After all the rain we've had all summer we've had a really nice 3 days of sun. We have started to get the horses in from the field as the grass has gone and the flies are getting bad. They all look pretty pleased to be back in.

I had a very nice weekend at Henley Regatta. It's always nice to see a different sport at top level. We went to Newmarket for the Sales and managed to buy a nice 4 year old called American Gigolo. He has been placed in a bumper and is a nice scopey sort.

My son William had his Speech Day at Pinewood and it was his last day there as he will go to St Edwards in Oxford after the summer holidays.The next day I flew to Nice to stay with Ros Kempner in St Tropez. It is fairly expensive in St Tropez but lunch on Tuesday was one of the most expensive lunches I've had for a while. Between the starter and the main course I managed to buy a horse at Ascot Sales through Bobby O'Ryan called Doolin. I didn't see him until I got back but I was pleasantly surprised and he looks a nice sort. I stayed in Nice on the 15th which was the day after the awful attack in Boulevard des Anglais. It was pretty grim stuff.

We have been a bit quiet on the runners front but we have got two in next Tuesday. We have also got a plan which is to run Sureness in a mares race at San Sebastian which will be an interesting trip. If she runs well on August 8th there is a big race for her a week later at the same venue.

We had a NTF meeting at Oaksey House in Lambourn for the first time at my suggestion and it was the largest turnout of trainers we have ever had so hopefully we will keep it at that venue. Its a fairly quiet week but we are getting busy as the horses are coming in.

On Friday I had to go to Hungerford to have a filling from my dentist. I must say I do rather object to paying a great deal of money and then feeling as if someone has belted me in the mouth! We had a nice supper in the Malt Shovel with Andy Stone and Emily and my two children who came to stay.

On Saturday after we worked some horses Sam kindly drove me to Cirencester where Nell Buckler drove me to Ditcheat. We had lunch with our host Paul Nicholls and then we were driven to Glastonbury which was nearly next door to Ditcheat. It has always been on my bucket list Glastonbury and I have never seen anything like it in my whole life. It is absolutely enormous and there is mud everywhere and the variety of people was extraordinary. There where 30,000 people working there plus 1600 medics. We saw Madness in the afternoon and they were superb and then in the evening we met up with Paul and we saw Adele and she was absolutely brilliant. We ended up in the VIP area in a place called the Rabbit Hole which was so exclusive that both Noel Gallagher and Kate Moss were turned away. We got to bed at about 4.00am. On Sunday morning we had a very good breakfast with Paul and then we were shown around the gallops and his place. I got back to Neardown in the afternoon where I tried to watch the racing but fell asleep.

On Monday Sam, Chrissy and myself drove to Calcot Park for our annual Charity Golf Day. We had 22 jockeys playing in 15 teams and the weather for once behaved itself. I played with John Francome, Nick Sutton and Chris Graham. Considering I haven't played since our Golf Day last year and have also had a plate put in my shoulder I played out of my skin! I managed to get my first ever Birdie and also parred two or three holes. I normally end up getting the wooden spoon but we actually managed to finish 3rd. The winners were Harry Bannister, Robbie Dunne, Max Lindley and David Probert. It was a good fun day and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. When I got home I watched the football and I've never seen anything quite like it. How those guys can get paid so much money and be beaten by a team whose entire country is the size of Leicester I just do not know. It is all right the Manager resigning but\I think half the team should follow suit.

We have got 3 runners tomorrow at Worcester and old Fine Parchment is having his last run for us as he is been retired. He has been a great servant to us and won a lot of races including the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury. We will all miss him as he is a great character and a lovely old horse and we all hope he does well in his next job.

We had a new form of accommodation put in our yard last Thursday. It is a 2 bedroom house made out of a container. It is an ingenious idea and may solve the problem finding accommodation for Stable Staff.

We have a new owner called Vanessa Eke who came on the gallops and had breakfast with us. She seemed to enjoy herself and it is nice to get her on board.

We had a very good singles lunch on the Sunday and it was interesting swapping notes!

My sister Caroline and my Brother in Law Mark came to stay the evening of Royal Ascot. I did four days at Royal Ascot and although it was a bit damp there was some superb racing. I especially enjoyed seeing Dougie Costello ride his first Gp. 1 winner. We had some very good lunches throughout the week.

I ran a lovely bumper horse at Market Rasen last Friday called Pickamix and he absolutely bolted up. I think he has a big future.. I went to Goodwood to see Sureness run but unfortunately the ground went against her and she finished 5th.

I took my daughter Tildie to Royal Ascot on Saturday and she looked absolutely gorgeous We had a fun day and she saw lots of her friends. We went to Vi Aitken's 90th Birthday drinks party which was great fun.

