Manager’s Thoughts – Hexham Runners

We head to Hexham today with three representatives, and it’s a day that offers a nice blend of excitement, questions to be answered, and opportunities to look forward to.

2.10 – Rock DJ (Mark Walford / Jamie Hamilton)

Rock DJ makes his debut for us today, and as with any new recruit it’s very much a case of first day at school. He showed some fair form in Irish point-to-points, which often provides exactly the type of profile we enjoy working with alongside Mark and his team. Today is about learning what we have, how he takes to the racecourse environment, and where his strengths might lie going forward. There’s no immediate pressure – it’s more about education – but he’s certainly one we’re excited to get to know better. A horse to keep an eye on for the future.

3.20 – Glory And Honour (Sam England / Jonny England)

Glory And Honour runs in a small but select five-runner contest. He hasn’t been showing his best in recent runs, and today’s aim is to see if we can rekindle some of that old spark. He’s a horse with plenty of ability on his day and he’s shown he likes Hexham in the past. If he bounces back, fantastic – if not, we may look at giving him a winter break to freshen up before the new year. Either way, he owes us nothing and we’ll be hoping he can remind us all of what he’s capable of.

5.02 – Ingennio (Lizzie Quinlan / Jamie Hamilton)

Ingennio (pictured below) lines up later in the card, and at 22/1 in the market at the time of writing, I can’t help but feel the bookmakers are being a touch dismissive. Last time out he travelled into the race like a horse with real intent before just blowing up late on, which was no surprise given he still needed the run. With that prep under his belt, we’d like to think he can now begin to string some proper performances together. He’s a horse with ability, and if things fall right, he can certainly give us something to cheer about in the months ahead.

All in all, three interesting runners for the team today – a debutant to learn about, an old favourite trying to find his spark again, and a potential dark horse who might just be underestimated. Best of luck to everyone heading to Hexham, and don’t forget to keep an eye on our socials throughout the day, where there’ll be plenty of updates and some exciting new additions coming soon!