Blog 5: Indy's first race!
Posted by Indispensabelle (Indy) on
18 April 2013

After elimination from Fontwell due to a lack of stabling, and seeing a rapid reduction in the number of available races in the near future, Indy was entered into a higher class race at Cheltenham.
Although Indy came second to last, her performance overall for this stage of things is very pleasing. She behaved impeccably in the pre-parade ring and then, when saddled, in the parade ring, in front of a large crowd and with all of the distractions and goings on of such a big meeting. We gave the jockey clear instructions (these were his own views as well anyway, and he is known to be good with youngsters) to give her a good experience and not to be hard on her. He said that he would try and settle her towards the rear /mid division and see how she was going. If she didn’t have it in her to get into the 'shake-up', he wasn’t going to push her. She was up with the rest for the first mile and a half, but then wasn't strong enough to stay with them when they started to put the pressure on and so was allowed to tail-off a bit. She cantered past the finish line not looking exhausted as a result, and probably having enjoyed the run. Back in the unsaddling enclosure, we had a good and very honest account of her run from Gerard (as I knew we would get), the essentials of which were that she was not strong enough yet but had a really good attitude and was always genuine and trying.
We have now proved that it is possible to breed, train and run a horse exclusively on a Simple System forage and linseed diet. Yes, we still need to show that it is possible to win with such a horse as well, but we should be able to prove that over the next year or two!