Winner – Deceiver

Deceiver made an excellent start to his season with a comprehensive victory in a seven furlong novice race at Kempton yesterday . It goes down as a very exciting win. He showed plenty of signs of inexperience, the win was ultimately down to raw ability.

The three year old made a bit of a mess of things coming out the gate. The consequence of this was he ended up in a mid division. In a race that was run at a seemingly modest gallop, he didn’t settle very well. When things opened up in the straight Deceiver wasn’t in the best of positions, but jockey Rossa Ryan was able put the race to bed readily. Having found the gap Deceiver was able to use his long stride to good effect. He hit the line strongly and will have no trouble staying a mile in future and perhaps further.

Congratulations to owners and breeders Gary & Lesley Middlebrook. The Cracksman gelding is the fourth foal out their mare Penny Drops. Penny Drops has produced four winners from four foals, all of them talented. These include Outgate, who won four times for the Sarsen Farm team. These included wins at the Chester May meeting and a £100k handicap at the same venue. 

His next move will very much depend on his handicap mark. If he continues to develop and progress a more medium target is something like the Silver Bowl at Haydock towards the end of May. After that perhaps something like the Brittania at Royal Ascot.

As ever thank you to all the team for their hard work. A special mention for head work rider Mark Lawson who rides him out most days and groom James Pulley who cares for him. It was a great start to the season. There are still limited shares available in horses if you’d like to be part of the success of Sarsen Farm in 2023.