Monday 28th September

Here is to a brand new start this week - the sun is shining, I am on the road to recovery and I even managed to get up to the gallops to watch my horses cantering on second lot. I must say they all look extremely well and I am looking forward to a fair few runners over the next two weeks.

Monday club is going to be at Neardown today as I think it would be pushing me a bit too much to go out to a restaurant to lunch, especially as I am still in my pyjamas!! (which seems to be amusing all the staff!)!!

I am being beautifully looked after by all the animals when Katya isn't there and I am looking forward to a good catch up with all the Lambourn news over a bowl of soup and some crusty bread today! Katya is being a very good Florence Nightingale, but I think I testing her patience somewhat, and I must say she looked very happy to be very happy riding out second lot this morning, rather than looking after me!!!

Sureness ran disappointingly at Market Rasen on Saturday. I think it is time for her to have a break so that we can reassess the situation. Airpur Desbois has an entry at Chepstow on Wednesday and Le Legro has an entry at Warwick on Thursday.

Below are two video's of the horses working up the back of the hill on Saturday:

Schooling youngsters, a few runners and unwanted Hospital admissions!!!!

I went to see my Bank Manager at Barclays to negotiate a new interest rate on my mortgage. When I told him what I wanted, he said it was impossible, to which I replied "I have already got it with another bank”, so I will now be having a new Bank Manager and I must say, it is about time!

The horses are coming on well. I have been riding out two lots most mornings this week. We schooled 20 horses on Thursday (see video’s below) – it was a real eye opener as I hadn’t seen a few of them jump before. Noel Fehily, Gavin Sheehan and James Davies came in to help with the schooling morning, along with our in house jockeys Tommy Dowling and Shane Harte. I must say it was a very good morning and they all looked superb!

Baltic Storm, Victor Leudorum, Le Legro & My Anchor

Cody Wyoming

Dragon City & Aspasius

Morney Wing, Elmore Back, Bridal Suite

Seventh Sky, Royal Redemption, Gowanauthat, Nimbus Gale

Some Kinda Lama, Quebec, Murray Mount, Capatosta

Charlie Nugent and Will Stuart came to stay on Thursday night. We had a wine tasting evening at The Malt Shovel to decide what type of wine they might serve. The Malt Shovel is all coming together very well now and I am looking forward to it opening.

We had a new hall window put in on Friday as the last one was a coloured glass thing, which I had actually become quite attached to. However when the new one went in, I was quite surprised as it is stunning and lets in a lot more light; we are very happy with it!

Matty went to pick up my new hunter Ronnie and when he arrived I must say I was a little disappointed, as he was a bit "cobby" for more liking.

We had Andy Stone and Bridget, and Sarah Holcroft to stay on Friday night. Katya cooked a very nice dinner for us and we had a lovely evening all together.

Saturday was a very busy day for all at Neardown – we had five Red Letter Day’s plus another six people for breakfast. We had owners all morning and then twenty people for 4^th lot. Gavin Sheehan and Harry Bannister came in to ride work up the “back of the hill” which was a great help. The Steeplechaser’s horses looked very well (Quebec, Some Kinda Lama and Morney Wing), as did The Neardowners’. The one that stood out to me was Le Legro (IRE) who has got his first entry next week. There are still a couple of shares available in this syndicate and I would advise anyone who is interested to move quite quickly.

We then had a box at Newbury for the syndicates and watched some good flat racing, followed by watching Madness in concert, who were very entertaining. Johnny Seth Smith and his girlfriend Colette came to stay that night, so it was a very sociable but lovely few days!

On Sunday we got some horses out as a friend of Andy’s wanted to see The Neardowners horses. After they left, I thought it would be a good idea to get on my new hunter Ronnie. Katya put him on the walker, I then led him into the ring and got a leg up off Johnny whilst Katya held his head, but before I could get my feet into the irons, he took off with me and I came off after he had bolted. I was then taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon in an ambulance.

Having had a scan, the Doctors found that I had fractured three ribs, my pubic ramus and somewhere else in my pelvis, and my shoulder had dislocated. It now looks like one of Luke Harvey’s shoulders!!

I had quite a few injuries as a jockey, but I don’t think I have ever been in so much pain!

Having spent six days in Great Western Hospital, I have managed to get home, although I am not very mobile and am still having an awful lot of morphine. Hopefully I will be on the mend fairly quickly and we can all move on again! I had plenty of people come in to visit me at the hospital which was very nice and I am very grateful for all the well wishes that I have received. Not being able to get about is very frustrating, but I am hopefully getting a mobility scooter which should make my life a little easier and more interesting. I am delighted to be back at home and have my first decent meal cooked by Katya! I don’t honestly know how hospitals can make food taste as bad as it does!

We had a runner at Worcester yesterday – a horse called Murray Mount, who was having his first run over hurdles this season for Mark Hitchcroft and was ridden by James Davies. He is a little bit backward and has taken time to come to himself, but he jumped better and has improved from his last performance – he is definitely learning the job!!

Sureness runs at Market Rasen today. She just hasn’t had her ground all season – she wants fast ground, but as the summer has been so disappointing, she just hasn’t been able to run on her ideal ground. However if it stays good today, she should run well for Paul Mott under Gavin Sheehan.

