I K Brunel
Having made a winning yard debut at Larkhill PTP in the Ladies Open in November, we were really looking forward to running IK again. We thought that running him in a Hunters’ Chase would be a good idea, with the aim of gaining a top three finish to qualify for the Aintree Foxhunters. With the weather causing havoc, our plans to run him kept changing with both Ludlow and Fakenham abandoned. Eventually we managed a clear run with the weather, and headed off to Taunton for the Maurice Broadway 70th Birthday Celebration Open Hunters’ Chase. The race was hotter than the abandoned races we were declared to run in, but we were hoping for a clear round and a top three finish.
IK travelled strongly, tracking the leaders on the rail the whole way, and as he came to 5 out, he jumped himself to the front. Izzie kicked on a few lengths coming into the home straight, and he quickened very impressively, winged the last 3 fences fantastically and galloped through the line well to finish in front by 5 and half lengths!
Along with Aintree qualification secured, he is now eligible to run at Cheltenham in the Foxhunters, which we all feel would be a really exciting option for him! The plan is to hopefully run in both Foxhunters providing the ground doesn’t get too soft, and with there being 4 weeks between the festivals this year, it seems a good opportunity to give all connections some good days out!
We are really pleased that along with Lynn & Martin Redman and Maurice Thomas, Rodney and Gillie Mann have purchased a leg in IK. He has come out of his race at Taunton well and he will have a few more pieces of work and schools before he heads to Cheltenham next Friday!
Mighty Stowaway
Mighty Stowaway joined Woodway Farm last spring from Gordon Elliot’s yard. ‘Perry’ had a fantastic season in Irish points before he ran in the 2022 Cheltenham Foxhunters, where he ran superbly to finish 3rd. After suffering from severe travel sickness when coming over to Britain last year, Perry is back in full health and is all guns blazing to make a very competitive return to the Cheltenham Foxhunters.
Perry on his way to finishing 3rd at Cheltenham last year
Perry will be ridden by Ben Sutton, who is in fine form having just won a handicap hurdle at Kelso on ITV on homebred Santos Blue (previous PTP winner for Woodway Farm) for Dan Skelton. Ben and Perry ran a great race to finish 4th in the Mens Open race at Horseheath on New Year's Eve, and Perry has now been freshened right up and has enjoyed multiple racecourse schools and away days to Lambourn.
The beautiful Perry!
We are really excited for the Sutton family as Ben is sure to have a brilliant ride on Perry next Friday! IK and Perry go out in the field together everyday, so hopefully they’re relaxing before their big day out next week!