Peter Bowen Racing

7 April 2008: McKelvey Press Release

25th March 2008

With the Grand National less than 2 weeks away, preparations are underway for the long haul up to Aintree next week. Three horses from this stable are running in the National: McKelvey, Always Waining and Ironman. All horses are fit and well.

We were pleased with Souffleur's run at Musslebrough. He'll now be running in the 3 mile at Aintree.

Other news: Connections were delighted with Amoreigh's win in heavy ground on Easter Monday. Although he was a course and distance winner, the ground was testing and only 2 horses finished.

Alan Creighton from The Irish Equine Centre visited our yard last week, the Irish Equine Centre test for spores and also check your feed & hay. They made some interesting findings and we will be making measures so that the horses don't suffer from a spore related respiratory infection again.

21st March 2008

Four runners head to Newton Abbot tomorrow; Mr Ed in the Handicap steeplechase with Christian Williams on board, Legally Fast, Tycoon Hall and Conservation will also be running.

Souffleur runs on Easter Monday at Mussleborough with Jim Crowley on board.

Our stable cam is not working at the moment but this is due to bad weather and we will get it up and running as soon as possible.

Alan Ceighton from the Irish Equine Centre paid a visit to the yard yesterday, we will be working closely with then in the future as they analyse all our bedding and feed which helps to minimise infection.

18th March 2008

Although it was slightly disappointing, all horses came out of Cheltenham well, McKelvey trotted up sound Sunday morning after his run at Newcastle on the weekend. Amoreigh delighted connections with his win in very poor ground and owner John Cooke was delighted with his win speaking last week on the phone from Durban in South Africa, Mr Cooke said "I'm delighted with Amoreigh's win, he's a lovely horse who doesn't particularly like heavy ground but the ground seemed to suit him on this occasion".

10th March 2008

The yard is all hands on deck for this week's Cheltenham festival, all horses are going well at home and our form has definitely improved with the change in bedding.

Cheltenham Update ... Lankawi runs tomorrow (Tues) in the William Hill Handicap Chase. Thurs, Special Envoy goes in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. Serabad runs in the JCB Triumph Hurdle on Friday with Paddy Brennan on board and Ironman goes in the Gold Cup with Denis O Regan.

Fortunately, we have not been severely affected by the storms that were forecast but the Equine spa has an electrical fault and as that is used all day and every day it poses a real problem for us at the moment. Everyone is working through into the late hours of the night putting on all the machines that we use including the leg saver and the Microvet to ensure all horses get to Cheltenham and Aintree on top form.

Ballycassidy is enjoying his retirement, Peter & Karen would like to thank everyone for all the letters, and emails we have received. He is a fantastic horse and we're delighted to still have him on the yard. Mr Ed came through well from his Veteran's race a few weeks ago and will be entered up for a race in the next couple of weeks.

We're featuring again tonight on BBC One it's a great insight into how we train our horses and the BBC are receiving a huge interest from McKelvey's webcam, if you haven't already had a look please click on the link above.

Wish us luck for the next couple of weeks and thank you for your support and interest!

3rd March 2008

We were delighted with Coq Hardi's win over the weekend in Sir Robert Ogden's colours at Bangor on Dee with Tom O'Brien on board.

Mckelvey has come back from his race at Doncaster really well. He has been trotted up sound this morning and is out on a hack as this is written with his groom Rhiannon and he seems to have done well from the race.

Ballycassidy retires

Roddy Owen owner of Ballycassidy would like to thank everyone for following such a tremendous horse:

"We have decided to retire the great Ballycassidy after a long and illustrious career. He has performed brilliantly for myself and my joint owner and friend Paul Fullagar and I feel he has done enough now and is still safe and sound. So after the Veterans race last Saturday at Newbury we are retiring him. He is one of the few horses whose legion of fans have given him his own facebook. I will miss the loving fanmails I get for him, but will always remember the exhilarating jumping he put in, particularly in the last two Grand Nationals. He will remain at Peter Bowen's yard in West Wales for his retirement, where he is a great favourite among the staff and particularly with Peter & Karen Bowen's eldest son Mickey."

Ballycassidy

29th February 2008

The convoy of horse boxes left our yard this afternoon, it's a busy weekend ahead with four runners at Doncaster on Saturday, McKelvey's runs in the 2.25 Hurdle with Tom O'Brien on board, it's McKelvey's first run since last years National.

