Mick Appleby Stable Tour

Mixture of talented veterans and youngsters set to make it pay for Mick Appleby

Progress and improvement are words that match well with the performance of Mick Appleby’s horses in recent years. His prowess on the all-weather is very much a given, but an increasing presence on the turf can be expected this season too, and he has the ammunition to do well.

Appleby recorded his best tally in a year in 2019 with 99 winners and he also broke the £1 million barrier in prize-money for the first time.

With the Coronavirus interruption, that total is unlikely to be matched this year, despite saddling 30 winners before lockdown. However, his coterie of excellent older servants, led by admirable sprinter Danzeno, is bolstered by some interesting three-year-olds who could be well-handicapped.

“I’m very happy with the number of horses I have and I’m aiming to keep getting better quality,” says Appleby. “It should be an interesting year.”

Stable facts

 Yard – The Homestead

 Where – Oakham, Rutland

 Started training – 2010

 Horses in yard – 95

 Strike-rate last season – 11%

 Total prize-money 2019 – £1,102,798

 Members of staff – 23

 Head grooms – Andy Yoxall, Tara Binfield

 Jockeys – Ali Rawlinson, Theodore Ladd, Eric Parkinson, Sophie Jones

 Website – mickappleby.com

 2019 – 99

 2018 – 94

 2017 – 91

 2016 – 70

 2015 – 94

 2019 – £295.85

 2018 – £158.51

 2017 – £269.29

 2016 – £200.78

 2015 – £183.02 

Older horses

 5yo gelding Showcasing (sire): Belle Des Airs (dam)

 Owner: Middleham Park Racing XXXIV

 Form figures: 6-14565

 Racing Post Rating (RPR): 93 Official rating: 83 (all-weather) 79 (turf)

He’s a five-furlong horse. He won at Southwell in January and was a bit disappointing after that. He might just be a horse that needs a bit of time between his races, and he’ll be running in sprint handicaps on turf.

 6 g Casamento: Mia Divina

 Owner:  Frank McAleavy

 Form figures: 622582

 RPR 99 OR 74

He ran well through the winter and was unlucky a couple of times. He’s a better horse on grass than on the all-weather and he’ll be seeing plenty of action over the summer. He’s running off a good mark now and he’s a versatile horse. He’ll race over six and seven [furlongs] and hopefully he can do well.

 11 g Dylan Thomas – Crystal Gaze

 Owner: Stephen Louch & Michael Appleby

 Form figures: 07-2434

 RPR: 118 OR 100

We’ll probably go back to Epsom for the Dash again, a race he has of course won a couple of times in the past. We were hoping to get a run into him before then but I don’t know if that will be possible. He did pretty well out in Dubai over the winter, he loves it out there, and he has come back fit and well and is ready to go.

 9 g Denounce – Danzanero

 Owner: A M Wragg

 Form figures: 134233-

 RPR: 117 OR 106

I’m not sure what I’m aiming for in the short term. He has come back in very well and the big sprint handicaps, like the Wokingham, Stewards’ Cup and Ayr Gold Cup would be the races we would be aiming at in a normal year with the odd conditions race thrown in like last year. He goes on any ground and is in good form.

 4 g Elzaam – So Blissful

 Owner: Michael Appleby

 Form figures: 2-

 RPR: 60 OR –

He’s a nice horse I bought at Tattersalls. He had one run for Owen Burrows in a Chepstow maiden in September and I think he could be good.

 6 g Mayson – Expressive

 Owner: The Fantasy Fellowship B

 Form figures: 218058-

 RPR: 90 OR 82

He needs soft ground so we will probably miss the summer and bring him back in the autumn for sprint handicaps. He goes on the all-weather, Southwell is fine for him, but he is not particularly an all-weather horse.

 5 g Dansili – Aghareed

 Owner: The Horse Watchers

 Form figures: 4235-08

 RPR: 105 OR 96

He’s had a break since his last run and we have just got him started again. The plan is to see what he can do on turf, we hope that he could maybe do better on turf than he was done on the all-weather. He doesn’t really have much to recommend him on grass to date, but he hasn’t been tried on it much and we are hopeful he could be at least as good. He’ll start off in handicaps from 1m to 1m2f and see if he can go to a higher level.

 4 g Kyllachy – Twilight Pearl

 Owner: Craig Buckingham & Gary Dewhurst

 Form figures: 325709-

 RPR: 96 OR 85

He’s in great order and is ready to run. There are a couple of 0-85 handicaps early on that we might go for and take it from there. He lost his way a bit last season but he’s been gelded since and we very much hope that’s going to bring about some improvement in him. One of his owners lives near Chester and he likes for him to run there, and in fairness he has done well. He was unlucky not towin a third one around there last year. He’s pretty versatile as to trip and ground. I think he could be back to a nice mark.

 6 g Lope De Vega – Ros The Boss

 Owner: Slipstream Racing

 Form figures: 9110-68

 RPR: 89 OR 83

The lads picked him out at the sales and he has done extremely well for us, winning seven. We’ll run him as soon as there is a race for him, but he’s gone up to 83 and might just need to come back down the handicap a bit. He’s not the best mover in the world and probably needs a cut in the ground on grass.

 4 g War Command – Celestial Dream

 Owner: Matthew Taylor

 Form figures: 057256-

 RPR: 93 OR 87

He is back in and ready to go, and we might step him up to 1m4f. I think it will bring about a bit of improvement in him. He’s another that probably just wants a little bit of cut in the ground.

