THE fourth four-year-old maiden of the 2018 spring campaign takes place at Kirkistown this afternoon, and after saddling the winner of that race for the past two years, most shrewd punters will be casting their eye over the Warren Ewing representative in this year’s renewal.

Ewing is not your typical producer of young point-to-pointers. For a start, horses aren’t even his full-time job. The former point-to-point jockey runs a successful fish merchants company, Ewings Seafoods, alongside his father Walter and brother Crawford. With over 13 vans on the road supplying hotels and restaurants in Belfast and across Northern Ireland, it is a big business which sees him start work at 5:30am each morning.

For some, the high stakes game of producing four-year-old point-to-pointers may seem like anything but light relief from the daily tasks of running a successful business, but it is one that Ewing has mastered. From his yard in county Antrim, leading performers such as Brain Power and Sound Investment have progressed on to become successful graded winners, while in more recent times, Sending Love, Getareason, Cesar Collonges, Storm Home and Brace Yourself have all been sold for six-figure sums having carried Ewing’s own pink and yellow silks between the flags. His 2018 team looks to contain yet another exciting bunch of youngsters.

BLAZER’S MILL

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Westerner – Creation

(Definite Article)

Warren Ewing

He is a nice 16.2hh horse that I bought with Barry Geraghty as a foal. His grandam is Palette who was second to Istabraq in the Royal Bond Hurdle and he is related to the likes of Coneygree and Carruthers. He is a good jumper and is doing everything very well at the moment so we are excited to get him started.

BOLD PLAN

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Jeremy – Kings Orchid

(King’s Theatre)

Warren Ewing

I bought him for €28,000 at the Land Rover Sale from Ian Buchanan. He caught my eye at the sale and is a very good mover. He hasn’t missed a day and is in very good health. At the time of writing, he is one of three horses I have in at Kirkistown, and the plan is to work all three before making a decision about whether to run.

BOLD CONDUCT

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Stowaway – Vics Miller

(Old Vic)

Warren Ewing

I gave €35,000 for him at the Derby Sale and he is a really gorgeous horse. He is working very well at home and is ready to rock now. I am looking to run him at Punchestown next month in the race that Getareason finished second in last year.

BROWNLOW CAVE

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Court Cave – Brownlow Castle

(Supreme Leader)

Warren Ewing

He is not as forward as some of the four-year-olds that I have so I am taking my time with him. He should be ready to run around March or April time. He is a half-brother to Stephanie Francis, who won a good few blacktype races for Dan Skelton. I actually bred him myself. He is one of the last foals that I bred. I don’t have any broodmares at the moment, I gave his dam to John Flood and we are going to share the foals.

EMPEROR WEST

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Maresca Sorrento – Sin City

(Lavirco)

Warren Ewing

I paid £30,000 for him at the spring store sales in Doncaster and he really stood out. He was a very good walker who is very athletic, so I was very keen to get him. He is a strong-galloping horse who we have done plenty of work with. He is entered at Oldtown tomorrow and the plan is to run. The big galloping track will suit and I am hoping for a big run.

FAR AWAY ROCK

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Getaway – Far Rock

(Old Vic)

Warren Ewing

She is a Getaway mare that I got off a neighbour of mine, Barbara Hanna. She only came to me as a four-year-old, but we have her broken now and she is cantering away. She will likely be out in the next month or so.

GOING SOLO

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Aizavoski – Wayward Star

(Old Vic)

Warren Ewing

I know his family well as I trained his half-brother Ground Invasion. He was a real tough and hardy horse. He won two point-to-points within the space of a week and then, a month later, beat Chosen Dream at Loughanmore and won the point-to-point bumper in Tipperary. He is from the first crop of Aizavoski who is standing at Arctic Tack Stud, so it was great to see that he already had a four-year-old winner at Bellharbour last Sunday. He is a nice horse with plenty of speed that is entered in Kirkistown today. If he jumps around he will not be far away.

