I have only a couple days left here at Cheveley Park, the last 8 weeks have gone very quickly and I enjoyed every minute of it. The staff here are an awesome group to be a part of -teaching me plenty of new skills and little tricks along the way. I would like thank them for everything they have done for me while at Cheveley Park.
The weather has started to warm up a little bit, making it a little bit more comfortable to work in and the mares and foals are loving being outside. There have been some cracking foals at Cheveley so far this season covering a range of different stallions all across the UK and Europe. However my favourite from Cheveley Park would be the legendary Pivotal with some cracking foals on the ground this season and first year at stud stallion, Ulysses. Pivotal’s record speaks for itself with 27 Individual group 1 winners and 141 stakes winners, with the recent success of ‘Blair House’ winning the Group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan 2 weeks ago.
Ulysses a dual group 1 winner with career earnings just under $3.8NZD million has got an amazing book of mares this season, as Cheveley are giving the son of Galileo every chance to make himself as a great stallion. I wish Cheveley all the best with his future success.
A highlight from the last few weeks was my day at Rodger Varian’s racing stable shadowing his racing manager Emily Scott. We watched 3 different lots of horses work with roughly a string of 50 horses in each lot. We watched 2 lots go up ‘Long Hill’ side of the Heath mostly full of Rodgers older horses and then the last lot go up ‘Warren Hill’ with his impressive 2 year olds. The facilities were top class, and the organisation was incredible for so many horses and staff, it shows why Rodger is one of the leading trainers. I will definitely keep track of Rodger's runners over the coming season. It was a privilege to meet Rodger and Emily and I thank them for their time. To read further information on Varian Stable (click here).
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sunline Trust together with those of you who support the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association who have awarded me the Sunline Scholarship. My time in Newmarket has been an amazing experience that I will be forever grateful to have experienced. I look forward to my future travels as I head to Scotland this weekend to meet Tony Williams and be a member of his team for the next 2 weeks.
David Morris
