20th August 2015

On Tuesday 11^th we took Barney Windsor Clive and Evelyn Faber to watch Cody Wyoming cantering up the gallops, who was in tremendous form and looks a picture right now.

We picked up a nice Proclamation filly from Sue Welch last week and have sent her to Mark Grant, who has a breaking yard locally, to get broken in before she is sent on to us. She is a lovely looking strong filly.

I have been riding out two lots most days lately and getting on as many different horses as possible; I really think we have got a quality bunch this year and I am enjoying getting to know the youngsters.

Jill Mayo and Bryan Beacham came over last Wednesday. They came to see some of the new horses as well as their own Gowanauthat.  We are very pleased that Jill has decided to come into The Neardowners; the shares are selling fast, which is really great.

We sent Lord of House for a new life as a show horse/hunter, under the care of Lucy Ralph, who has had another ex-racehorse of ours, as unfortunately his wind operations have not been very successful. It is a big blow for both us and the owners as he was a decent horse and won some good races, but at the end of the day, if the horse cannot run to its maximum ability, there is no point in carrying on, which is a great shame. He will be sorely missed, but we hope he has a very good life in a different role. Lucy has been keeping in touch and reports that he is settling in well. She is taking him to Newmarket this week as she is working at the BRS for the next 6 weeks – I think he is getting pampered!

We have done lots of schooling lately, which as I said in my last blog, I find very exciting. We schooled Dragon City last week; he was a revelation! Airpur Desbois was also very good over hurdles – Tommy was very pleased with him.

I had a nice surprise second lot as Peter Toole turned up on the yard – he was staying with his friend Jack Pilkington for a few days and called in on us which was great. I drove him up to the gallops and talked about old times and new ventures. I am delighted that Peter is in such good form and in very good terms with himself. I am looking forward to having a days hunting with him in Ireland in the winter!

It absolutely poured it down last Thursday. We took Sureness to Fontwell, but had to take her out, as the ground got very soft. Sam Twiston Davies was due to ride her and said the ground was very variable as well.

John and Veronica Thorneloe came to see their horses and also bought a share in The Neardowners, which is fantastic.

I got absolutely soaked on Friday riding out two lots. We schooled Sureness over fences in preparation for her race at Southwell on Sunday 16^th. She flew over the fences and was in great form, so we had high hopes for her run.

I took Katya down to Southampton last Friday, and got a ferry over to Cowes. We stayed with some friends called Martin and Laura Levi at their lovely house called “The Prospect”. It was the big fireworks night that evening, which marks the end of Cowes week. It was great fun and we saw lots of people that we knew.

On Saturday we ran To Begin at Market Rasen but unfortunately he bled again, so we are getting his wind done as we speak and hoping that will help him.

We had a very good lunch on the top floor of a double decker bus overlooking the harbour at Cowes on the Saturday – we had lobster and chips, washed down with a bottle of Champagne and it really was quite something! Charlotte, Patrick and a friend went to Newbury’s Ladies Day and said they saw some interesting (!) outfits!

We drove home from Cowes, and had a very good lunch party on Sunday with lots of people from the village, cooked beautifully by Katya. She had marinated some steaks, which were ever so tasty.

Sureness ran at Southwell in a race that was made for her, but unfortunately the best jumper in the field fell at the second fence and in avoiding him, she managed to get rid of her jockey Gavin Sheean. She jumped every fence lose and quickened up well in the straight to win by a good margin, although unfortunately without a jockey. I think she would have won if that hadn’t have happened, so as you can imagine, it was pretty frustrating!

A young lad from Ireland named Shane Harte started working here on Monday. He has ridden in point to points in Ireland and rides quite nicely. He is hoping to get his Amateur’s licence and seems to be fitting into the team well.

Andy Durham and Darrell Muffitt came for lunch on Monday – Darrell bought the last share in Cody Wyoming; it is great to get him on board, and nice that the partnership (Charlie Mann Racing Club I) is complete!

The final three horses; Dukes Den, My Anchor and Chief Bottlewasher; came in from their holidays at Colin Tinkler’s and they are being ridden as of now. They are currently just doing roadwork, but I am looking forward to seeing them canter. All three are FOR SALE.

We were woken by the dogs at 5am on Tuesday morning and discovered two ponies on the lawn! Luckily they hadn’t done too much damage, and had chosen to eat the grass rather than any of Katya’s plants!

John Davies and his son Luke came down for lunch on Tuesday and I showed them their horses.

On Wednesday, we had Bill Brindle in for breakfast. He watched the four horses he has shares in on the gallops second lot and Patrick managed to get out of bed to film them in their slower paces. Bill is very excited about the oncoming season as all of his horses are looking extremely well right now. The Steeplechasers look as if they have three nice young horses, so there is lots to look forward to!

Katya and I took Patrick, Matilda and William to Barbury Castle Shooting School to shoot clays yesterday, which I must say was quite good fun. I think the children might go again for a days lesson.

http://www.barburyshootingschool.com/

Following on from Barbury, we headed to Worcester races to watch Airpur Desbois finish third in his first Novice Hurdle; it rained most of the evening but was quite warm. He ran a nice race and should win something. We had a delicious dinner with his owner David Fox afterwards. James was playing at Worcester after racing, so there was a big crowd which is always nice to see. It had also been Ladies Day, so again, there were lots of interesting/bizarre outfits on display! Tommy and Matty won best turned out with Airpur Desbois – he looked an absolute picture in the paddock!

This morning we schooled Dragon City over hurdles with Mr Big as a lead horse; he jumped beautifully. We also took Sureness up to the schooling ground to see how fresh she was after her “race” and she was crazy, so is in very good form! She has an entry at Worcester on Sunday but I think the ground will be too soft for her – we will wait and see. We then schooled Baltic Storm and Aspasius over their first ever poles in the ring; they both looked like naturals and I was very pleased with them.

Kyril, one of our lads took this nice photo of some of the horses looking over their stable doors, it's so nice to see them looking so happy and well: