Warning signs!

Today Elizabeth Katya's eldest daughter has arrived down in Cornwall. On arrival she promptly gave me a card, I originally thought she must be offering her congratulations to us both. It turns out I shouldn't jump to conclusions!

Open Day Saturday 13th September

Come and meet this guy 'Lambro' and see beautiful Lambourn....

At our OPEN DAY on SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
11am-4pm
Free entry

PAY BAR, HOT PAELLA & A BBQ

More flyers ready to be distributed this weekend!

Otherwise Engaged!

On Monday lunchtime we drove down to Cornwall. Katya's sister had rented a house for the week in Rock but was unable to take it so we decided to go down with Evelyn Faber and Kim Meehan, and Dom and Avery Ffrench Davis, as well as the children! Luckily there is plenty of room for us all and the house has a lovely sea view.

 

 

The weather has not been great but there is plenty to do and it is a beautiful place. On Tuesday night we all had a rather jolly supper and I thought it was the right time and place to ask Katya to marry me! Thankfully she said yes! It has all been a bit of a whirl wind since especially as I have been told I am not allowed to wear pink trousers for the big day, however I am delighted she agreed to marry me! Wedding preparations have already begun but I will be leaving that all to Katya....groomzilla....

On Wednesday Victor Leudorum ran a respectable race back over fences at Worcester. Noel said he jumped very well but he struggled off top weight in a competitive race. Hopefully now he will be dropped by the handicapper as I would like to keep him over fences. I am sure he will be back in the winner enclosure shortly.

 

 

A trip overseas

I have been busy riding out again this past week, it is nice to get back on the gallops. Lambro is on good form and is on course to run next month, he will have prep race before the Pardubice in the first week or so of September. Victor Leudorum will run at Worcester on Wednesday providing the ground doesn't go to soft. This morning I rode Nimbus Gale, he is one of our new horses who will be offered for sale in a syndicate at our open day. He is a nice horse to sit on and goes well taking a nice contact. He doesn't have the best bumper form but having ridden him today I feel there is plenty of improvement to come from him as he matures. Bridal Suite and Miller Of Glanmire are two nice horses and have gone about there job well so far. The new horse that really has caught my eye is Royal Redemption, he moves like a dressage horse with a 'look at me' attitude and is very game.

 

We did 3 soft palate wind ops on Tuesday. Fine Parchment, Sands Cove and Lord Of House were done as per usual which means it should see them through the season. Tomorrow we will do 5 more, 3 of them are routine soft plates but Attimo and Big Jer who are both big thick set horses will have some more work to improve their breathing. All the other horses are now doing two canters up my gallop. This year we have managed to get plenty of trotting into them all and although they have only been cantering for just over a week they seem plenty fit enough for this time of year.

 

On Wednesday I flew to Dusseldorf in preparation to look at some horses the following day. In the evening I met my agent Reinhard Olding in my favourite fish restaurant.  Reinhard has sourced some good horse for me over the years, including Moon Over Miami and Airforce One. I was up at 4.30am on Thursday morning and rode five horses at Peter Schiergen's yard. I saw another seven horses at Waldemar Hickst and then we drove over to Markus Klug's yard and saw three more horses. I have been on these trips numerous times now and sometimes have seen absolutely nothing, however this time I saw three really nice horses. I am very keen to get my hands on at least one of them. The trip back wasn't so successful though as my return flight was delayed 5 hours.

 

On Friday I took Katya to Reading Hospital. I spent 5 hours there while she had a three and a half hour operation on her hand. Poor Katya had managed to put a knife through her hand cutting an avocado (3rd world problems!) at the time it didn't look very serious but as it turned out she had actually cut through a nerve and had to have surgery to reconstruct the nerve and regain the feeling in her fingers. It will keep her off a horse for some time which is a shame.

 

We ran Ussee on Saturday at Cartmel. She ran well to finish second. I hope I can place her to win a race somewhere. Harry Bannister rode her and said she probably ran her race. I will get her out a bit quicker next time as I think she had gone back a bit in-between her two runs.

 

I managed to get all the lawns mowed on Sunday which is a good job as it is chucking it down with rain at the moment. We watched the Lambourn carnival procession in the afternoon, I always think we should support this as in its hay-day it was an impressive parade. We do not seem to make the effort nowadays which is a shame for the children. Maybe we should do a Neardown Stables float next year - ideas welcome!

Head Person / Assistant Trainer Required

We require a Head Person / Assistant Trainer for our professional and friendly yard going in to the new season with an exciting team of new and established horses.
Pervious experience in the role preferred. Good veterinary knowledge and staff management essential.
Must be a competent rider and work well as a team.
Excellent remuneration for the right person.
Call the office on 01488 73118 or email cv to rose@charliemann.info

Another winner and some naughty behavior!

We have had new windows installed in both my house and the renovations we are doing on the old hostel so it has been rather a hectic week with lots of interior changes as well. I have had some lovely french doors door put in out to the BBQ and new outside seating area - just in time for the rain it seems!

 

On Thursday we schooled LAMBRO for the first time, he jumped the fences like the pro he is and Gavin Sheehan was very happy with him. He will now start schooling over some more unusual obstacles in preparation for his Pardubice run. I like them do this in their preparation as it will help keep him fresh and hopefully leaves minimum surprises for the day!

 

VICTOR LEUDORUM ran at Fontwell later that day. He ran okay but looked like he slightly needed it. We will get him out again shortly and he should fair better next time. He was once rated 136 over hurdles so when back to peak fitness he should fly home off a mark of 119.

 

Later in the week our vet came in to run through the season ahead. Specifically we made plans for some of the old timers to have their usual pre season wind operations and also to take a look at some of the new horses. Wind operations have now become routine to most trainers and this year I am paying particular attention to getting them done pre season so I don't have to stop with a horse mid season.

 

On Saturday USSEE worked with SURENESS who was doing her final bit with Noel ahead of running on Sunday, they both went very well. LAMBRO also followed them up, he seems a very straight forward horse and moves very well. ALMOST GEMINI is now on a flat gallop everyday, after looking at different underlying causes to his poor performance I think that one of his problems could be that he is unable to cope with being trained up a hill everyday. He seems fit so hopefully swapping him on to a flat gallop he will become more comfortable again and regain his form.

 

Saturday was also an exciting day for the lads and horses alike. It was all the horses that came back last month first day cantering. I have never seen so many ashen faces! Luckily it all went smoothly with all the horses being well behaved, all bar one that is - the old boy FINE PARCHMENT acted like he was a four year old!

 

WESTERN KING ran at Market Rasen on Saturday night, Noel reported that he travelled and jumped very well but struggled with going up in grade to a Class C race. He could do with being dropped 4lbs where he will be more comfortable in a 0-120.

 

SURENESS ran on Sunday at Southwell, she ran a lovely race to beat an odds on favourite of AP Mc Coy's. This is now her 3rd win for us this summer. She is a lovely big filly and although still a little weak she is starting to get the trip better and at only four she will make into a lovely chaser in time.

 

This coming week we will be fairly quiet with runners. We will try to get USSEE out at some point, possibly Cartmel on Saturday but ahead of this I am going to look at horses in Germany on Thursday. I am going out to buy a horse for a Cheltenham order, my usual agent has sent me details through of about 15 horses nearly all with Group form. I especially like the look of 3 of them who have won at Group level. When I go out to Germany I like to ride out each horse as I think you can get more of a picture of the horse from on board than just seeing it being trotted up. Hopefully I can come back with a future champion.....

Scotland, Sun, Sea and ..........

We had a very good week in Scotland with the kids and eventually made it home on Wednesday with not to many arguments in the car! Everything has ticked over nicely at the yard in my absence testament to the great team behind me.