 4 g Delegator – Irrational

 Owner: Ian Lawrence

 Form figures: 21-3354

 RPR: 97 OR 91

I think he will do well this season and he could be a better horse on turf than he was on the all-weather. We’ll aim him at some good sprint handicaps when we get him back home, he ran a cracker when he was third in the Listed Jagersro Sprint in Sweden. He hasn’t been overraced and I think there is more improvement to come

 8 g Starspangledbanner – Licence To Thrill

 Owner: The Kettlelites

 Form figures: 41-3654

 RPR: 109 OR 83 (aw) 73 (turf)

He’s ready to go. He’ll be operating in sprint handicaps. He likes Ascot, so we’ll see if we can find something there outside of the Royal meeting. He doesn’t win too often but he’s consistent and hopefully he can get his turn again.

 4 c Wootton Bassett – Crossed Fingers

 Owner: Middleham Park Racing II

 Form figures: 247332

 RPR: 83 OR 76

He could be a bit better than his mark. He won a Wolverhampton maiden and it was a bit disappointing that he couldn’t win after that. He’s a little bit quirky and he’s just one of those horses that could go and win a few when the penny drops with him. He’s ready to go and he could be better on turf than on the all-weather.

 4 f Mayson – Rosa Mundi

 Owner: The Horse Watchers

 Form figures: 349605-

 RPR: 81 OR 66

She’s a nice filly we got from Ireland and has plenty of ability. She’s had a few issues and we gave her a long break. She wants a bit of cut in the ground so I wouldn’t imagine she will run until August, probably starting off over a mile and moving up in trip after that.

 5 g Le Havre – Into The Wild

 Owner: Middleham Park Racing XXXIII

 Form figures: 873-654

 RPR: 100 OR 91

He came back over the winter after a break and we decided to send him to Sweden for a Listed race, but he just couldn’t go the pace. The kickback was horrendous too and he absolutely hated it. We’ll just put a line through that and we’ll aim him at some nice handicaps over the summer up to 1m2f.

 9 g Invincible Spirit – Fraulein

 Owner: William Esdaile

 Form figures: 25-6266

 RPR: 110 OR 82 (turf) 76 (aw)

He’s getting on in years and won’t be overraced. He’s the sort of horse who can take a bit of beating when he gets his own way in front and I would be hopeful that he can win a couple of handicaps over the summer.

Three-year-olds

 3 c Harbour Watch – Sorella Bella

 Owner: Jabra Racing

 Form figures: 382-115

 RPR: 85 OR 82

He’s a really nice horse and I like him a lot. He could be a lot better on grass than on the all-weather and he probably did well in that respect to win a couple of all-weather handicaps. He’s starting off a mark of 82. I think there’s a handicap at Newcastle for him shortly after the resumption and we’ll take it from there.

 3 g Garswood – Regina

 Owner: The Horse Watchers

 Form figures: 6738-11

 RPR: 78 OR 77

He’s a nice horse we got off Michael O’Callaghan in Ireland and there could be a lot more to come from him. I hope he could improve enough to win on grass and he’ll be at his best over five or six. I would expect him to be better than his current mark.

 3 f Dragon Pulse – Primal Snow

 Owner: Robin Oliver

 Form figures: 93-1523

 RPR: 73 OR 72

She’s on a break at the moment and should be back in within the next month. She’s got a good bit of improvement in her, especially on turf, and she will hopefully do well for us.

 3 f Dunaden – Pearl Princess

 Owner: The Horse Watchers

 Form figures: 381-116

 RPR: 86 OR 87

She’s a nice filly who won three times for us and we took her to France for a Listed race last time. She ran really well but she got badly hampered late on and I came out disappointed that she didn’t get closer. She has a lot of ability and we’ll go on the grass with her and see how good she might be. We will probably start off in a fillies’ handicap and see where we go from there. I think she’ll get 1m2f.

 3 g Showcasing – Spate

 Owner: C L Bacon

 Form figures: 183411

 RPR: 74 OR 72

He was starting to be a disappointing horse but things seemed to slowly click with him at the end of the all-weather season, how we won one day at Newcastle after missing the break I’ll never know. He went up 10lb for winning three times and we will certainly accept that. He’ll be running on grass over seven furlongs to a mile.

 3 f Anjaal – Sampers

 Form figures: 871-7

 RPR: 69 OR 67

She won a maiden at Dundalk for Michael Halford and she would appear to be well handicapped. I think she is quite decent and will be running over sprint trips.

 3 g Showcasing – Secret Romance

 Owner:  Minster Developments

 Form figures: 331-714

 RPR 80 OR 77

He won well for us at Southwell and hopefully he can improve a bit more on grass. He’ll be running in handicaps over five and six. He’s strengthened up a bit and hopefully he could be quite decent.

Two-year-olds

We have a few two-year-olds, most of them will be seen later in the years, but we think we have a nice colt named Eagle Eyed Freddie (Gleneagles – Spice Trail).

I think there is a lot more to come from Mohareb. He should do well in sprint handicaps, has not been overraced and he has more improvement in him. I also think Edraak could be a very nice horse, he was second in his only maiden run and hopefully there’s plenty to come from him.

 Star quality

 Danzeno

 Dark horse

 Gold Brocade