Trainer Ross Burdon is back with his latest blog with a spring update from Sackville Stables. Read his latest update ahead of the start of the upcoming flat turf season.
Ross Burdon Racing: Spring Update
Whilst everyone this last week has been watching Cheltenham, we took High Point down the road to Huntingdon for his second attempt at a hurdles career. High Point is rated relatively highly on the flat compared to most horses which make the transition to jump racing, but he is only small and making a hurdler out of him was always going to be a big task.
Spring Update: High Point at Huntingdon
The reason we decided bring him jumping was his love for soft ground, which he rarely got the chance to race on in 2025, but jumping out of soft ground is completely different to galloping through it and he got very tired on his jumps debut at Fakenham before Christmas. Because of this we waited for the ground to dry before giving him another try at the discipline, and Huntingdon’s ground on Wednesday was perfect, good ground.
Unfortunately High Point’s novicey, early jumping cost him plenty of momentum and he was shuffled towards the back of the field after the second flight and James Davies sensibly got him into a nice jumping rhythm rather than rushing to make up ground.
James was actually quite positive about a jumping career for High Point if we were tidy up his jumping and step him up in trip, but, on reflection afterwards, I think its unlikely we will ask him jump again, this winter anyway, as the grass flat racing starts in three weeks and there will be plenty of early races for him to look at, hopefully on his favoured soft ground, during the spring.
Spring Update: Our Boy Ernie
On Tuesday we were doubly represented, Ernie’s Valentine ran at Southwell whilst Beauty Generation travelled to Wolverhampton. Ernie has been in great form all winter and this was the first time during this all-weather campaign that he disappointed when only finishing 8th under Phoebe Edwards.
Hopefully this is a one off and he hasn’t had one race too many this winter, though I do think by the way he came back to the stables that he might not have tried his hardest on Tuesday, he barely gave a blow and has been fresh at home since.
He will probably have one more race this winter, likely to be at Wolverhampton where he’s shown his best form, where he will probably be ridden by a professional, not that Phoebe has done anything wrong at all on Ernie, I just feel he’s a horse that needs a change of hands every now and again as he can become very cute.
Spring Update: Beauty Generation
Beauty Generation ran his best race to date for the team, running on well after a slow start to finish third under Jack Mitchell. BG actually jumped better than he had done on his two starts at Kempton for us, but still was slowest away from the gates.
The easier pace over the 1.5f longer trip helped Jack get the horse into midfield much easier than he had at Kempton when racing over a mile, with BG noticeably travelling better and finding the pace much more comfortable. Turning in he still had plenty to do but the horse knuckled down well to run strongly all the way to the line and claim third place.
I was delighted with the run, not least for his owners Crest Racing who have been great supporters of ours even though we haven’t had the best luck or success for them. He proved ten furlongs is a trip well within his range and there will be plenty to look forward to with him going forward and I’m very much looking forward to getting him onto the grass in the summer.
Next week will be quiet enough on the runners front, as mentioned Ernie will likely run at Wolverhampton, whilst Seventy will race at Kempton on Wednesday after two good efforts at Lingfield. I actually think Kempton will suit Seventy better than Lingfield and, after being too far back off a slow pace last time, he gets to run from the same mark as when third last time out.
Spring Update: Exciting Times
Next week will also be a big week for the horses that haven’t ran for a while over the winter, as the likes of Mesaafi, Gunlock, Waistcoat and Dust Cover will have their first bits of faster work after having a break since their last runs, some longer than others, with targets early season on the grass upcoming for all of them. Its an exciting time of year, the turf is fast approaching and we’re very excited for our first full season upcoming.
By Ross Burdon
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