It has rained most of this month and it really is miserable. I went to a Memorial Drinks Party for Bryan Beacham on Monday. He was an owner of mine for over 20 years and we never had a crossed word in all that time. It is slightly ironic that I have trained Bryan four winners in the last month. He was a lovely man and we will all miss him.

We were meant to run Gowanauthat on Tuesday but when we went to put him on the horsebox he was lame on his off fore. As it turned out it is only a bruised foot.

I am looking forward to Saturday as I am going to Glastonbury for the first time. I have got my wellies ready and I don't think I need to wear a tie! I am going with Paul Nicholls and I hope he has our Owners and Trainers badges.

On Monday we have our Charity Golf Day and I hope the weather stays dry for it. I am still having physio on my shoulder but hopefully will be able to start riding out soon.

I am sorry I haven't done a blog for a while but I have been busy with Sales and various things. We had a rare runner on the flat at Kempton with Sureness winning at 25-1 with the champion National Hunt trainer's daughter Megan on board. I am now assured of getting my tickets for Glastonbury from Paul Nicholls which is rather nice!

We bought three nice horses at the Sales all ex Irish Point to Pointers and they were turned straight out into the field and will come in at the end of next month. I am having lots of physio on my shoulder and had my last x-ray last Friday and it is coming on well. We have got a new Head Lad called Albert Ennis who seems very capable.

I went to Eton Dorney to watch my daughter Matilda rowing in the National Schools Championships and I have to say it was absolutely fascinating. It is a very tough sport and very hard for young people.

We had Gowanauthat running at Fontwell the other day and he managed to win for the third time running. He is the first horse to win 3 races this season so far and he keeps going up in the handicap.

I went to London last Thursday and watched the 41 Gun Salute in Hyde Park as I had been invited by the Kings Troop. We had lunch in the Wellington Barracks afterwards. On Friday I went back to London again to have a very good lunch with my bank manager Robert Laurie. I got back very late but managed to listen to Sureness race at Goodwood which she won quite comfortably with Megan Nicholls on board again.

We worked some horses on Saturday and one of the owners came to watch. We have a nice horse called Pickamix who will run in a bumper quite soon.

On Sunday I cycled over to Simon Beccle and Marie's for a drink and Lily ran alongside and then I cycled all the way to Upper Lambourn with Lily on the lead to have lunch with Evelyn Faber and Kim Meehan.

We have had some lovely weather at long last but I,m not sure how long the summers going to be with us for. We only have 8 horses left in now as the rest are in the field but what is nice we are able to get them all out in the paddock every day and they all look very happy. We are getting all the boxes steam cleaned and painted ready for the horses to come back at the end of July.

I thought it was a very good Derby last Saturday and it was nice to see Dermot Weld win it for the first time.We have Royal Ascot to look forward to next week. My sister and brother are coming to stay so I am looking forward to it. We will do a Royal Ascot Blog next week.

A busy weekend ahead...

Caroline and I had a big shop on Monday at Homebase and Dunelm.. We bought lots of stuff for the house. Bridal Suite ran at Plumpton, but he didn't want to know, so he will be going to Ascot sales on Tuesday. James, Charles and Heather Main called in for a drink; I hadn't seen Charles for a very long time. Caroline cooked the most delicious haggis for supper and Gary joined us for supper as he has been painting my house for the last week.

We had Max Chenery in on Tuesday and he rode Morney Wing. Robert Tompkins popped in to see his horse. We picked up my other sister, Victoria, from Newbury station and went off for another shop in Dunelm. John and Veronica Thorneloe came over to sign some papers for the Military race. We all had supper at Susannah and my children's house.

I rode work first lot on Wednesday and then we had three very nice Red Letter Days. Eveyln took Caroline to the station in the morning. We had a very good supper at The Malt and Max Chenery came to stay.

Max schooled Morney Wing with Tommy on Gowanauthat on Thursday morning; they both got on well together. We had Simon and Marie for supper.

This morning I am riding out three lots as we have runners at Fakenham and Sandown. I am hoping that the ground will be OK. We have Morney Wing running in the Royal Artillery race today; we have won this race before, with Mr Big, so it would be nice if history could repeat itself! If Morney Wing gets the trip, he should run well in it, as long as the jockey does as he is told! We have two nice horses running at Fakenham; Expedite and Le Legro. If they cope with the ground, they should run nice races.

We are hoping to run Fine Parchment tomorrow at Wincanton and hope that the racing will be on!

