Alexandra Dunn’s racing blog: A hat-trick for Nikos, a rider to watch and Bramble Vodka
For the past month or so, we have been busy preparing the majority of our winter horses. They are now all just about ready to make their respective seasonal reappearances, so there are exciting times to look ahead to.
We’ve had a pretty rewarding month with Nikos Extra strutting his stuff again at Wetherby, to complete a hat-trick of wins under another superb ride with Adam Wedge.
Adam has been a brilliant jockey on this horse as he is not the easiest of rides and can be tricky at the start. But Adam has built up a great rapport with him this summer and together they have won just under £20,000 prize money, which is an amazing achievement from both horse and rider.
His three wins have been made extra special because the horse is owned by my grandmother, who has shown a lot of faith in me by allowing me to train Nikos for her. I am delighted to have been able to reward her with three wins and lots of prize money!
Nikos has now gone back home to my aunt’s farm, where he will have a short and well-deserved break.
New kid on the block
As I mentioned earlier, the winter horses are just about ready to run, as well as a few flat horses we have in the yard, so it’s certainly a busy time ahead.
Instead of giving readers a horse to follow, I thought I would suggest a rider to follow in point-to-points and under rules.
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Will Gordon has joined us recently and has had a handful of rides between the flags. He has really impressed me with his horsemanship at home and is most definitely showing me the right signs.
Hopefully Will can progress as well as Nikos Extra has this summer, so look out for him in the near future!
Meet Hoy Hoy
I have had a very busy few days attending the Newmarket Sales, where I bought a lovely three-year-old called Hoy Hoy (pictured top). You can find out more about him on my website.
If you would like the latest information on any of the horses I have in training, do visit my website, where I have just written a blog which features a pre-season stable tour.
My sister’s in love
Finally, I have to mention Bramble Vodka. My sister Roz owns her and says I don’t mention the horse enough – she talks about nothing else other than Bramble and has grown very fond of the six-year-old mare.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Roz saved up enough money for a car but I thought it was better that she bought Bramble Vodka instead.
Bramble is coming on well and she will be ready to run very soon, so if you see Roz around be sure to ask her about the horse. It will make her purchase seem worth the while and take her attention away from the car she could have had.
I hope you’re all coping ok with the shorter daylight hours and are managing to fit in regular rides despite this. Happy riding everyone!
Alexandra
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Alexandra Dunn runs Alexandra Dunn Racing, an exciting new racing yard near Taunton, Somerset, with her husband Tom. She is sponsored by Treehouse Sporting Colours and has horses competing in point-to-point and National Hunt racing.