We managed to refurbish accommodation for four of my lads, and they all moved in today. It all looks very smart and I hope they will keep it that way!!
We had a big storm on Monday - they are calling it hurricane Barney. We've had a lot of rain, which has stopped us running quite a few horses as they all need better ground, and it is now getting a bit frustrating!
We are taking two horses to Warwick today in the hope that the ground is OK, but I fear it may be on the dead side. We have Murray Mount in the handicap hurdle and a nice mare called Maid of Milan who is having her first run for us over here. I will see what the jockeys say about the ground after the first race before committing to running her. Maid of Milan is one of "The Neardowners" syndicate horses, of which there are still shares available!!
We have plenty of entries over the weekend; Seventh Sky might go to Ascot, along with Ephraim.
Hopefully this weather will dry up a bit and we can have some runners!
We worked some horses up the back of the hill this morning. Le Legro worked well and Dukes Den went nicely too. Ephraim and Baltic Storm did a nice bit of work together, and Expedite and My Anchor also travelled really well.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Monday, 16 November 2015
Cheltenham
On Friday my sister Caroline and brother in law Mark came to stay as they were doing three days at Cheltenhams' Paddy Power meeting.
David Lambert and two friends dropped in for breakfast on Saturday - they watched his horses on the gallops on their way to Cheltenham.
John Davies picked us up in a bus to take us to Cheltenham, where he had a box and we had a very good day! We watched Cody Wyoming up at Wetherby - he behaved like a pig and decided that he didn't want to try... It's all in his head as he is in great form physically, so we need to try and get him back to his chirpy self.
We picked up my daughter Tildie on the way back from Cheltenham - we then had a very good dinner at The Malt Shovel.
On Sunday morning I had to take Dragon City out of his race at Fontwell because the ground had gone soft.
Iffy then drove us to the races, where Mark had laid on a surprise party for Caroline, in a very smart box, with all her friends there. It was a great success and everyone enjoyed it immensely! It was great to see Sprinter Sacre back on track and it must have been very satisfying for Nicky Henderson and his team. There was good racing over the three days and we saw some very good performances.
David Lambert and two friends dropped in for breakfast on Saturday - they watched his horses on the gallops on their way to Cheltenham.
John Davies picked us up in a bus to take us to Cheltenham, where he had a box and we had a very good day! We watched Cody Wyoming up at Wetherby - he behaved like a pig and decided that he didn't want to try... It's all in his head as he is in great form physically, so we need to try and get him back to his chirpy self.
We picked up my daughter Tildie on the way back from Cheltenham - we then had a very good dinner at The Malt Shovel.
On Sunday morning I had to take Dragon City out of his race at Fontwell because the ground had gone soft.
Iffy then drove us to the races, where Mark had laid on a surprise party for Caroline, in a very smart box, with all her friends there. It was a great success and everyone enjoyed it immensely! It was great to see Sprinter Sacre back on track and it must have been very satisfying for Nicky Henderson and his team. There was good racing over the three days and we saw some very good performances.
Thursday, 12 November 2015
12th August 2015
Denis O'Regan and Harry Bannister came in to ride out on Wednesday - we worked two lots, and used the grass gallops on second lot - Some Kinda Lama worked really well.
I met my new Bank Manager at 12o'clock, who came to see me, as we are moving to the RBS. He seemed like a nice fellow..
Morney Wing ran in the first race at Bangor, and considering he had everything in his favour, I was a bit disappointed with his run; he finished in 4th place. I suspect he may have a small wind problem, which if so, needs sorting out sooner rather than later.
My son William came to stay the night - I took him out with Katya to the Malt Shovel for supper, which I have to say was very good.
This morning we schooled first lot - Mark Grant and Gavin Sheehan came in to help. Gavin schooled Elmore Back and if you want to see poetry in motion, I could watch this horse schooling all day, as he is absolutely brilliant! Some Kinda Lama and Maid of Milan also jumped beautifully. Dukes Den has also taken to jumping hurdles really well and will have an entry in his first hurdle race soon. Expedite was also very good and will make a lovely chaser in time.