LEGEND’S GOLD

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Gold Well – Fu’s Legend

(Pistolet Bleu)

Warren Ewing

This Gold Well filly is going nicely at home. She came from the August sales and is from the family of Champagne Harry, What A Friend and Champagne At Tara. Barry Connell bought her half-brother (Mount Pelier) for €120,000 at the Derby Sale and he finished second in the bumper at Naas two weeks ago. She jumps very well and is not far away from a run. We will look at the first four-year-old maiden for mares next month for her.

MAJOR DETAIL

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Getaway – Miner Detail

(Presenting)

Warren Ewing

I bought him for €20,000 at the Land Rover Sale. He has a lovely page and is a half-brother to Brother Brian. He is a very sharp horse with plenty of speed that could run at Kirkistown today. Kirkistown is a good safe fair track with a bit of jumping. I like running four-year-olds there as there are no gaps that they have to run through. It gives them a nice introduction.

OSCAR WILDE

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Oscar – Deep Supreme

(Supreme Leader)

Warren Ewing

I bought him with Barry Geraghty at the Land Rover Sale for €13,000. He is very well bred and I think he is a nice horse. His dam is a full-sister to Nick Dundee and a half-sister to Ned Kelly. He is a lovely big 17hh horse. I am taking a bit more time with him and he is one that we could target for Loughanmore at Easter.

SLEEPY HOLLOW

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Beat Hollow – Oh Susannah

(Turgeon)

Warren Ewing

He is a half-brother to Blacklough that I bought privately as a three-year-old with Paul Carberry. Paul and I bought a Beneficial gelding called Sammylou as a three-year-old and named him after our children. He finished fourth at Necarne last year and then we sold him to Graeme McPherson. This is the second horse that we have bought together and he is a nice horse that will run in mid-March.

SOLDIER AT WAR

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Soldier Hollow – Sang Sun

(Monsun)

Warren Ewing

He cost £42,000 out of Doncaster and I think that he is a proper racehorse. His dam is a blacktype mare in Germany and she has already produced Sang Tiger who was second in a Grade 3 at Limerick for James Lambe. He is by Soldier Hollow, who is a leading young sire in Germany and the sire of Arctic Fire. He jumps very well and is a horse with plenty of speed, so I am going to wait for some nicer ground with him.

UKNOWWHATIMEAN

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Shantou – Presenting Chaos

(Presenting)

Warren Ewing

He was a bit backward in himself but he is going nicely now. I will just wait for a bit of better ground. Kevin Ross bought him as a foal for me from the December Sale at Goffs. I would get between 10 and 12 foals and Kevin would buy some for me. I then try to sell them as three-year-olds and if they are not making what I expect, I am happy to take them home and train them myself. I did that with Sending Love and Brace Yourself. Sending Love didn’t sell at the Land Rover Sale so I took him home and he won at Kirkistown and was sold for £130,000 at Cheltenham. Brace Yourself is another that was bought as a foal that didn’t make what I wanted as a three-year-old and then we sold him for £165,000 at Cheltenham.

WARNER EDWARD

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Kalanisi – Beauty Star

(Shalford)

Warren Ewing

He is another that I bought as a foal and is a half-brother to Pumped Up Kicks who has won plenty of races on the track and in point-to-points. I brought him in a bit later than the others so he is a bit behind them. Buying the 10 or 12 foals every year is a safety net that I like to have. If you have a bad point-to-point season, you have three-year-olds to sell at the following year’s store sales. You also have a batch of four-year-olds to run in that might not have been sold the year before, so you are not under pressure to restock.

WAYFINDER

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Shantou – Sibury

(Overbury)

Warren Ewing

Kevin Ross bought him for €10,000 as a foal out of the November Sale in Tattersalls. He was my first four-year-old to run this spring when he finished fourth at Bellharbour on Sunday. I thought that maybe I had left him a bit short as we got held up with the snow. He was in front jumping the second-last and then just got tired coming to the last. Mark (O’Hare) looked after him when his chance was gone and he jumped well.

UNNAMED

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Sholokhov – Trajectus

(Homo Sapien)

Warren Ewing

He is an albino horse that I bought with Barry Geraghty as a yearling. He will be easily spotted when he runs. He was a bit behind the others so I left him out for a bit longer but he is in full work now and going well. We will keep him back for later in the spring.