EMPIRE

* or should it be McManusii

LATEST RESULTS & NEWS

The weekend at the end of February was the Empire Festival. Spider Boy, fourth in the Champion Hurdle Trial at Kempton got things off to a solid start, and on the flat the next day at the same venue, Happy Fleet made her handicap debut, finishing second by half a length, just being outstayed in the last half furlong. And on 1st March, Elegant Olive went for a paddle at Plumpton, but hated the ground and pulled up. She is looking to be a spring/summer hurdler as well.

Poor old Seaxnot has injured his toe quite badly, so will be off for a while. 

SEVILLIAN - 3 runs, 0 wins. A 1/12 share has been acquired in a great big orange thing by Rossini, hence the name. After a breathing operation was needed, on the evidence of his first two runs, he unfortunately seems to have picked up a tendon injury on the comeback run.

ELEGANT OLIVE - 7 runs, 0 wins. A 1/20 share has been acquired in Supreme Gift's half sister. She has been placed in two of her four bumpers so far, and has been a bit suspicious of hurdles, but is getting there. 

SPIDER BOY - 3 run, 0 wins for the Empire, but he has a long and illustrious career of trying hard and will be running for the Shovelstrode Racing Club. He has his own Appreciation Group on Facebook.

HAPPY FLEET - 6 runs, 0 wins, one place for the Empire, she is the substitute for the sidelined Sevillian.

SEAXNOT - 20 runs, 3 wins, 2 seconds. Back in the saddle in another A8! 

Seaxnot in a coat he pretends to hate, but won't take off

JOKER JESS - 95 runs, 13 wins and 28 seconds, including one spell of seven out of eight! Never a lightning trapper, and inclined to put the brakes on when hitting the front, he self preservation instinct, at the expense of triumphs, meant that she went on longest from a litter of eight, allowing her to gain one win more than the quicker and infinitely more genuine Soundgarden. Leighton, Jess & Eric: Empire Pics

PATH TO GLORY

After ten runs and no wins, he had become somewhat less than enamoured of the racing concept and was retired.

BARON LEIGHTON  

After 88 runs, featuring 24 wins and 14 seconds, winning up to S1 & A1 at Crayford (but no better than second in an open) and a stubborn refusal to win any race involving any form of trophy presentation, he was forced into retired by a torn muscle, where he can lord over all other living creatures, as he believes is his inevitable destiny.

J'ADORE

Suffered a recurrence of his tendon injury and has been retired. Although his mental approach to racing was very much a work in progress, the physical ability was there, it is a shame he was never able to put it to benefit.

J'Adore impersonates a bull at Fontwell

SOUNDGARDEN

Had a premature end to his racing career due to a toe injury that refused to be fixed. 57 runs, 12 wins and 8 seconds, winning up to A1 at Crayford and sprint opens at Hall Green & Crayford is not a bad tally.

TWO SHILLINGS

Empire had a 1/20 share of this talented but disastrously injury prone mare, who has now retired after a very decent debut and two less productive ones ending in a knock. She is now with Dani (on board in the pic) for a laid back retirement. Whilst she was off, the partnership had Mucho Loco on loan, and having shown glimpses of what he is could do over hurdles, ended with a record of ran 6 won 0, but we never managed to dig out a fast ground, two mile selling hurdle on a level track for him.

Two Shillings, in a rare uninjured moment, deep in thought as to whether to go on the gallops or not

OMNIPRESENT

Empire had a 1/4 share in this fawn and blue bitch, by Greyhound Derby runner-up He Knows, out of a Walthamstow-based bitch, Churchtown Doll. Three friends had bought her as a new born pup and I made the mistake of walking into the pub slightly under the influence when they were seeking a fourth partner. In her racing career, she won 15 of 70 races, also coming second 17 times, and third on another 15 occasions. Racing mostly at Crayford, she won up to S1 level (540m) and A3 (380m), plus went within a centimetre or so of winning an A2. Although nought from five in opens, Paxo had a near miss at dear departed Catford, beaten less than a length, and ran a blinder on her debut at Rye House, only for the hare mechanism to explode when she was at her peak and the track take a few months to re-open, by which point she was not in open winning form. Sadly, due to the onset of cancer, Omnipresent had to be put down in July 2005.

Omnipresent (blue jacket) in the heat of battle

NORTH POINT

Empire had a 1/10 (1/20 before he was bought back at the sales on 13th July) stake in this six year old bay gelding by Definite Article, out of Friendly Song. He had an unfortunate start for the partnership picking up an injury in an amateurs race at Goodwood. Things quickly picked up in proper racing, with wins at Ludlow and Plumpton sandwiching a vain appearance in the Supreme Novices Hurdle and a fourth in a fair race back at Ludlow. A futile spell back on the flat followed, with another niggling injury, and after returning North Point was been a bit nervous of a packed field which affected his hurdling and enthusiasm. Blinkers perked him up a bit, and small hurdle fields on fast ground looked as if they may work the oracle, but ultimately failed. His last run, before a well deserved retirement, saw him get a smack in the gob at Wolverhampton when the leader, on his inner, tried to duck out with a lap to go. As far as North Point was concerned regarding racing, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

North Point at Uttoxeter

Older Bloodstock Investments

Supreme Gift: Empire had a 1/20 stake in this small but well bred mare (by Supreme Leader, out of an unraced Strong Gale daughter of Dishcloth), she made a cracking debut, finishing third in a bumper to a well regarded horse of Colin Tinkler's, but sadly died of colic a few weeks later. Lack of stature had made her inexpensive, but her one run suggested she had the physical and mental ability to win in the jumps sphere.

Collective Dream: (1/20) a horse of modest talent who was just getting his act together in racing terms (capable of winning a seller or a small handicap), when he was unfortunately killed in a fall at Towcester. The amount of work put in by various people at Roger Curtis' yard getting him mentally right for racing deserved a more tangible reward.

Maybe Later: (1/20) a mare that might have been up to winning a race if things had fallen right for her, but she would have had to have been in the right place at the right time. Her best finish was fourth, but she had an annoying knack of running encouragingly when conditions were unsuitable and worse when they looked OK.

Irish Delight: (1/10) a big grey beast, inclined to bad temper, but he won twice, at Towcester and Fontwell, then had to be retired after picking up a tendon tear at Cheltenham. He had ability and tried hard, and for us to pick up 3/4 of him on a free lease from the breeder was a bargain. After the Towcester win, 'Murphy' was so excited that he headbutted jockey Jonathon Leech as he went to weigh in, and secured himself a spot on A Question Of Sport

Bath Knight: (1/20) bought off the flat, he was second on his first two races for us - once to Kinnescash at Plumpton, and another at Newton Abbot, beaten half a length. He then picked up a knock at Ascot and was not the same after a year off. His resolution was always in doubt (second nine times, never won) and once Bath Knight decided that gently ambling over the South Downs was his idea of a better day out than racing, he was retired.

Deptford Belle: (1/20) an inexpensive mare who took on Large Action in a bumper at Sandown and made him work hard to pass her. At that stage she did not quite see out two miles and pulled too hard, but was showing encouraging pace for when her stamina grew. Alas, injury intervened and after time off, she returned to action with diminished results and was sold to stud winless.