Tag Archive for: Rock My Way

Syd Hosie retains plenty of faith in Rock My Way

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Rock My Way has two possible targets at Aintree as owner-trainer Syd Hosie looks ahead to a possible chasing career with his star five-year-old.

Hosie has been involved as an owner for many years with Colin Tizzard before entering the training ranks last year, saddling a handful of winners from his Dorset base.

Having earned a Grade Two success in a novice hurdle at Cheltenham in January, Rock My Way flew the flag for the yard in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival meeting and ran well for a long way before tiring behind Stay Away Fay, eventually being pulled up.

Hosie said: “The Albert Bartlett was a very good race this year. He ran really well for a long way, but just didn’t stay three miles.

“He is a nice horse, but he is five. There were two five-year-olds in the race, but I’m not making excuses.

“We have two options now, either the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Aintree over two-miles-four (furlongs) – that is probably where we are going to head with him, then put him away – and there is the Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, but that is a bit of an ask, being a Grade One.

“I’m more inclined to run him in the handicap.”

Rock May Way has the scope to go chasing, although Hosie will take his time before making a plan for next season and beyond.

He added: “I have two owners with him now (Nick Case and John Romans), so we will see how he summers and make a plan.

“He definitely has the scope to go over fences. To me, a horse like that, is going to be more natural over a fence – he’s going to do everything easier over a fence.

“He probably needs to strengthen up a little more.”

Hosie ready to Rock at Cheltenham

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Syd Hosie is counting down the days until the Cheltenham Festival, where he hopes to land a telling blow for the home team with Rock My Way.

The promising young starlet of Hosie’s Sandhills Farm base put himself in the Festival picture when building on an encouraging debut to scoop Grade Two honours on Trials Day.

That victory came over a touch more than two and a half miles, but the five-year-old will step up to three miles for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle when he returns to Prestbury Park in just over two weeks.

His price for that Grade One contest ranges from 14-1 to 25-1 and Hosie is relishing the prospect of pitting his talented son of Getaway against Ireland’s best staying novice hurdlers.

“He’s flying and is fresher by the day, so roll on March 17 and all roads lead to Cheltenham,” said Hosie.

“He had a good old look around when he hit the front at Cheltenham last time coming up the hill, but as soon as something comes up behind him, he pricks his ears and runs on again.

“A truer run race over three miles, I think we will see a hell of a horse.

“It’s really something to look forward to – getting him there and having a good crack at the Irish. It would be nice to get one on the board for the Brits.”

Hosie could also be represented at the Festival by his stable stalwart Lieutenant Rocco, who snapped a lengthy luckless run with a chase victory at Kempton at the weekend.

Lieutenant Rocco ridden by Thomas Bellamy clears a fence before winning the Coral Bet Bundles Handicap Chase at Kempton Park
Lieutenant Rocco ridden by Thomas Bellamy clears a fence before winning the Coral Bet Bundles Handicap Chase at Kempton Park (Nigel French/PA)

He holds an entry in the Pertemps Final over hurdles, but with a rating of 122 leaving his participation on the edge, the Sherborne-based handler has a back up plan of Kempton the day after the four-day Prestbury Pak extravaganza draws to a close.

He continued: “I’m not sure his hurdle mark will go up with his chase mark, so he might not get in. If he doesn’t, there’s a 0-150 at Kempton the Saturday after Cheltenham, so we might go there with him.

“It’s been a long time coming to get him to win and to do it in my name made it all the more sweeter really.

“He’s a lovely horse and we all know what he can do on the track.”

Hosie eyeing Cheltenham return for Rock My Way

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Rock My Way is likely to return to Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day following his promising debut at Prestbury Park on New Year’s Day.

Recruited by owner/trainer Syd Hosie for £90,000 in November after winning a Castletown-Geoghegan point-to-point the previous month, the five-year-old produced an eye-catching display on his Rules bow.

Sent off a 66-1 outsider for the Ballymore Maiden Hurdle over an extended two and a half miles, the son of Getaway made a mockery of those long odds to press Nigel Twiston-Davies’ 5-4 favourite Weveallbeencaught all the way to the line.

With the winner well-regarded by connections and the front two pulling over 20 lengths clear of the rest of the field, Hosie was delighted to see his confidence in Rock My Way justified.

The Dorset-based handler is now hoping his charge can book his place in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival by coming through his next assignment in the Grade Two Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on January 28 with flying colours.

“We were quite hopeful he would run a nice race, that’s why he went there,” said Hosie. “Sometimes when picking a race like that you think you could be in the wrong place, but he proved we weren’t, so that was good.

“When you get a nice one, you just have to look after them and we’re just making a plan for him. Tom (Scudamore) liked him so that is good news.

“There is the Ballymore race at the end of the month at Cheltenham. It is never normally that strong a race as people have already had their run or don’t want to run. We may as well stick to that sort of company and if he can be competitive there, we can go up in trip for the Albert Bartlett.”

Hosie also feels there should be more to come from a horse he believes has plenty of star quality.

He added: “He’s a big lad and scopey as well. He will definitely be the best looking horse we’ve had here and when he turned up, you could see he was just a bit of a different class.

“He just gallops and gallops at home and I did think it might almost be a bit sharp for him on debut. He just bumped into a good one and I guess you could think we will go where they go because we think ours is the same sort of quality as Nigel’s.

“We didn’t do a lot with him before the race to be honest. We bought him at Cheltenham in November, brought him back home and didn’t do an awful lot with him. I just thought he looks fresh, he was really well at home, so let’s run him. Now he’s gone and done that, we know we have something to work with. Hopefully look out on January 28.”

The Sandhills Farm handler also provided an update Lieutenant Rocco ahead of his outing at Taunton on Monday.

The eight-year-old won twice as a novice hurdler when trained by Colin Tizzard in his formative years, while he added a novice chase victory under the stewardship of Nick Mitchell in 2021.

Lieutenant Rocco is set to run at Taunton on Monday
Lieutenant Rocco is set to run at Taunton on Monday (PA)

The Shirocco gelding will now attempt to score for the first time with Hosie as trainer in the Stables Business Park Handicap Hurdle.

“He’s coming along nicely and is going to have a blast out at Taunton on Monday just to get his fitness back,” said the Sherborne trainer.

“He’s had his problems but we’ve got him back and now he’s getting older, it just takes longer to get him fit. He’s a big, big horse – we feed him as much as he wants but then we have to train it off!

“It would be nice to get a win into him and I’ve never trained him to win myself.

“He probably had hard races as a novice chaser. If you look at his form, he’s finished ahead of Chantry House and just behind Fusil Raffles at Cheltenham and he was not far behind Protektorat in the Dipper when the race was held at Wincanton. The ability is in there, it is just eking it all out.

“We’re looking forward to running him and I would love to get him back to Cheltenham and try to get him back there for the Ultima. But he needs to probably go up a few pounds now.”