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Click here for details of Micky Hammond’s forthcoming entries, courtesy of racingpost.co.uk

1 November
We had 2 runners at Wetherby’s big Charlie Hall meeting on Saturday, both running very creditably. Motafarred followed up his debut runners-up with another good effort finishing third in the 2m novice hurdle. Then, in the 2m 4f handicap hurdle, Terenzium ran a cracker, going down by just half a length to the well-handicapped Warsaw Pact.

Plenty of runners coming up later this week.

20 October - Mr Crystal wins at Pontefract
Crack hurdler Mr Crystal showed his battling qualities in a stayers handicap at Pontefract today, prevailing by just a short head on ground softer than ideal for him.

Micky said, “This shows the horses are very well again, and we have many of our big young chasers out over the next few weeks so I’m expecting many more winners. Our target is 20 for the jumps season.”

15 October - Wetherby update
We had four runners at Wetherby today, came close to 2 winners but ended up with 2 runners-up in Terenzium and Motafarred.

Terenzium ran another good race in defeat, going down by 2 lengths to a rival rated 22lbs higher than him in the 2m 4f novices hurdle. Motafarred ran a cracker on his hurdling debut, going down by just a length in a tight finish, well clear of the third. He should be winning very soon.

Manbow finished down the field in the Bobby Renton, but will probably be better for the run, whilst Tranos disappointed with top weight in the handicap hurdle. He looks to have a stiff mark after his runaway win at Perth earlier in the year.

11 October - A baby girl!
Congratulations to Micky and Hannah on the birth of their second child, Kierra Faye, a baby sister to Oliver born today

8 October - Wetherby passed fit
Micky was one of several trainers who attended Wetherby on 8 October to assist in a BHA inspection of the track. After much concern over the state of the ground for the re-aligned track, the course has been given the go ahead to race from 15 October. This is good news after the track had to ditch its chase races last season.

Micky said, “I’m delighted we’re going to get back to a proper season at Wetherby with chasing back. We have plenty of runners at the track, and last season we picked up the small yard prize for performances at Wetherby. We have a very good team of young chasers this season, and I couldn’t be more delighted to have Wetherby back.”

1 August update
It has been a while since our last update. In that time, the stable picked up the “champion small stable” prize for the 2007/08 season at Wetherby, helped by late season wins there by Tucker and Rimsky Korsakov.

In general, the stable has been in good form with 8 winners from late April to early June. A handicap hurdle double at Perth for the fast-improving Tranos; Novice hurdle successes for chasing-types Trafalgar Man and Chernik ; a flat win for the game Charlotte Vale, who is in foal to Three Valleys; flat handicap wins also for Motafarred and Mr Crystal.

With the jumps season getting into full swing over the next 6 weeks, most of our jumpers are back in training. We are expecting a bumper season from the novice chasers if we can can keep them sound. 

17 February update
Firstly, apologies for the delay in providing an update this year. There will be weekly updates of news and the horses’ details / progress from now on.

We had a quiet time in the yard in January with the exceptionally wet weather meaning, like last year, there were very few meetings on in the North. Micky took the opportunity to take the family on a holiday to Thailand towards the end of the month and has come back in great spirits.

On 12 February, Micky celebrated his return when Dawn Ride won very convincingly in a handicap at Newcastle under Barry Keniry. He was hunted around at the back, building his confidence after his fall at Wetherby on Boxing, and made ground quickly up the home straight. Having jumped very well most of the way round, he blundered and pecked at the second-last but ran on strongly to lead at the last and win going away for the Belarus Partnership. He is one of a large group of yound chasers in the yard who are expected to show their best over the next 3 seasons.

The stables horses continue in good form, and there were placed efforts for La Pantera Rosa and Desert Rat at Musselburgh on 13 February, and for Desert Hunter at Wolverhampton on Valentine’s Day.

Looking forward to Cheltenham, and Micky has entered both Rimsky Korsakov and Mr Crystal in the Triumph Hurdle. Mr Crystal is rated best juvenile hurdler trained in the North this season, and all being well will take his chance at the Festival.

