LIGHTNING PERFORMANCE
FROM THUNDEROUS
Thunderous recently made it three wins from three starts to stay unbeaten! A delighted Jason Fildes reports on the success of Highclere’s northern syndicate
Thunderous, our Night of Thunder colt, trained by Mark Johnston, went to Newbury for the Denford Stakes (a Listed race) which is a well-known Derby trial for two-year-olds.
Having won his first two races at Doncaster and Redcar, he was putting his unbeaten record on the line against some very smart horses from top stables.
He looked magnificent in the parade ring in front of a large group of owners, some of whom had travelled down from the Ribble Valley.
Thunderous broke from the stalls well and led for most of the seven-furlong distance. He was strongly challenged by the Richard Hannon trained Sun Power at the one-furlong pole but Thunderous, ridden by Franny Norton, found plenty and was going away from his rivals at the line to win by a length. It was a very exciting day and the celebrations went on long after racing had finished – in fact for most of the weekend! The further in distance he goes, the better he is so Mark will be starting him off next year in a recognised Derby trial over one mile and two furlongs with the main aim being the big race itself at Epsom in June. With lofty ambitions to look forward to, we have put Thunderous away for this season.
It is the time of year when the yearling sales get up to full speed so we are busy looking for the next Thunderous at the Goffs and Tattersall sales. John Warren, one of the UK’s principal bloodstock experts, is our buyer and the plan is to send another horse up to Middleham to be trained by Mark Johnston for 2020. He certainly is the master trainer having trained his horses to win an incredible total of 226 races last season and we are very lucky to have him so local to us. His prize money haul was in excess of £4 million.
There are 20 shares available in the new syndicate and I’ve already had plenty of enquiries – we are sure these will be very popular, especially with all those in the Thunderous syndicate having such an amazing return on their investment – as well as lots of fun!
It has certainly been a brilliant start to Highclere’s ambition of having good horses owned and trained here in the North of England and we feel we have found an ideal formula. There is no reason it shouldn’t continue, especially with John Warren buying the horses.
If anybody would like to be involved please contact me on the email address, below or give me a ring on the mobile.
Highclere – Jason Fildes
01200 444622
07721 311778
jason@highclere.co.uk
www.highclereracing.co.uk
