Rory’s Valentine

Absolutely fantastic to kick the season off with a winner at Perth on Thursday.  Rory’s Valentine or ‘Lily’ as she is known as on the yard is the most lovely genuine animal you will find.  She has benefited from a wind operation, better ground and a whole lot of patience.Lily joined us at the start of 2017 as a big weak mare on the recommendation of Colin McBratney.  Although she never ran for Colin she found herself in his yard and through family friends in Northern Ireland we got the chance to purchase her.  It was never going to be a quick fix or a short term project and when we got her fit and ready to race last spring she was just too big and weak for the job.  She was turned away and brought back in the following autumn and although she started to show some promise she was still weak and also having some complaints with her breathing.We are lucky to have a fantastic vet Sarah who arranged for her to be overground scoped to see if we could make any improvements to help her breathing problems and she was then booked in for surgery up at The Royal Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh.  Everything from there has gone smoothly and she came back in to work fresh and with an extra bounce in her step under the spring sunshine.She is definitely a horse that benefits being in a small family run yard, she has her own special diet, loves turnout, enjoys hacks through the woods and carrots at tea time.Lily is owned by my mum Sylvia who has been very patient and not lost faith in this lovely mare.  She was rewarded by her first winner under rules in her own colours and I’d say it’s definitely extra sweet when it has been so hard worked for.Hopefully she will find more improvement and go on to score again for the team!