I met my new Bank Manager at 12o'clock, who came to see me, as we are moving to the RBS. He seemed like a nice fellow..
Morney Wing ran in the first race at Bangor, and considering he had everything in his favour, I was a bit disappointed with his run; he finished in 4th place. I suspect he may have a small wind problem, which if so, needs sorting out sooner rather than later.
My son William came to stay the night - I took him out with Katya to the Malt Shovel for supper, which I have to say was very good.
This morning we schooled first lot - Mark Grant and Gavin Sheehan came in to help. Gavin schooled Elmore Back and if you want to see poetry in motion, I could watch this horse schooling all day, as he is absolutely brilliant! Some Kinda Lama and Maid of Milan also jumped beautifully. Dukes Den has also taken to jumping hurdles really well and will have an entry in his first hurdle race soon. Expedite was also very good and will make a lovely chaser in time.
Monday, 9 November 2015
Runners report...
We worked horses first and second lot on Saturday - Simon Kimber and Julie came round to watch Expedite work. I wanted to work them on the grass, but we had so much rain, that the Jockey Club closed the grass gallops, so we ended up using the all weather up the back of the hill. It rained heavily all morning and I had a quiet day watching the racing in front of the television.
On Sunday we had a very busy day, with 4 runners at Ffos Las and Sandown. I took Mark and George Hitchcroft and their friend Steve racing to Sandown, where we had three runners. We ran Capatosta in the Juvenile hurdle and as he is so big, he is still very weak, so he really is next years horse. We then ran Gowanauthat at Ffos Las - he was travelling really well and then made a terrible mistake at the third last. He was a bit unlucky and deserves a bit of luck now - the owners certainly do anyway!!! We took on Coneygree with Seventh Sky, who ran a really nice race - he jumped beautifully. Finishing 2nd to a Gold Cup winner is no disgrace and he picked up some nice prize money too. We ran Fine Parchment in the veterans race - he jumped beautifully and ran a good race to finish 5th. He now qualifies for a £100,000 veterans race at Sandown on January 1st, which will be his target.
We have quite a few entries for the middle-end of this week, including Ephraim, who we think a lot of, and Maid of Milan, who is a nice mare that we think a lot of. Morney Wing also has some entries as does Cody Wyoming, Some Kinda Lama, Dragon City, Airpur Desbois and Tango Unchained.
We were desperate for rain last week, and as usual, we got too much.
We had a NTF meeting today at Newbury racecourse, which I like to attend as I am on the council, and we discussed the same, usual things, but it was more to do with flat racing rather than jumping to be honest.
There is a nice sale at Cheltenham on Saturday if anyone would like to come along!!
On Sunday we had a very busy day, with 4 runners at Ffos Las and Sandown. I took Mark and George Hitchcroft and their friend Steve racing to Sandown, where we had three runners. We ran Capatosta in the Juvenile hurdle and as he is so big, he is still very weak, so he really is next years horse. We then ran Gowanauthat at Ffos Las - he was travelling really well and then made a terrible mistake at the third last. He was a bit unlucky and deserves a bit of luck now - the owners certainly do anyway!!! We took on Coneygree with Seventh Sky, who ran a really nice race - he jumped beautifully. Finishing 2nd to a Gold Cup winner is no disgrace and he picked up some nice prize money too. We ran Fine Parchment in the veterans race - he jumped beautifully and ran a good race to finish 5th. He now qualifies for a £100,000 veterans race at Sandown on January 1st, which will be his target.
We have quite a few entries for the middle-end of this week, including Ephraim, who we think a lot of, and Maid of Milan, who is a nice mare that we think a lot of. Morney Wing also has some entries as does Cody Wyoming, Some Kinda Lama, Dragon City, Airpur Desbois and Tango Unchained.
We were desperate for rain last week, and as usual, we got too much.
We had a NTF meeting today at Newbury racecourse, which I like to attend as I am on the council, and we discussed the same, usual things, but it was more to do with flat racing rather than jumping to be honest.
There is a nice sale at Cheltenham on Saturday if anyone would like to come along!!
