A bumper 9-race card saw plenty of horses and plenty more owners than we had seen at Southwell, Stratford felt positively bustling with action. The news coming from the BHA that courses will soon be able to lift owner restrictions comes as great news for courses and owners alike. Doing the right thing now has created that opportunity despite an obvious keenness to get back.
Hit the Bottle was similarly keen to get back on the course, 366 days since she last did so at the same track. Keenness in horses is rarely a positive though, after bouncing around the parade ring she pulled hard for the first circuit showing a couple of lengths in front at the first post.
We think our horse stays with a good gallop so were keen to try and draw out the field on the second circuit and avoid a sprint finish on the good to firm ground, Tabitha [Worsley] had her duly placed with a mile to travel. The early keenness though had our 5-year old at work around the final bend and we couldn't go with the pace.
True to our thoughts though, she galloped through the line positively. A bit of cut in the ground, a more testing trip and popping over some hurdles will see her in a better light.