Good Morning. We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We thoroughly enjoyed having a quieter spell with no runners for a week! On Saturday we had runners on both codes. Ailsa travelled to Catterick with SUSIESPARKLE who finished 7th of 11 under Henry Brooke. Milly & Bruce accompanied our flat boys to Newcastle, who both ran gamely and were both unfortunately pipped at the post. MODERN TIMES finished 2nd in the 6pm under Andrew Mullen for Colin & Tommy Dorman. A much improved run! And PARISIAC finished 2nd in the 6.30pm under Andrew Mullen, for Mr Darrell Torrens. He’s a great little horse for IJR. He is pictured below. On Sunday, Ailsa headed to Kelso, with her favourite boy, DUNNET HEAD who finished 9th under Conor O’Farrell, for Mr Raymond Anderson Green.
We have had a great 2024 season with our best results yet. We sent out 668 runners over both codes, with a total of 67 winners! We have also picked up 162 placings (2nd, 3d & 4th). This is due to our hard working staff, our supportive owners & our brilliant horses. Some of our superstar horses (all with 4 wins plus) below:
CATHERINE CHROI came over from Ireland and won for us on 6 different occasions. The first of 6 was with Paul Mulrennan at Southwell on 21st March. This was quickly followed by a win on the 25th March, for our own, Hannah Crawford at Newcastle, providing her with her first ever winner. Next up was for our Apprentice, Mohammed Tabti, who had quite the strike rate with ‘Cree’ and managed to win on her 3x times at Ayr on 29th April, Leicester on 11th May and Hamilton on 29th May. Andrew Mullen managed a win on her at Hamilton on 5th May. She was such a consistent filly for Team IJR in 2024. She is pictured below with Mo (who won 3/6 races), Hannah (who she provided her first winner) and myself.
THE GAY BLADE helped us put the Iain Jardine Racing Club on the map. He was our first winner of 2024, at Newcastle on the 4th January , quickly followed by a win at Chelmsford on the 11th January, both times ridden by Andrew Mullen. He grew quite a fan base within the Racing club. He then won again at Hamilton on the 18th July under Andrew Mullen, and again on 2nd October at Musselburgh under Oisin Orr. Here’s to a successful 2025 with ‘Alfie’. Pictured below at win 1 of 4.
BRINGBACKMEMORIES has been a great horse for his owners, The Adams Apples. He first got his head in front at Southwell on 9th January under Andrew Mullen, and again at Newcastle on 25th March, under David Nolan. He ran a cracker in the Northumberland Vase for 3rd, and go his head in front again for a win at Hamilton on 3rd August under Andrew Mullen. His big win came when he won the Musselburgh Gold Cup under Mohammed Tabti on 14th September. A huge result for the yard. Pictured below winning the Musselburgh Gold Cup.
ZAPHEA has been a stable star too winning 4 times for us in total. Her first win for the team was at Musselburgh on 3rd May under Paul Mulrennan. She then won at Hamilton on 27th June under Andrew Mullen. Andrew managed to win on her again at Hamilton on 23rd August and finally, at Musselburgh on 6th November. Pictured below winning up the steep Hamilton hill.
We have a quiet day today and yesterday, however we have an extremely busy day ahead of us tomorrow. We send 4 runners to Newcastle, and a further 4 to Musselburgh. Ailsa, Val, Ellen and myself are in charge at Musselburgh, and Lindsay, Milly, Catherine, Becky & Bruce head to Newcastle. Wishing all of our owners the very best of luck.
Musselburgh:
1.10pm- WINDS OF WINTER, ridden by Brian Hughes, owned by Mr Jimmy Fyffe
1.45pm- BRINGBACKMEMORIES, ridden by Danny McMenamin, owned by The Adams Apples
2.20pm- HALF SHOT, ridden by Brian Hughes, owned by The Farming Army
3.30pm- RAVENSCRAIG CASTLE (pictured), ridden by Brian Hughes, owned by Castle Racing Scotland, Sinclair & Jardine
Newcastle:
4.40pm- KATS BOB, ridden by Andrew Mullen, owned by Colin & Tommy Dorman
4.40pm- NOVAK, ridden by Archie Young, owned by Mrs Francesca Mitchell
4.40pm- WEE FAT MAC, ridden by Kaiya Fraser, owned by The Strattonites
5.10pm- THE GAY BLADE, ridden by Archie Young, owned by Iain Jardine Racing Club
