Measuring Up

As the year draws to an end, it’s inevitable that we sit down and analyse the results for the year. We’ve had a great year here at Sarsen Farm. Our ambitious team of dedicated horsemen and women have worked hard. They have given our owners some great days at the races. We aren’t quite done with runners for the all weather so we’ll start with a brief overview of the turf season.

For the second year in succession our turf strike was an excellent 16%. To give that context, there were only 10 trainers who had more than 100 runners and managed better. We sit level with a further four trainers. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that those ahead of us have access to a higher calibre of bloodstock. So well done team, a serious achievement. Thank you to all of our owners for entrusting these horses to our care.

We enjoyed a particularly good time at Chester. Outgate winning at the May Festival a highlight for owner breeders Gary & Lesley Middlebrook. His solid third in the Silver Bowl at Haydock was followed up with a win in a £100,000 race back on the Roodee. Percy’s Lad whose rating increased from 85 to 98 during his first season with us broke the track record when winning a feature Saturday afternoon handicap there in August. He won three times this season for his new owner Alan Kerr. In addition he was from disgraced in the Royal Hunt Cup.

The tough Don’t Tell Claire landed a good Class 2 fillies handicap at Newmarket having run well all season in some hot races at Ascot, including at the Royal Meeting. The filly gave the Stonehill family some great days out. Any horse that can win multiple times in a season is special. Andaleep’s efforts to notch five was some going. He arrived in the yard rated 65 and climbed 22lbs to 87. He won plenty of prize money too, largely as a result of winning a very competitive Sunday Series race at Sandown.

We’ve got a great team of young horses and have some exciting older horses for 2023. As we set our sights on achieving even more next year. Helm Rock who won three times as four year old will be aimed to get the season off to a fairy tale start in the Lincoln.

If you would like to be a part of a winning turf campaign in 2023 we encourage you to check out the for sale page. There are still a fews shares available in our syndicate horses to suit every budget. The yearlings have delighted us with their progress, they look a very exciting bunch.