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| To Begin, taken by Kara, at Musselburgh last weekend |
Friday, 6 November 2015
More schooling & a 2nd at Musselburgh
We schooled two lots on Thursday and they all schooled very well. Paddy Brennan, Gavin Sheehan and James Davies came in to school. Paddy schooled Ephraim over the hurdles and he jumped well.
George Tobitt came down to see The Neardowners syndicate horses - he bought a share, which is fantastic!!
It rained all day on Thursday and it has rained all day today, so we sent two horses up to Edinburgh to get the better ground. To Begin ran in his first Novice Chase and jumped well to finish 2nd to a fairly decent horse of Lucinda Russells, but for his first run over fences, I thought he ran very well.
We also ran Quebec, but for some reason he didn't run any sort of race - he didn't travel or jump, so there may be something wrong with him - we will have to get him back and check him out.
We have a fairly busy weekend with 4 runners on Sunday - Gowanauthat runs at Ffos Las and we have Capatosta, Seventh Sky and Fine Parchment at Sandown. Seventh Sky is taking on the Gold Cup winner, Coneygree, and Fine Parchment is running in a veterans chase, and he does love Sandown, so fingers crossed!
We are using the grass gallops right now, and as we have had so much rain, they are holding up quite well. Emily Jones has been in to ride out quite a lot recently, which has been hugely helpful!
George Tobitt came down to see The Neardowners syndicate horses - he bought a share, which is fantastic!!
It rained all day on Thursday and it has rained all day today, so we sent two horses up to Edinburgh to get the better ground. To Begin ran in his first Novice Chase and jumped well to finish 2nd to a fairly decent horse of Lucinda Russells, but for his first run over fences, I thought he ran very well.
We also ran Quebec, but for some reason he didn't run any sort of race - he didn't travel or jump, so there may be something wrong with him - we will have to get him back and check him out.
We have a fairly busy weekend with 4 runners on Sunday - Gowanauthat runs at Ffos Las and we have Capatosta, Seventh Sky and Fine Parchment at Sandown. Seventh Sky is taking on the Gold Cup winner, Coneygree, and Fine Parchment is running in a veterans chase, and he does love Sandown, so fingers crossed!
We are using the grass gallops right now, and as we have had so much rain, they are holding up quite well. Emily Jones has been in to ride out quite a lot recently, which has been hugely helpful!
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Wednesday 4th November
We had a jolly dinner at The Queens last night, complimentary of Newbury Racecourse - they showed us all the plans of how they are modernising the racecourse, which all looked very impressive.
Denis O'Regan came in to ride out this morning - he was very complimentary about Baltic Storm following his 2nd at Plumpton on Monday. We worked some horses up the grass - Denis rode Airpur Desbois, who went well. It is a really lovely bit of ground up on "the face of the hill" - the grass is riding really well and the horses (and the lads!) definitely enjoy a change of scenery. Ephraim worked extremely well and Tango Unchained worked nicely upsides Dukes Den. Morney Wing went well along with Expedite. Some Kinda Lama went nicely too and is definitely on an upward curve!
We don't have any runners today, but Matty will be leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Musselburgh where we will probably run Quebec and To Begin - the ground should be alright up there and the prize money is quite good too.
It looks like Seventh Sky might take on Coneygree at Sandown on Sunday, but he also has an entry at Aintree on Saturday, so we will wait and see what looks the best race for him on Friday morning.
Denis O'Regan came in to ride out this morning - he was very complimentary about Baltic Storm following his 2nd at Plumpton on Monday. We worked some horses up the grass - Denis rode Airpur Desbois, who went well. It is a really lovely bit of ground up on "the face of the hill" - the grass is riding really well and the horses (and the lads!) definitely enjoy a change of scenery. Ephraim worked extremely well and Tango Unchained worked nicely upsides Dukes Den. Morney Wing went well along with Expedite. Some Kinda Lama went nicely too and is definitely on an upward curve!
We don't have any runners today, but Matty will be leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Musselburgh where we will probably run Quebec and To Begin - the ground should be alright up there and the prize money is quite good too.
It looks like Seventh Sky might take on Coneygree at Sandown on Sunday, but he also has an entry at Aintree on Saturday, so we will wait and see what looks the best race for him on Friday morning.
