BATTLEOFBALTIMORE (Starspangledbanner x Sparkle) Feb 19th 2021
5% remaining. £200 upfront & £75pm fees per 2.5%
This Starspangledbanner Bay Gelding was purchased from the December Tattersalls sales and is out of a winning producing mare Sparkle. His sire produced 4 x Group 1 winners in 2022 and they seem to have the temperaments; they have a real will to do things! Star as he is affectionately known at home fits those characteristics. He was not handled much as a foal, so he has been easy to handle and prep at home. He has since had a couple of strong gallops on the Al Bahathri and is doing everything that is asked of him.
10/10/23 We decided to geld Battleofbaltimore back in September to hopefully settle and calm him down. He came out of the operation very well and was bouncing and fresh, he also put on weight which is unusual as horses tend to lose weight after the op. However a few pounds heavier and his physical condition looking superb we looked for a race for him and found a Nursery at Leicester which ended up having a maximum field of 18 runners. He went straight into the horsebox like a pro and headed across country to the racecourse. The prelims didn’t really go to plan as the BHA vets approached me to say he wasn’t wearing the tongue tie which we had declared. He was being difficult and we couldnt get it on in time, however a quick phone call to our trainer Dylan to see if he should still run him or not, YES was the answer but it wasn’t ideal as he needs a tongue tie, even at home when he works, he wears one. I gave the leg up to our jockey Rob Hornand off they went down to post. He loaded, and off they go, he jumped well and had a handy position around 4th/5th, we gave the jockey the instructions of “let him find his feet and go from there”! Approaching the 2f post Rob asked him to quicken and go, but found nothing as he started drifting back in the pack. It was frustrating to watch as he was primed to give a good race and looked spectacular in his coat for this time of year. Maybe it’s time for a break and freshen him up for next years turf season. He’s only 2 after all. We will have him scoped (at time of writing) and go from there. Rob did suggest to give him a run on the AW to see how he handles it. Overall a frustrating day, but all things considered we fight another day. The 12 owners that made the trip had a great day out never less. This is a very patient game to be in so we go again. Onwards & Upwards.
26/07/2023. Battleofbaltimore travelled and settled to the racecourse the best he has so far, and showed encouraging signs of maturing and learning the game in the prelims. Ideally we would’ve preferred some cut in the ground but Lingfield somehow missed the rain this week, but we took our chance with this drop down in trip (5f). Greg Cheyne was once again onboard for the ride, as they broke out of the stalls a horse from 2 stalls away came across and made some impact with Battleofbaltimore which took him off his stride, from there on in a 5f race it was always about playing catch up. They went a good pace which didn’t allow Battleofbaltimore to gain momentum and catch up. He stayed on and made headway to finish 6th of 10. 5f definitely isn’t his game and we will step him back up to a minimum 6f but will get 1m in time as his pedigree suggests. We’ll see what mark he gets from the handicapper next week and make a plan for him going forward.
After his very green run and experience on debut at Brighton we found another Band D race at Lingfield. He came out of the Brighton race well and has worked well at home, as he usually does. He has a smart head on him but is still a big baand in today’s race that greenness and babyness showed again as he was pulling and running green again. His prelims were much better and was settled in the parade ring and going down to the start his jockey Greg Cheyne used his experience to switch him off. He broke from the stalls well and contested the lead with the horse that beat him at Brighton. 2f out he was leading and looked to be in contention of winning, but the hot favourite and eventual winner cruised alongside and went forward and won 5L. Our lad seemed to get headed into 3rd for a stride or two but battled back and took the runners up spot, much to the delight of his owners on and off the course. This was the kind of run we were expecting, even though he still ran very green we are delighted on the improvement from his debut. Hopefully it’ll be 3rd time lucky and he can go 1 better next time. He came out of the race fresh and enjoyed a day in the paddock. Lots to look forward to with this lad. He has great support from all of his owners back home. I must give Lingfield Park a mention as they provided us with the winning experience even though we came 2nd, our owners were treated to champagne and snacks. Great work Lingfield.
Battleofbaltimore made his racecourse debut at Brighton. 18 owners made the trip to the East Sussex racetrack in the basking sun to watch our “Star” make his debut. In the prelims he was green as grass but once Billy “The Kid” Loughnane was jocked up he seemed to settle down to the start. during the loading process he once again showed some of that greenness. He loaded with a hood on and broke out of the stalls well. He took up a handy position behind the leading pair but again showed inexperience and greenness coming down the Brighton hill 3f out. He looked to have travelled every yard until the final half furlong where he couldn’t keep up with the winner. He ran on to finish a gallant 3rd on his debut. There was a lot of positives to take from the race and he would’ve learnt a lot from his first day at school. He arrived home later that evening and ate up, which is always a great sign. The following morning he ate up and trotted up well. All very positive news. We will give him a couple of days off and then get him back into work and make a plan for his next race.