 

The horses are now all doing an hours trotting around the lanes. Looking at them this morning I have really noticed how much they have tightened up and have really come in their coats. I have to say that the scruffy bunch we got in from the field 4 weeks ago really have blossomed and look superb!

 

This week we are jockey-less with most of them having flown off to sunnier lands to get a holiday. Noel Fehily is currently sat on a sun longer in Portugal, I hope he is going easy on the ice cream!Those less fortunate took part in the jockey show jumping at the Bicester Hunt show on Sunday, I have to say I was a little disappointed in our conditional jockey Ben French Davis not getting through the first round-I will get him jumping the children's coloured ponies in the school here in his lunch break if he's not careful! 

 

I have heard a rumour that there may be another positive result in Lambourn for Morphine, I am pretty thankful that I do not feed D&H right now! However I personally think the rule is wrong in that if it is not administered intentionally but through a outside sources negligence it has no benefit to anyone involved, so why should the owner and trainer have to lose a race and their prize money when they haven't done anything wrong. In my eyes the BHA should look into cases like this individually and rule accordingly as the current disqualification seems unreasonable.

 

Western King was put up 6lb by the handicapper which may stunt his chances next time out but he seems on great form at home so I have entered him up for the weekend in a 0-140 3m chase at Market Rasen. I also hope to get Victor Leudorum out in the next week if it doesn't rain to much, he has had a wind operation and is on great form at home. There is a mares novice hurdle for Sureness at Southwell on Sunday which would be perfect for her if the ground is quick enough. We are still to get Ussee out again when I find a suitable race. Almost Gemini has been a bit off peak recently but after having his teeth doing and some physio I hope to get him back tot he track shortly, I might try him over fences as he is such a lovely big horse he might relish the new challenge.

Other big news is that we are having a PUBLIC OPEN DAY on SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER.

Gates open 11am - 4pm

Everyone is welcome and it is Free Entry.

We will have food and trade stands.

A parade of horses at 12 noon.

A schooling demo at 1.30pm.

I will be on hand during the day to show you around and answer questions.

It will be a great day out and a bit of fun too, if the secretary allows I may even get a local band and the Morris Dancers in too!

Mann 8 - Nicholls 6

SURENESS ran a little bit flat last Monday but despite this she won her race at Uttoxeter with a length in hand despite not running on all cylinders. A win is a win and her owner Paul Mott was very pleased, he has now gone to Canada to run in a 270km race in order to celebrate and Sureness will have an easy week or so to freshen up!

On Tuesday Katya and I started the drove up to Scotland with a car full of children. Our first stop was Blackpool and for the second year running I found it quite an eye opener! We arrived at Edinburgh on Wednesday to spend some time with my family, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has also kept us all very entertained and Mark and Caroline's hospitality is second to none.

On Friday we took two horses to Bangor unfortunately the rain never came in time for USSEE so she was declared a non-runner however WESTERN KING gave us a lovely 11-1 winner with a bounce back to form in the 3m chase-3lb higher than his last win! Katya had been telling us how well he had been going for her at home but it was still a slight surprise and great for those that had listened to her and backed him! We are now on winner number 8.

I am currently staying with my brother Robbie and his fiancé Emma at Horncliffe near Berwick, it is a beautiful part of Northumberland right on the River Tweed. We had a rather rainy day on Saturday but on the whole we have had some lovely weather, I gather it has been lovely and sunny still in Lambourn but everyone needed their waterproofs riding out on Saturday morning too! I was sorry to miss Terry and Gill who came to visit their horses Almost Gemini and Western King but I believe they were on great form after the win!

With no racing until the 13th August the next couple of weeks will be spent concentrating on getting the team of horses fit ready for the winter campaign. They are all now doing a good trot around the village which is really stating to make a difference.

We are looking for another member of staff to join our existing team. We have a lovely new purpose built yard and with already half the amount of winners we had last season we are gearing up for a great season ahead.