Burnbank, owned by the Hacking partnership, runs in the Novice Hurdle and Contact Dancer in the 4.40 Steeplechase with Brian Hughes on Board.

Three runners head to Newbury, old favourites Ballycassidy owned by Mr R. Owen and Mr. Ed run in the Veteran's Steeplechase and Quattrocentro runs in the Handicap Hurdle.

Two horses run at Bangor on Dee, in the colours of Sir Robert Ogden Coq Hardi in the Handicap hurdle, and Karen Bowen's Linlithgow in the Maiden Hurdle

25th February 2008

All connections were delighted with Snoopy Loopy's win at Chepstow on Saturday. Ironman jumped well at his race at Kempton but PB was not too concerned and said he needed the run. His jockey Jamie Moore was delighted with the way he jumped ..

Old favourites Ballycassidy & Mr Ed will be heading to Newbury on Saturday, Bally and Mr Ed are in the handicap chase.

Our lad Donal Deveraux was pleased with his ride on Take the Stand on Saturday we'll be looking at another Hunter chase within a couple of weeks.

McKelvey will be running at either Doncaster or Kempton on the weekend and he is going well at home. The MicroVet device and equine Spa that was used in his recovery have been instrumental in his come back. Those who have been following McKelvey and his webcam in his stable will know that the picture has been somewhat hit and miss, but this will be sorted out within the week as they will be putting a wide angled lens in to the stable with night vision so hopefully by next week you'll be able to see all of McKelvey rather than his back end!

We're delighted to welcome new part sponsors onto the yard Equissage, every horse uses the equissage every day and again plays a huge part in the horses training schedule.

We've had difficulty sourcing good bedding and are getting a delivery of Aubiose next week. We sent the last lot of bedding away for analysing and it was carrying a lot of spores which are bad for the horses respiratory system. This could have been a major factor in the loss of form on the yard.

22nd February 2008

We seem to be at the tail end of the bad spell, and some of the horses seem to be improving. We no longer have any horses that are coughing but it is still early days to say whether we are out of the cloud. We are only sending horses out who are fit and well at home. It is hard to tell until the horses have run how they really are. But stringent measures are being taken at home to minimise infection

Ironman runs in the Racing Post Handicap Chase tomorrow at Kempton with Jamie Moore on board. He seems on excellent form at home and has benefited from his brief break. Snoopy Loopy runs in the 3.55 at Chepstow with Seamus Durack.

18th February 2008

We’re pleased to have had a few hard frosts over the last couple of days we’re hoping it will kill the bug in the yard. Serabad’s win over 2m at Haydock was a real boost for all connections to the yard on Saturday, owned by Dai Walters and ridden by Paddy Brennan.

However, some horses are still coughing and we don’t want to push them whilst they are still under the weather. Please keep visiting this page to find out the state of play.

13th February 2008

STOP PRESS: Our Open Day is Sunday 27th July !!

Linthliglow runs at Chepstow tomorrow and Dunbroody Millar and Contact Dancer at Fakenham on the 15th. Ballycassidy is entered for Doncaster on the 20th and we're sending Ironman to Kempton for the Racing Post Chase a week Saturday. Souffleur runs at Haydock on Saturday under the colours of Mr & Mrs. J Timmons, Serabad and Special Envoy will also be heading to the same meeting.

Conservation was due to run at Folkstone earlier in the week but the lorry broke down 50 miles from the racecourse and as our travelling head girl Rhiannon left at 9am by the time the breakdown service arrived it was past midnight so we had to turn around and come straight back. They finally arrived at the yard 6am the following morning after being on he road for over 20 hours.

8th February 2008

Runners start back at Cheltenham and Doncaster, this weekend, with Skelling Mist and Serabad at Cheltenham and Histoire De Moeurs at Doncaster. We have 10 horses entered for this years Grand National they are McKelvey, Ironman, Ballycassidy, Lankawi, Tommy Spar, Irish Wolfe, Blue Splash, Take the Stand, Always Waining, & Dunbroody Millar. McKelvey is back in full work and maintains to have up to 8 hours therapy a day which includes the spa, leg saver and MicroVet.

Sponsorship: Owners are now entitled to claim their VAT back now that we have a sponsor, for more information, please call 07896 272 601.

