Tom Marquand
ONLY three winners last week, but it is that time of the year when the horses start to go in their coats, and it is inevitably that a yard the size of ours will have the odd quiet spell.
However, there was nothing quiet about Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale last week, and we have some superbly-bred yearlings coming in from Newmarket, which gives us plenty of optimism for next season.
Not that we are giving up on the current campaign yet. We have Champions Day coming up, and we were also delighted to be able to inch Tom Marquand back into pole-position at the head of the apprentice table when Dheban won at Chelmsford last night.
Tom, who is a valuable member of the team, had his three winner lead extinguished in one hit when Jack Garrity rode a treble at York yesterday, but we'll be doing our best to get Tom past the post in front and he has a couple of decent rides for us today at Goodwood in recent winners In The Red and Shell Bay.
Richard Hannon said:"With Pat Dobbs coming up for a suspension, we'll hopefully be able to put Tom on a few winners before the curtain comes down at Doncaster, and, besides that Goodwood duo, he has a few chances for us at Windsor tomorrow in Wiley Post, Be Bold, Crystal Malt and Silver Quay.
"However, feature tomorrow is the 7f conditions race at Salisbury, in which we run both Emell and Magic City. Emell was a close third in the G3 Supreme Stakes at Goodwood two outings ago, and his form has been solid this season with the blinkers making a big difference. He has 8lb in hand on official ratings with Magic City, though Gary Mahon claims the 5lb on the latter and he is riding really well so, hopefully, both ours will be involved in the finish."