15/02/16

Back in the saddle at last and rode up the back of the hill on Wednesday, on Some Kinda Lama, who worked really nicely.  I enjoyed that.

William came to stay on Wednesday night - we went to The Malt Shovel and had a very nice supper. They have a very good chef there called June and William loves his beef burger and chips, which is always a big treat for him.

We schooled six on the all weather on Thursday as temperatures got down to -5 and the grass was frozen. We had Harry Bannister, Gavin Sheehan and David Crosse in to school. Julie Duffy very kindly took William to school and then watched her horse, Expedite, on the gallops on second lot. 

I had a fella come in who gave me a good deal on tarmacking and graveling the drive, which looks a lot smarter. In the afternoon I met William Selby Lowndes, who is doing some work for me as a Solicitor. We ran Dukes Den at Huntingdon and he ran terribly - I don't think he is in love with the job, so he is going to go to the sales at the end of the month. I will find something else for his syndicate owners, The Neardowners. He was disappointing after what looked like two promising hurdle runs for us earlier this season. Gary Bradley arrived as he is going to paint the inside of my house, and will be here for a while. We went to see Dilly Keane at The Corn Exchange in Newbury - she was very funny and very entertaining!

We started pulling out at 7am on Friday morning - there is enough daylight now to do it. We had Denis O'Regan in to ride out, as well as Emily Jones. We ran Cody Wyoming at Wetherby - he finished third of four, but I had him scoped after the race and we found that he had bled, and also had mucous in his lungs, so the horse is clearly not right, which is good news as he will obviously improve once we have it cleared up.

They had an Asian Night at The Malt Shovel on Friday night and the food was absolutely delicious.

We had five red letter days on Saturday morning and Evelyn Faber very kindly helped take them up to the gallops as we needed two cars. Some Kinda Lama worked nicely with Morney Wing. Baltic Storm did his first bit of work and went nicely. Expedite did a nice bit too. We managed to get the red letter day guests badges for Newbury, so they were all very happy. Tony Stapleton then came over to see his horses and we went to The Malt for lunch and watched all of the racing from Newbury and Warwick. It was disappointing to have no runners as in the past we have won both The Game Spirit and The Kingmaker and because of the ground, we didn't even have a runner.

We had a very good evening in The Malt again for Valentines night and I had a very nice lobster.

I had a big lunch on Sunday - the guests included Simon Beccle and Marie Ellis, Kim Brassey, Dominic and Avery Ffrench Davies, Evelyn Faber, Barney Windsor Clive, my sister Caroline and Susannah and my two children. We had a very good lunch, which lasted quite a long time. I did quite well because I invited three cooks who helped me out with the cooking!!

Today we have Bridal Suite running at Plumpton. He is having his first run over fences and I don't hold out much hope for him; he has the ability to win if he wants to, but I'm not sure he does!

We have entries at Sandown and Fakenham on Friday. We may run Morney Wing in the Royal Artillery Gold Cup. He will be ridden by Capt Max Chenery.

My sister Caroline is staying for a few days, and my other sister Victoria is also coming tomorrow, which will be good fun!

Tuesday 9th February

On Saturday, we sent Morney Wing to Ffos Las, which I think was an absolute disgrace, as they more than likely could and should have called it off the day before, but they chose to get us all there and then called it off at midday. Will Stuart came to Sandown with me, where I foolishly ran Seventh Sky. He takes his races very well, but in hindsight, he had a much harder race in very bad ground than I had anticipated. He ran very flat and didn't show any spark, so he needs to be freshened up before his next race, but no doubt will be back shortly.

We had lunch with Judy Maynard and her daughter Sarah. We also had a drink with Paul Mott, who was having lunch in the Royal Box.

We schooled a couple of horses on Sunday morning, in the rain. Tildie came round to see me and she was in good form. We then had a very good lunch at Kim Meehan's with a lot of nice people there.

On Monday it was a filthy wet day. It was really miserable for both horses and riders. I really am getting fed up of this weather now, my mobile got soaked and is still out of action.

We sent Fine Parchment to Fakenham and he ran a really nice race to finish 2nd to the odds on favourite. He jumped really well and I think both horse and jockey enjoyed themselves. He should be able to win a race before the end of the season.

I saw Simon Christian in the Co-op.. He came and had a quiet supper last night and we caught up on a few things.

This morning is the first time I've ridden out, so that was rather enjoyable!

We have got entries towards the end of the week, with the likes of Dukes Den and Cody Wyoming, but we are still waiting for some better ground for most of our horses, and I know that most other trainers are in the same boat. It has been very frustrating with the ground as it has been, but I suppose it has to dry up at some stage!