What a fabulous first season we have enjoyed with 4yo Spirit D’Aunou! Congratulations to his Owners and a huge well done and thank you to Gary and his team, particularly regular rider Anna and groom Lisa.
Spirit got his campaign underway at Kempton Park on 21st November where he competed in his first National Hunt Junior Development Hurdle race and ran with great credit to finish 2nd despite being green and coming up against a nice individual.
13 days later he headed to Huntingdon and under a great ride from Jamie Moore delivered an early Christmas present for his Owners as he went onto win for the first time! Spirit then headed further up North on 6th January for his 3rd National Hunt Junior Development Hurdle race and won again by a very comfortable 8 lengths.
These NH Junior Development races were proving to be a hit for Spirit’s confidence and to build experience as they were races solely for 4-year old NH bred horses and we believe they really helped nurture the young horse along. With this experience under his belt trainer Gary Moore decided it was time to step up in class and therefore Spirit and a crowd of his Owners attended Sandown Park on 11th March. Spirit travelled well throughout his race and jumped his hurdles neatly but it was the first race that he actually had to get stuck in during a finish and battle. This proved no match for Spirit D’Aunou however as he grinded things out well in the closing stages to land his 3rd win of the season when taking on horses with a bit more flat speed.
To round off what had already been a phenomenal season Spirit D’Aunou headed to Chepstow on 15th April to take on older horses for the first time on ground that was slightly quicker than ideal. With Niall Houlihan on board this time the young horse travelled brilliantly under a superb ride from Niall, and once again he jumped his hurdles well. Niall squeezed the horse in the home straight and asked him to catch the long-time leader Bertie’s Wish, and Spirit D’Aunou did that easily, passing his rivals and going onto win with plenty in hand.
We now have a favourable mark of 129 heading into next season and Spirit D’Aunou will now enjoy a well deserved summers break. He’ll be back in light ridden work from July and we cannot wait to see what this exciting horse has in store for us next season!
Relive the wins by clicking here and see some photographs of what’s been a fantastic season with this horse below.
Leave a Reply