20 December update
Divex finally got off the mark in a maiden chase over 2m 3f at Catterick on 18 December. He had shown a deal of promise in previous runs without getting off the mark, but travelled and jumped well all the way round in this event, until the last where he failed to take off and Barry Keniry had to survive a nasty moment beofre Divex recovered and pulled clear on the run-in.

The stables runners have been in good form without winning too many over the last few weeks, but Micky and the team are confident of success over Christmas and New Year. Keep visiting the website for updates.

21 November update
Two promising runs from young horses today at Hexham. Chernik made his debut over hurdles with an excellent 3rd place finish over a 2 mile trip which will probably prove inadequate for him. He should now go on to better things.

Dawn Ride made his debut over fences and put a couple of disappointing hurdle runs behind him when jumping well and staying on strongly to take 3rd in the novices handicap chase over 2m 4f. Micky believes he was a bit short of his best work at home given that he’d recently had an ailment, and expects him to win races now he’s running in chases.

13 November update
Snow’s Ride completed a hat-trick with a battling victory by a head over Circassian in a decent class 3 handicap over 2m 4f at Sedgefield. Ridden patiently by Wilson Renwick, Snow’s made ground easily after the third last and looked as though he’d go away from the field when he took the lead at the next, but just idled a little in front and had to beat off a few challengers on the stiff run-in. He’ll have one more race before a winter break.

2 November update
Mr Crystal earned his chance to go for the listed Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle at Wetherby today following 2 wins from his only 2 starts over hurdles. He jumped superbly and travelled very strongly until taking the lead but falling at the second last. There’s little doubt that he would have won. He galloped to the line and so hopefully no ill effects. He’ll have a break and then look at some nice races in the spring.

Tee-Jay, a stable stalwart and winner of 8 races and nearly £40,000 in prize money, was retired this week. He hasn’t shown much zest of late, and will be given a well-earned rest. He won 5 of his 8 races at his beloved Hexham. He will be missed.

20 October update
It’s been another good week with Manbow returning after 11 months off to win at Wetherby on Wednesday. He raced strongly throughout and won comfortably under Graham Lee. He seems to be better than ever after his horrific fall at Aintree last November.

Snow’s Ride made it 2 on the trot with a bizarre victory at Kelso today. He actually finished second, but the “winner”, Humorous, and another six runners missed out the third last hurdle, so Snow’s was rightly awarded the race. Micky and the team seem to have got the best out of this “thinker” after his back injury in 2006. He could follow-up if the ground remains good or better.

13 October - Update
As the jumps season really starts to get going, we’ve been back amongst the winners with Mr Crystal winning his first 2 novice hurdles at Perth and Kelso in late September and early October, and Snow’s Ride picking up a nice handicap hurdle at Sedgefield on 2 October.

Mr Crystal showed promise when stepped up in trip on the flat, scoring at Beverley in the summer, and looks like he’ll make a nice juvenile hurdler. He jumps and stays well, and showed particular guts to hold on by a neck under a penalty at Kelso. Micky is aiming him at the graded Wensleydale hurdle at Wetherby’s “Charlie Hall” meeting in early November.

The grey, Snows Ride, had been running much better following his injury and looked the winner at Perth in his previous run, before running out of petrol in the later stages of a truly-run 3 mile handicap. He returned to 2m 4f at Sedgefield and stormed home up the hill to win eased down under Wilson Renwick.

24 August - Active Business Communications become stable sponsor
We are delighted to announce that leading provider of business communications solutions, Active Business Communications, have signed up as stable sponsors for the next 12 months. We are very grateful to the management team at Active for this commitment, which will undoubtedly help the stable team to move forwards.

You can read about Active here

12 August - “Moto” makes it 2 wins in a month
Motafarred, thriving on his return to around a mile, won a Leicester handicap going away under Jamie Spencer. He is extremely well in himself, and could follow up again soon.

