse) that the ground was drying up fast and he would consider not declaring Romeo unless there was rain, Good to Soft would be perfect he said. Well Phil got his rain, a real deluge overnight, which, as a result, caused the Stewards to change the going to Soft. However, jockeys in earlier races were describing the ground as “horrible” and consequently, when the final race on the card was about to be run….Romeos race, with the ground churned up and now worse than horrible, my thoughts went back to the mudbath at Wetherby on the 2nd Nov `19 when a miserable and dejected Romeo trailed in 14th of 15 on ground barely raceable. Not quite as bad at Catterick, but bad enough for members present to have serious doubts about the prospect of a big race from Romeo. True enough, the

FRUSTRATION… FRUSTRATION….AND YET MORE FRUSTRATION !!

Richard Longley On December 18, 2019 / Becky the Thatcher, Blaster Yeats, Latest News / Leave a comment

December 2019 is proving to be an extremely frustrating month for myself and members of McGoldrick Racing. During October and November, things had got off to a steady, but promising enough start. Romeo Brown began his season with a very promising 2nd of 8 at Carlisle on the 17th Oct, finishing like a train to get within a length of the winner, only to get bogged down in a mud bath next time out, on the 2nd Nov at Wetherby finishing a very tired 14th of 15. Lesson learnt…we won`t be subjecting Romeo to such testing conditions again…ever !! After a short rest for Romeo to recover, we found a nice opportunity at Haydock on the 4th December. Quite well fancied, and with Thomas Dowson on board for the first time, we were optimistic of success. Our optimism was soon shattered however when Romeo tried to paddle through the 3rd hurdle and fell. It was a soft fall, but nevertheless, the word frustration came into use, and not for the only time either, as events over the days ahead would prove. Becky the Thatchers first two starts of the season were respectable enough, so we went to Carlisle on

The A1 Racing Road ,Blaster Yeats, Wetherby Nov 27th

Richard Longley On December 2, 2019 / Blaster Yeats, Latest News, Racing News / Leave a comment

A Report by guest correspondent Russell….our Honourable syndicate member from Mansfield. For the past 12 or 15 years I have been involved in syndicate ownership, with horses trained by Ferdy Murphy, Sue Smith and more recently Phil Kirby. During this time, most of the days out to watch the horses race have involved a drive north up the A1. Whether it be Catterick, Carlisle, Sedgefield, Doncaster, Newcastle, Wetherby or further afield to the likes of Kelso, Hexham, Musselburgh and Ayr all involving a large part of the A1. Wednesday 27th November 2019 was no different. A terrible weather day, the sort of day when your windscreen wipers cannot work fast enough. At least though it was a relatively short journey from my home in Notts to Wetherby races and the prospect of seeing the exciting, most recent addition to the famous colours of McGoldrick Racing, our 4yo Blaster Yeats trained by Sue Smith whose horsebox does not register south of Doncaster on it’s compass !! At least that`s the joke myself and my frequent racing companion, and fellow syndicate member John often crack on our many sojourns up the A1. Previously Blaster had shown some promise. On his first

Blaster Yeats going the right way

Richard Longley On November 11, 2019 / Blaster Yeats, Latest News / Leave a comment

New picture of Blaster. Hexham Friday 8th Nov. With a 2-7 fav in the field of ten runners, it was obvious our chances of Blaster winning were slim. So a decent run was what we wanted, and is what we got. He hurdled well enough and stayed on pleasingly, which was probably why the first thing Danny Cook said after dismounting was…”he`s a 3 miler …definitely a 3 miler for the future.” My post race thoughts reminded me of something the Trainer Jane Williams said to me at the time we purchased Romeo Brown from her, namely that Yeats progeny are either big strapping 3ml Chaser types, or smaller, more athletic hurdling sorts. Blaster definitely falls into the latter type, as was obvious when he was walking round the parade ring….for now anyway. He`s only 4yo ….still a baby really, and hes got some growing to do, but the risk anyone takes when buying a racehorse on breeding only, even at this embryonic stage of his career, appears to be proving once again we have got a real bargain basement purchase with this horse, who, in time, will provide us guys with plenty of thrills and excitement in the months

Romeo Brown not happy in Wetherby mudbath

Richard Longley On November 4, 2019 / Latest News, Romeo Brown / Leave a comment

The less said about Romeos performance at Wetherby on Charlie Hall Chase day the better. Except to say that if we expect Romeo to do his best for us, then its incumbent on us to ensure we do our best for him. We thought we had, but unfortunately, the weather decided it was going to have the final say, and at approx 1.00pm it began to rain and rain and rain some more, and as a result, when the 4-10pm last race on the card off time came, and the starters flag came down, with the ground at its very worst, fifteen brave horses set out on their 2ml 4f journey. Horses who raced prominently didn`t get the kick back, (the winner Mister Scrumpy was always prominent) but others suffered and after 2mls most became unrecognisable to those following the race on the big screen as racing silks all became the same muddy black colour. Consequently Romeo, and many others looked very sad sights as they struggled to get to the lollypop. Post race comments from Romeos regular jockey Sean Quinlan, the repeatable ones anyway, were, “that was nothing like the horse I rode last time at Carlisle”, and “I

THE NEW SEASON IS UNDER WAY

Richard Longley On October 22, 2019 / Latest News, Racing News / 1 Comment

Nearly six months have passed by since our last runner, enabling members to hibernate for the summer, then crash, bang, wallop, and we have three runners in five days to herald the start of the 2019 / 2020 McGoldrick Racing season. It turned out to be a satisfactory start for our three horses, and bearing in mind each of our trainers cautious comments beforehand, there was nothing to be disappointed about. Our first horse to open the batting was, BECKY THE THATCHER Wetherby 16th October 2019 Micky Hammond had hoped to run Becky in the 7th of the 8 stayers races at Pontefract on the flat, Monday 7th Oct., but the meeting was abandoned due to the course being waterlogged, and so we decided to go to Wetherby on the 16th in a 3ml Class 3 0-140 hcp. Her performance was well summed up by the RP. Prominent, led after 4 out, ridden and headed 3 out, remained close up until weakened run-in An excellent pipe opener from Becky then, after which we can now look for something far more suitable for her. She really is such a genuine horse. Her handicap rating was reduced from 134

WE ARE A SMALL NH SYNDICATE BUT JUST TAKE A LOOK AT OUR STATS

Richard Longley On September 29, 2019 / Latest News / Leave a comment

Including myself, McGoldrick Racing currently has just TWELVE members spread across the North of England. *West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Durham, Cheshire and Nottinghamshire. *We are ALL National Hunt fanatics and we will never have more than FOUR horses within the group *We believe less is more, and when you take a look at the stats below relating to our latest FIVE horses, perhaps you will understand why……. FILL THE POWER trained by Sue Smith, retired in 2016 as a 13yo Stats won FIVE races……………total earnings £57, 273 DELUSIONOFGRANDEUR trained by Sue Smith, an 8yo who sadly died at his peak after a crashing fall at Haydock Nov`18. Stats won SEVEN races…………total earnings £60,348 BECKY THE THATCHER trained by Micky Hammond, a 6yo prolific winner Stats won SEVEN races……….total earnings to date £55,950 and still only 6yo ROMEO BROWN trained by Phil Kirby 5yo with 2 wins from 4 over hurdles Stats Two wins from only 4 hurdle races total earnings to date £15,256 great start, only 5yo BLASTER YEATS trained by Sue Smith unraced 4yo gelding by Yeats ready to run in October. One share available SEVEN ARCHES trained by Sue