We headed to Southwell on Friday for an all-weather double header with Katalyst making her nursery handicap debut and Phoenix Of Dreams having his first run since the end of October.

Katalyst kicked things off in the 14:15 and our two-year-old filly put in a decent effort to come home in fifth place. She was quickly out of the gates under jockey Lewis Edmunds and that allowed the pair to get a nice prominent position early on.

As they turned for home, she stuck to her task well after Lewis asked for an effort, but she wasn't quite able to match the toe of some of her rivals which saw her eventually beaten by four and a quarter lengths. That was just her first attempt stepping up to a mile, so hopefully there will be plenty more to come next time out.

We spoke to trainer Chris Grassick after the race and this is what he had to say:

"Looking back at the race, Katalyst just got shuffled back a little bit early on, and that made it difficult for her to make up the ground, but she stayed on nicely, saw out the mile well, and at the finish wasn’t beaten all that far for third, so overall it was an OK run.

I can see her getting dropped a pound or two, so that will take us into 0 – 65 class, and I can’t see her not winning in that grade. We will give her a holiday now, she came out the race absolutely fine, but we can freshen her up, and bring her back in the spring.

She’s a hardy filly, who takes her racing well, and I can see her getting even further than a mile next summer so there is plenty to look forward to with her, and I see no reason why we can't have an exciting 2026 with her."


Katalyst in the pre-parade ring at Southwell on Friday

We had to wait until the final race on the card to then see Phoenix Of Dreams make his return to action for the John & Sean Quinn team. He'd been given a short break following a wind operation which came after his last effort at Pontefract in October so this was going to be his first run in two months.

As the race got underway, Phoenix Of Dreams was sharp enough out of the gates from his wide draw, with jockey Cieren Fallon doing a good job to get him a decent position just behind the leading pair of Honour Your Dreams and Ay Gee Ell as they came into the first bend.

With the two furlong pole in sight, Cieren began to ask Phoenix Of Dreams to pull out more to maintain his position in the field, to which he responded well, however you could see that a lack of race fitness was catching up with him in the closing stages. The pair eventually hit the finish line in seventh place, just over five lengths behind the winner Supreme King.

In his post-race interview, Cieren said that he was happy with the performance from Phoenix Of Dreams all things considered, and he mentioned that he thinks our four-year-old will come on a lot for the run which was pleasing to hear.

We also caught up with trainer Sean Quinn and this is what he had to say about his come back run:

"Phoenix Of Dreams was absolutely fine on Saturday morning, he wasn’t blowing too hard after the Southwell race, although he might have just been a little bit rusty, which can happen when a horse has had their wind tweaked. It can take a couple of runs for them to get their confidence back after a wind op, knowing their breathing will be better, so I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt for the run.
 
That said, we definitely feel he has more ability than we’ve managed to eke out of him this season. We’ve not had a clear run with him, he’s had these niggly little issues, but as he’s come out of the race well, we’re of the opinion to kick on with him.
 
So we’ll look for something in the next week or ten days, maybe Southwell on the 28th, as I think if we can get a few runs into him, he’ll run himself into form. We certainly believe there is more to come."

Be sure to keep an eye out on the Coral Racing Club for our next Owner for the Day competition for your chance to head to the races as one of Phoenix Of Dreams' owners!