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As readers of this blog were forewarned the slow start on the AW in 2026 for Somerville Lodge extended from 1-20 in January to 0-6 in February. This follows the pattern of the last 2 winter campaigns in the opening months of the year, in 2025 the record in February was 1-4 and in February…

Given a vast majority of the Somerville Lodge 3yo’s are unexposed- the early entry dates made for the French Classics this week, provide a good insight into which may be among the highest ranking as the season progresses. Haggas rarely has runners in the early classic races either in the UK or in France or…

It has been an exceptionally quiet month at Somerville Lodge and there is no real change of gear as February ends with only a couple of unraced maidens being entered to run. The first of those is a lovely looking grey colt Al Maslool by Dark Angel out of the former Richard Hannon trained filly…

A week of zero entries for Somerville Lodge sums up the reality that the 2026 AW winter campaign has been something of a token gesture, with the emphasis being placed on the Turf campaign, especially with the increased number of older horses staying in training. It looks like Wiltshire will be the sole centre of…

With a record of 1-24 on the AW surfaces this year , patience has been high on the list of attributes required by William Haggas followers. However, as indicated before the races were ran, there have been few if any runners expected to deliver. We advised of the dangers of supporting the horses that have…

Whilst activity at Somerville Lodge is increasingly busy with preparation for the Turf season – AW runners continue to be few and far between. Only two declarations have been made up to Friday this week and both are on retrieval missions following disappointing runs earlier this year. We highlighted the risks in backing maiden fillies…

A majority of the established owners that send horses to Somerville Lodge are owner breeders which puts great emphasis, especially with the fillies, for the yard , as a minimum, to win at least one race for connections. Most are beautifully bred and expectations, quite rightly extend to obtaining black type. However both targets are…

The Haggas team avoided a winless January with the last throw of the dice when the 58 rated Henrietta Ronner showed vastly improved form to take out a 3yo Handicap at Newcastle. Just in case anyone needed reminding of the brilliance of the trainer, the previously disappointing filly, fitted with blinkers and ridden without restraint…

2026 looks set to go down as the worse in a decade for Haggas followers with the current run of 0-15. With only a few runners set to go to post this week its looks odds on, that for the first time since the Covid year of 2020, Somerville Lodge will go winless heading into…

The Lincoln entries have been made and its no surprise that 3 of the 4 Somerville Lodge entries are towards the head of the Ante post market with Crown of Oaks as the early favourite, in a market that features the 102 entries, at 10/1. Crown of Oaks will, if turning up, run off a…