This was Spencer’s second ride for Micky, and they maintained their unbeaten partnership.

11 July - “Stayer” Motafarred wins over 7 furlongs on Kempton’s all-weather
He came to our stables late in 2005 after winning over a mile and a half for Dermot Weld at the Galway Festival, and then Motafarred ran in the 2006 Ascot Gold Cup over 2 and a half miles. But it took a return to the trip of just 7 furlongs to bring him back to winning ways, gutsily staying on for Tom O’Brien at Kempton on 11 July.

It was a welcome win for owner Mr RD Bickenson. Motafarred returned to Kempton a week later and was just pipped in a photo over a mile.

27 June - Gemma Hogg rides first ever winner as Charlotte Vale doubles up
Gutsy mare, Charlotte Vale, made it 2 wins in 8 days with victory in an Amateur Riders’ Handicap at Hamilton for owner Peter Davies. It was a first ever winning ride for Assistant Trainer, Gemma Hogg, from only her fourth ride in public. Gemma kicked Charlotte clear in the final 2 furlongs and showed a bit of style to galvanise the mare to hang on at the line from a couple of late challenges.

This was our sixth win in a month, and with a few soft-ground types on the flat, we’re looking to make the most of the miserable weather.

19 June - Charlotte Vale outguns rivals at Thirsk
Greg Fairley rode Charlotte Vale close up to the fast pace in the 1m 4f handicap and kicked her on with 2 and a half furlongs to go. She gamely fended off a couple of late challenges to score going away for owner Mr Peter Davies. This was the mare’s third win at Thirsk, and fourth on the flat overall.

This was the stable’s fifth win in just 24 days, and we are full of confidence for further victories before the end of the month.

13 June - Mr Crystal scores at Beverley
Ridden confidently by Michael Stainton, Mr Crystal pulled hard early in his 1m 4f 3yo handicap, but stayed on best of all up the closing hill to score going away. He looks set to win again soon, and may do better over even further. It was a nice success for Mr S Henderson, the owner.

On the same card, Mr Bickenson’s Motafarred ran his best race for some time, finishing second in a handicap, bidding to make all and just being caught inside the final furlong. He should be winning soon.

6 June - Industrial Star makes it 3 winners in 12 days
Racing Management and Training’s grand gelding, Industrial Star, battled on bravely to win a 2 mile handicap on the Flat at Ripon on Wednesday evening. He once again showed his versatility and battling qualities to hold off The Whirling Dervish.

We have now had 3 winners in under 2 weeks, demonstrating that the horses are generally in form.

San Deng disappointed a little when pulled up at Sedgefield in the afternoon. However, he didn’t have his ground - it was described as Good To Firm, but was clearly over-watered and was very sloppy on top. He needs firm side of good to run to his form.

31 May - Karo De Vindecy wins at Sedgefield
Karo De Vindecy made it 2 winners for the stable in 5 days with a comfortable win in a 2m 4f handicap chase at Sedgefield. He jumped superbly in front for Graham Lee, was headed 3 out, but rallied to draw clear and score by 11 lengths. He may well follow up.

It was a nice victory for owners Racing Management and Training, who have several horses with us. Micky Hammond said: “Karo De Vindecy is a thoroughly game and consistent horse who appreciated the return to this trip. He is thriving, jumped well and deserved this win. With 2 winners in a week after our long winlesss spell, this is the best way for us to prove that we have the horses very well, and we should be a stable to follow through the next few months.”

Also today, Tidy ran an encouraging race at Ayr, finishing fifth. He’ll do better when the going eases a little.

26 May - Trafalgar Man puts us back amongst the winners at last
After a very wet January and February when we weren’t able to have many runners, and then most of the stable’s horses picking up a viral chest infection in March and early April, it was a welcome change of fortune which saw us pick up a maiden hurdle at Cartmel on Saturday 26 May with the consistent Trafalgar Man. He was our first winner since November, and that marks the longest period Micky has had without a winner.

