Bananaoasis - To be honest he can go wherever the trainer can find a suitable opportunity, fibresand, polytrack, tapeta , I'm not fussy.  Just need to stear clear of firm going, which is a challenge at the moment.

Yer ma - The horse was that lame that the trainer and vet were convinced it was a fractured pelvis, I was happy to go with their recommendation of a scan as they have a great deal more experience than I.  Anyway he is fine at the moment and came out of his last race well.  I'm sure there will be many more twists and turns in the road to come.  I just hope that it is nothing expensive or major too soon otherwise I will run out of money

Baltic King had his first winners today over the sticks.

Baltic Blade wins by 11 lengths at Newton Abbot.

The other thing to note about this event is that not only is it his first win over hurdles but he was bred by yours truly

So a horse that was bred not to get an inch above 7f (by a sprinter out of a sprinter)wins over 2m+.  This breeding game will make mugs of us all!

Over the moon.  A little bit emotional at the moment and rather the worse for drink.

A special thank you goes to to a poster who doesn't frequent this forum too much any more - Slicknsmooth who all those years ago recommended Baltic King as a stallion.

A big thank you also to all of you on the B&B forum - PD & PM in particular who's advise, encouragment and words of wisdom have helped me get to this point (one of the most amazing in my life)

This whole thing was conceived nearly 5 years ago when I bought an ageing mare and sent her to a tough unproven stallion (thanks to SNS).  Dreams really do come true.

I love you all PP

Congrats

Thank you for your kind words.

I'm still on cloud nine despite a fairly punchy hangover the next day.

PM - I don't know if I'd be considered a fabulous advert for the joys of the game.  I just try and surround myself with people who know what they are doing, trust them to do the right thing and take as much advise as I can.

I do tend to get rather excited mind, so much so that when Mrs PP told the trainer after one run, "I think he's a little bit calmer this time as I made him have a couple of pints before the race", the trainer responded, "Really? I thought you'd given him a couple of Red Bull!"

Neill D - No quotes for the Triumph, I know the opposition was nothing to right home about and the favorite pulled very hard and disappointed badly.  Still he couldn't have done it much better and he jumped pretty well (despite pecking the last and nearly giving me a heart attack).

Many congratulations PP Slick and I are both delighted for you, What a shame you lost the mare and in foal to this year's hot horse too...

Thanks Bananaoasis, fingers crossed for another hangover on Sunday.  I still can't quite believe it happened.  It's so hard to get a horse to the track let alone to win.  So many people have played an important part in getting him to this point - forumites, vet, in laws, pre-trainer, trainer, lad, jockey. I'm the least important cog, I just pay the bills.

PD, it was a shame to have lost what would now have been a March born yearling by a super hot sire, although how good his page would look with a hurdling sibling on it I'm not so sure

Still those rewards would be financial and while very nice and needed, they don't come close to the thrill of a winner so please pass on my gratitude to SNS when next your paths cross.

Nice of you to ask kpf, as you mention it there is some news.

After his last run at Fontwell I decided that he could do with a break (he'd raced 5 times in 2 mths) including his win so I sent him back to my in-laws place in Ireland where he was raised for a holiday.  He sat in a field for two and a half months before going into pre-training at the start of December.

He arrived back in the UK at the start of Feb (would have been earlier but for a dirty nose and rather rough Irish Sea that meant horses couldn't get over ).

He's been doing well since he's been back and is actually entered this Sunday in a handicap at Ascot at 3.00. 

The opposition look decent but he'll be bottom weight and hopefully he'll have improved in the last 6 mths.  We have to start somewhere and with prize money payable down to 6th and getting £100 for racing on a sunday there are worse places to go.  Plus it's Ascot!

We hav n't been waiting on the ground, it just so happens that he's ready to roll at this time and the ground is coming in his favour. 

Fingers crossed he runs ok and comes back safe and sound.

What promised to be a great day turned out to be a shocker as he ran very disappointingly despite jumping well in what was a messy race with a loose horse from the start and no pace on.
   
Unfortunately he was lead back in lame with the jockey dismounted and it looks like the racing dream is over as he has sustained major damage to one of the tendons in his near fore.

Even as someone who doesn’t know much about horses, seeing him being lead round with the back of his short pastern nearly touching the ground every time he stepped on it I knew it was bad. Watching him being loaded into the horse ambulance to be taken down to the stables to be seen by the racecourse vet was absolutely devastating. 

By the time I got down to the stables he had been assessed and the vet told me his tendon was two thirds gone.   He said it was unlikely he would race again but that he was young and should be able to do a job outside of racing.

His leg is currently in a cast and in 10 days or so it will be removed and the leg assessed by the trainers vet.  Assuming that he agrees with the racecourse vets initial assessment I will then get him back to Ireland to my in-laws with a view of trying to get him sound again (8-10 months).  From there hopefully we will be able to find a home for him.   He is a mild mannered and genuine horse but he needs to do something otherwise he’ll get up to no good.   How he’s going to cope with months of box rest I don’t know.

Ever the optimist, I’m viewing this as just another part of his journey through life, he wasn’t going to be a racehorse forever and he was always going to have to find something else to do eventually, it’s just this part has arrived slightly quicker than I was thinking it would.

Keeping fingers firmly crossed for the next few weeks & months.

Sad news, hope he mends quickly

Hey PP.   Remote assessment by photo isn't advised but if that was a leg we'd had two months ago I'd be disappointed.  If that's swelling and not fluid (ie. 'fill' which would also not be great) it needs a lot of hosing or ice.  The tendon stabilising to less than twice its normal size would be the minimum I'd expect after two months.  When a vet scans they usually judge the increase in tendon (and hole / lesion) circumference in millimetres, that looks like centimetres.  No reason to be alarmed if horse is fairly sound but I'd get it scanned again and ask the vet for an opinion.

Clearly the pic may be worse / misleading and the people on hand are the best to judge.  GL