A few of our horses have been coughing that is why we've had o runners for 11 days, however we have been doing everything we can to ensure our team returns to form, we're planning on returning to Cheltenham with Serabad, and the new French mare Skellig Mist Owned by Ian Kellit. We're keeping a close eye on the horses and we'll notify you on a regular basis whether they will be running.

One to watch is Quattrocentro, who we've had in the yard for a month and is showing great potential. Owned by one of our steadfast owners Roddy Owen, who also owns Ballycassidy and Ironman Peter & Karen have great hopes for this youngster from France.

Peter & Karen are currently at Ballydoyle in Ireland with their three boys Mickey, Sean and James to meet with Adien O’Brien Monday. The one’s to watch over the next couple of weeks as would be Quattrocentro, Histoire De Moeurs and Skellig Mist.

We should hope to have a few entered for Cheltenham namely Ironman who won the Summer Plate last year owned by Roddy Owen and Souffleur who runs in Karen’s colours and who is also part owned by John and Marie Timmons.

Due to the bad weather and many meetings being abandoned, we don't have many runners at the moment.

We have recently welcomed a few lovely horses from France to the yard, one being Skellig Mist from Nicolas Madamet who is a breeder in the South of France owned by Ian Kellit. The other Histoire De Moeurs owned by Patrick Burling Developments Ltd is a lovely Group 1 winner in France with a lot of potential.

We are delighted to welcome Mr & Mrs John Timmons to the yard as owners, owning a 1/3 share in Souffleur.

We're currently installing new management system called 'Yardman' which is a computer system specially tailored for racing yards. Garran Skone, the Yard's Assistant Trainer has been nominated for the Stud and Stable Staff Awards. Peter & Karen wanted to nominate Garran after 16 years working for them. Garran said yesterday "I'm delighted and extremely honoured that Peter & Karen have nominated me for such an award, it will be a real boost for the yard if we even get through!"

Karen & Peter are planning a couple of days away next week to visit friends in Ireland.

We are delighted to announce that Chanelle have very kindly agreed to be our first yard sponsors. Click here to read more ..

We would like to take this opportunity of wishing all of our owners, team, suppliers, partners and followers of our yard and Very Happy and Prosperous 2008, Karen & Peter.

We’re really pleased with our double at Aintree a few weeks ago, with Souffleur and Sir Monty, however we’ve had a few quiet weeks since then with Special envoy showing a lot of promise, we’ve got quite a few progressive horses coming through. We’re hoping the Christmas period will bring some more winners..

One of our old favourites, ‘Stan’ has been brought in from his holiday, looking very woolly with his long winter coat and caked in mud, we’ve clipped him out and we’re pleased to say the trusted old stead will be back next season, please watch our website to find out where he’ll be running.

We’d like to welcome a few new owners to the yard, Sir Robert Ogden and Patrick Burling. Sir Robert owns the French bred Cadoulor and Coq Hardi, both horses have had a couple of runs already and will be running again in the next couple of weeks. Coq Hardi definitely seems the one to watch over the next couple of weeks. Patrick Burling owns Hoistoire De Moeurs a lovely mare who only arrived a couple of weeks ago and should be running in about a month.

The yard was delighted to see Football Crazy’s win a couple of weeks ago., however although Paddy Merrigan pulled him up at Fontwell, he’s absolutely fine and Mickey who is Peter & Karen’s eldest son, had trained the horse himself and has been delighted with his win has subsequently had a lot of press attention following the win, making him number one favourite at school! Mickey said to his Dad he’d better watch out as he had a higher strike rate than him already.

Donal Deveraux one of our lads has just had his amateurs licence through and is looking forward to a few rides over the season, he had a ride on Ballycassidy at Cheltenham the other week and although Bally tailed off he thoroughly enjoyed his first ride at Cheltenham. Donal is currently doing all the roadwork with McKelvey.

McKelvey has been out in the field for a couple of months and started his roadwork, this week he is being campaigned for the Grand National 08, and despite quite a significant injury last year he is sound on that leg!

Peter & Karen have just come back from their first holiday in 20 years away from the yard, they had a nice relaxing break with their three boys Mickey Sean and James and will be looking forward to Christmas. Peter’s latest fad is playing classical music to the horses, they’ve had a state of the art stereo system put through the yard and their being played Daniel O’Donnell throughout the day.