In Seventh Heaven

Our new jackets for the races arrived from Lavenham last week, they look very stylish and the lads say they are very warm. They have also kindly supplied us with waistcoats for the summer months. Myself, Katya and Rose have also been sporting some of Lavenhams other jackets at the races, they are very good quality and look very smart.

Tuesday I rode out a couple of lots including Superb Story who was very fresh and is definitely coming back to himself. I also heard from Lady Rothermere who is Katya's sister and who has had Lambro on trial as a hunter. He hasn't put a foot wrong, she is very happy with him and sent me some lovely pictures.

It has been a fairly quiet week as we haven't had much to run. Some of the horses have a had a bit of a bug and it has been difficult to tell which ones have it and which ones don't. We have taken the necessary precautions to stop the bug spreading and have taken blood tests to determine each horses health.

On Wednesday Will Riggall from the Jockey Club Gallops came over and very kindly repaired my paddock and put some grass seed down. This was prompted by the upcoming Lambourn Open Day on Good Friday. All the yards in Lambourn are open between 8.30am and 1pm then there is an afternoon of racing entertainment in the village. It is a great day out for all the family and I thoroughly recommend that you all come along. For further details follow this link. http://www.lambourntraining.org/open-day/good-friday-open-day

At this time of year I like to school the bumper horses in preparation for a forthcoming hurdling campaign next season. Murray Mount has a real love for jumping and looks like a pro already, he will make a lovely chaser in time. Expedite had a jump in the school for the first time and seemed to be a real natural.

Murray Mount

Expedite

Later that day Katya and myself  had a very good lunch at the Royal Oak with Mark Hitchcroft who owns Murray Mount and No Bad News.

We had a very long lunch at the Woodspeen on Friday as it was my new tenant and owner Evelyn Fabers birthday. The food was exceptional and it is well worth a visit. Unfortunately Chilli ran away later that evening so it was a sleepless night trying to find her but she luckily came home safely.

On Saturday I watched the races at Meydan and saw an eight year old win a ten million dollar race - I can promise you we are going to run something in it next year!

I was suffering from a terrible cold on Monday but still headed over to Warwick with Evelyn Faber and Foxy. Verano ran in the first race, he finished fourth but he should have been ridden handier than he was. I think he should have finished closer. Seventh Sky ran in a £25,000 h'cap chase, he jumped beautifully and made most of the running, he won on the bridal by eight lengths. It was nearly a career best for him. He is an extraordinary horse as it was his fifteenth race of the season. He has now won five, only been out of the money once and has accumulated £56,000 this season alone. We could do with another one like him!

 

An old owner of mine John Davies came for lunch on Tuesday with a friend of his. They had a nice tour of the yard and watched third lot on the gallops. I mowed all the lawns in the afternoon in preparation for Friday. We are hoping for good weather and a big turnout.

We will have no runners until Monday where we have entries at Huntington and Plumpton. Sands Cove should take his chance somewhere and I will take a look at the two young horses races. Today Sureness worked very well with Superb Story and Murray Mount.

I managed to do an April fool on Katya this morning, I told her that her favourite horse had got loose and galloped up the high street. She promptly jumped in the car and drove straight up the high street and went looking for the horse! Little did she know that the horse in question was safely tucked up in her stable! It is Katya birthday on Monday and I am trying to decide whether to take her to Huntingdon or Plumpton as a treat!