Micky said: “We have not had much luck with the wet ground against us in the early part of the year, and then just when the horses were back on the track and running well, a virus effectively stopped us for 2 months. We also have a lot of promising young chasers-to-be, and so when we realised we had the virus, I decided to put them out in the field earlier than planned so that they are not risked. That means we can bring them back early for this winter’s campaign.”

He continued: “Anyway, the horses have been running pretty well for a few weeks now, and it was only a question of when. I’m delighted the win has come for Mike and Eileen Newbold who have been tremendous owners for me over the years.”

“We expect to send out a few flat winners over the next few weeks, and then the jumpers will be coming back into the yard for an early start to their winter campaign. I want to make up for lost time by making real inroads into the new jumps season”

The stables runners have performed well for several weeks, only a very bad slip on landing over the last prevented Helvetio from gaining an easy front-running success over Alan King’s Habanero at Wetherby on 10 May (he managed to stay on his feet but stopped to nothing and finished second). Campli has had two good places in maidens on the flat, and Terenzium and Desert Hunter both finished third in decent flat handicaps at long prices. So, we look set for quite a few winners over the next few weeks.

4 May update
There are good signs that the horses have shaken off the impact of lung infections which spread through the yard at the end of March and beginning of April. They are physically thriving and we are starting to see some good performances on the track - Charlotte Vale ran a cracker to be runner-up behind the very well-handicapped Lennon in a hot handicap hurdle at Perth last week, Aston Lad returned with a fine third at the Perth Festival too and Chernik ran a promising third in a bumper at Hexham on 23 April.

We are gearing up to have a number of runners in the early-season jump racing in the North and expect to get back on the winning trail.

Micky said: “It has been an extremely frustrating time. We have a number of promising young horses, and I really didn’t want to run them on the sapping heavy ground we had in January and February. The team was thriving, but as soon as we got some decent ground, the virus struck. Fortunately, I have a very loyal set of owners who have been very supportive, and I and the team are determined to deliver them success over the next few weeks and months.” He went on: “Trainers do get these spells from time to time. Even in the most successful of seasons, things can go wrong - this is just a bit of bad luck that we will shake off over the next few months.”

14 April - Saturday update
Campli was our only runner today and he ran a blinder to finish second on his flat debut in the 1m 2f maiden at Newcastle behind Derby entry Celestial Halo. We are hoping that this is a good sign that the stable is coming out of the virus (see below) quickly, but will know more on Sunday when San Deng, Industrial Star and Nortelco run at Kelso.

Easter Monday (8 April) update
Happy Easter to everyone.

With form of our runners being patchy, and a couple finishing distressed at Wetherby, Micky and the team had all of the horses checked. They all have high levels of white blood cells, indicating fighting a virus (the lung infections which Dawn Ride, Snow’s Ride and High Country were found to have). It appears that they’re on the way back from that and we expect some runners next week.

Micky Hammond said, “It is frustrating when this sort of thing happens. However, that’s racing - it will happen from time to time. The horses were in good shape before we were hit, and I expect we’ll be amongst the winners soon.”

We had a couple of runners at Catterick on the Thursday - Alghaazy ran down the field on his reappearance after more than a year off, and Charlotte Vale ran OK when second in a handicap, though beaten a long way by the winner.

Divex ran moderately in the Handicap Hurdle at Haydock on Saturday, but Helvetio was tailed off in a hot race at Kempton. He didn’t seem to stay the 2m trip very well in that class, and is possibly being affected by the virus.

Middleham Trainers’ Open Day, Good Friday 6 April
We were delighted to take part in the open day on Good Friday. It was a lovely day and several thousand visitors came to Oakwood Stables. Our team was delighted to show them around. Official website for the event is www.middlehamstablesopenevent.co.uk 

3 April - Midweek update
We had our first runners for quite a while at Kelso on Tuesday. Boris The Spider disappointed when pulling up in the Handicap Hurdle, but Trafalgar Man once again ran a promising race when third in the Novices Hurdle, with Nortelco well down the field.