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Dragon City WINS at Plumpton!
We had a good schooling session on Thursday; Ephraim and Expedite were very impressive. Bill Brindle came down and saw Elmore Back jump beautifully as well as Some Kinda Lama, who was very good.
I went racing to Stratford with Barney Windsor Clive, only to watch Cody Wyoming chuck his toys out of the pram. They went far too fast for him, and when he can't get competitive, he doesn't want to know, so it was a complete waste of time.
We try and have a "happy hour" every Friday night for the lads in The Malt, and if nothing else, it cheers me up!!
On Saturday we worked some horses on the grass for the first time this season. The ground was absolutely beautiful.
I had a quiet afternoon on Saturday and watched the racing on the TV.
On Sunday morning we schooled the 3 horses that were all going to run on Monday, which went well.
I had lunch at The Malt Shovel with Tom Fillery, his father and brother, plus his fiance Rachel, and all the talk in/around Lambourn is about Richard Hughes moving in. It was a jolly lunch as all the Hannons, Hughsie and Sylvester Kirk were there and we welcomed them to the Valley of the Racehorse.
On Monday we had William and Caroline Hill for breakfast and they watched their horses on second lot.
We ran My Anchor at Kempton and considering he was meant to be dropped in last, (and the jockey took it upon himself to make the running) he actually ran very well, finishing 4th, only beaten 9 lengths. It was a pleasing performance and he should be able to win a race before too long.
We ran two horses at Plumpton - Baltic Storm & Dragon City.
Baltic Storm ran a very good race and finished 2nd, not beaten very far and he should be able to win his hurdle race before too long also. And then Tommy Dowling rode a very good race on Dragon City - he made all the running on the horse, got him jumping, and managed to WIN by half a length, much to everyone's delight!!! Credit where credit is due, no one could have given it a better ride.
So all in all, it was a good start to the week and the horses are running well! We haven't got much else in until Thursday and we may be going up to Musselburgh on Friday. We have a busy weekend with horses entered at Aintree, Sandown and Ffos Las, so we need to keep the ball rolling, but the horses do seem to be in good form, so we want to make hay whilst the sun shines!!!!
I went racing to Stratford with Barney Windsor Clive, only to watch Cody Wyoming chuck his toys out of the pram. They went far too fast for him, and when he can't get competitive, he doesn't want to know, so it was a complete waste of time.
We try and have a "happy hour" every Friday night for the lads in The Malt, and if nothing else, it cheers me up!!
On Saturday we worked some horses on the grass for the first time this season. The ground was absolutely beautiful.
I had a quiet afternoon on Saturday and watched the racing on the TV.
On Sunday morning we schooled the 3 horses that were all going to run on Monday, which went well.
I had lunch at The Malt Shovel with Tom Fillery, his father and brother, plus his fiance Rachel, and all the talk in/around Lambourn is about Richard Hughes moving in. It was a jolly lunch as all the Hannons, Hughsie and Sylvester Kirk were there and we welcomed them to the Valley of the Racehorse.
On Monday we had William and Caroline Hill for breakfast and they watched their horses on second lot.
We ran My Anchor at Kempton and considering he was meant to be dropped in last, (and the jockey took it upon himself to make the running) he actually ran very well, finishing 4th, only beaten 9 lengths. It was a pleasing performance and he should be able to win a race before too long.
We ran two horses at Plumpton - Baltic Storm & Dragon City.
Baltic Storm ran a very good race and finished 2nd, not beaten very far and he should be able to win his hurdle race before too long also. And then Tommy Dowling rode a very good race on Dragon City - he made all the running on the horse, got him jumping, and managed to WIN by half a length, much to everyone's delight!!! Credit where credit is due, no one could have given it a better ride.
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| Tommy & Dragon City taken this morning after their exciting victory at Plumpton yesterday! |
So all in all, it was a good start to the week and the horses are running well! We haven't got much else in until Thursday and we may be going up to Musselburgh on Friday. We have a busy weekend with horses entered at Aintree, Sandown and Ffos Las, so we need to keep the ball rolling, but the horses do seem to be in good form, so we want to make hay whilst the sun shines!!!!
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