We had 5 at Wetherby on Wednesday, with Snow’s Ride and Dawn Ride having small each-way chances. However, both ran appallingly and finished distressed and bleeding from the mouth. We had them and High Country, who also ran poorly, scoped at Minster Veterinary Clinic that evening, and it was confirmed that all had a lung infection. There’s no lasting damage - the horses will need a few weeks to recover.

Grand Daum ran respectably when 6th in the same Novice Hurdle as Dawn Ride, and Arctic Cove ran 11th

17 March - Saturday evening update
We had our first runners for almost a month today, with 3 at Newcastle and 5 at Wetherby. Nearly all of the runners ran well, showing that the horses are in good shape, but several looked as if they would just benefit from the run following their enforced layoffs due to the lack of opportunities to run because of a wet February.

Several of our recruits from the Flat acquired at the end of year sales made their hurdles debuts today. Tranos ran exceptionally well to finish a close third behind the useful Leslingtaylor at Newcastle, hurdling superbly, and Helvetio jumped and travelled well for a long way before running out of steam and finishing third behind Daldini at Wetherby.

Of the other runners at Wetherby, Divex ran exceptionally creditably to be beaten just 3 lengths into third in a hot 2 miles 4f handicap hurdle, Trafalgar Man returned to hurdles for a confidence boost after a recent fall over fences and ran exceptionally well to finish a close third to hot favourite Folk Tune, and would have gone very close but for a blunder at the last. Lord Collingwood disappointed a little in finishing fourth in the 3m novice hurdle, travelling well for most of the race but not seeing out the trip. Chernik, bought out of Tom Costello’s Fahee Farm last year, finally made his debut in the bumper finishing fifth beaten only 7 lengths behind several hotpots, an extremely encouraging run.

At Newcastle, Industrial Star fell when travelling well in the 2m handicap hurdle, and High Country finished mid-division in his handicap hurdle.

20 February - Weekly update
The stable has a number of quality young horses fit and ready to run and win, but we continue to be frustrated by the weather. The going at Sedgefield was bottomless today, and so we didn’t risk any runners. We’ve got entries on Thursday at Haydock and Huntingdon, and at Newcastle’s Eider Chase meeting on Saturday - hopefully the ground will not be too soft and we can actually have a few runners. Our only runner in the last week was Charlotte Vale in a handicap Hurdle at Carlisle. She ran down the field - the soft going being more like heavy.

12 February - Monday update
The frustrating weather period continues with Monday’s Wetherby meeting being abandoned due to waterlogging, and Newcastle has gone the same way on Tuesday. We had intended runners at both, but it now looks like Kelso on Thursday will be the next time we have runners. Our promising novice hurdler Helvetio could well make his debut at Kelso on Thursday, and that’s something to look forward to.

7 February - San Deng opportunity
There are very few horses for sale in the yard at present, but San Deng is, and he’s a cracker. A winner on the flat, this 5yo has been placed third in his first two attempts over hurdles (in nice races), and is ready to win soon. Please see Horses For Sale for more details.

5 February - Racing update
We had 3 intended runners at Hexham today, but the going was much more testing than described, so we withdrew one of the runners. Trafalgar Man ran and jumped well for a long way in the beginners’ chase, but unfortunately fell at the last when booked for 4th place. He is none the worse for the fall, but made a mistake when tired in the heavy ground. Dawn Ride continued the good start to his career, progressing again to finish 3rd in one of the divisions of the maiden hurdle under Wilson Renwick. He is one of a group of “embryo chasers” we have, and it’s going to be a very exciting time over the next 12 months as we bring these exciting prospects through.

3 February - Saturday update
Another very quiet week, with limited racing in the North. We did have a couple of runners at Wetherby on Saturday, Arctic Cove (who is for sale, see Horses For Sale) finishing fourth in the selling handicap hurdle, and Lord Collingwood finishing fifth in a staying handicap hurdle. Both found the going tiring. Gifted Glori ran down the field in a juvenile hurdle at Catterick on Friday.