We took Seventh Sky to Kempton yesterday to stretch his legs before his first run – Tom Scudamore rode him for us and he went really nicely.

I am currently sitting in a high backed arm chair which gives me some relief, and if I am not in sitting in this, I have to be lying in bed!

Tess took these striking photo's of the horses cantering along "the short" in the early morning sun:

A busy week!

We have had a busy week helping John and Luke Davies get The Malt Shovel up and running as, much to everyone’s delight, they have taken a lease on the pub for a year, with an option to buying it. The Malt Shovel closed last November and the one thing that has come out of it in that time, is how much we have missed it and how much we need it back! I am sure it will do really well and everyone in the area is very excited about it. The pub now looks fantastic and they are hoping to open it on the 1^st October. Katya has been busy helping with the interior design of the pub and it is really coming together now.

We had lots of Red Letter Day guests here on Saturday – we worked a load of horses up the back of the hill and it is getting quite exciting now as we are letting them stride on a bit more. Baltic Storm looked especially good – he is a young horse who we bought from Germany earlier this year. Katya cooked a delicious breakfast for our guests and then rode out for the first time in 3 weeks following quite a nasty fall; she seemed to enjoy herself and has been riding out in the rain this morning!

We had a long lunch at The Hare on Saturday with Philip and Jo Hunt. We watched the Ledger from there and I thought Ralph Beckett's horse was unlucky to lose it, but I am not sure that they will get it back on the appeal. Ballydoyle had a fairly good weekend, having won both Ledger’s (English and Irish), but the horse that stood out over the weekend was Treve as she absolutely hacked up at Longchamp and it will take a very good horse to beat her in The Arc!

I took Mr Big on a local fun ride on Sunday with Mark Grant, Dominic and Ben Ffrench Davis, but it wasn’t as much fun as I had anticipated as Mr Big spent most of his time on his hind legs. I was going to hunt him this year, but I am not sure he will be as much fun as I had thought!!

My sister Caroline and brother in law Mark stayed on Sunday evening as they were on their way home from a wedding in Cornwall. They watched their horses on the gallops this morning. They are in The Neardowners syndicate, so watched Le Legro, Maid of Milan and Capatosta with great interest. They didn’t pick the best morning weather wise as it was pretty misty and ever so wet! Whoever said that we are going to have an Indian summer needs their head testing as it has rained all morning!!

Excitingly, we have just bought a very nice horse in Germany from Markus Klug called Ephraim. He is a gorgeous big 4yo, who has won a Group 3 race on the flat. He passed the vet on Saturday and I am hoping he will be coming over on Wednesday. He is a very high class horse and we are hoping he might make up into a Cheltenham contender!

Jumping galore!!!

Mark, George and Bella Hitchcroft came to stay last Friday night. We had a very good dinner with James Repard, his two children, Kim Meehan and Katya’s children – it was a very jolly evening. I took Hitchy and George on the gallops on Saturday morning to see Murray Mount (IRE) on the gallops first lot and I think he was fairly happy with what he saw!

The annual Lambourn carnival took place on the Sunday and sadly for all of those who put so much time and effort into arranging it, it was a complete disaster as the turnout was poor. A very sad individual had threatened to set up a massacre on the day and the police had to take it seriously.

Somehow the Sun newspaper got hold of this story and wrote an article on it.  As a result of this, a lot of people didn’t turn up as they were too scared of the consequences. I think it was absolutely ridiculous as a lot of work went into getting the floats up together and I really hope people will make a big effort to support the carnival next year.

I rode out most of last week and got soaked at least three times; I cannot wait for next summer as it cannot be any worse than the one we just had, although they keep promising us an Indian summer, so fingers crossed!

We are turning the tempo on a few horses now, and some of them did their first bit of work yesterday. We are now schooling the horses every Thursday and hope to our horses ready and raring to go at the beginning of October… something to look forward to!

We had a very long lunch at Philippa Kindersley’s on Saturday and got a lift back with Stan and Sarah Moore, who told me about a nice horse that they have in their yard that I should try. So I went down to ride a very nice 3yo of theirs on Monday, who was 3^rd at Longchamp the other day and would make an absolutely ideal juvenile hurdler. He is a big horse with lots of bone and he should do the job nicely. All I need to do is find somebody to buy him!

On Sunday I drove down to Ditcheat as I was invited to Paul Nicholl’s Open day. It is always nice to keep an eye on the opposition. Paul showed off about 80 horses and having seen them, I don’t think we have a lot to worry about this year!! He said he is going to make an early start to this season, so we better get our skates on.

We had a runner at Worcester on Tuesday – Airpur Desbois, who ran very well finishing 3^rd in what was a very competitive race, which was won by the well known Hunt Ball. He is a very nice young horse and will win his races but is for sale as he probably isn’t as good as his owner David Fox would like. Please call me if you would like any more information on him. We were meant to have two runners at Uttoxeter yesterday, but I had to withdraw Sureness as Noel got off Dragon City and said that the ground was tacky and holding. It seems to me that over watering has been a problem this summer and proper summer jumping ground has been difficult to find. Dragon City, who was having his first run over hurdles for the new syndicate Earth Wind and Fire was somewhat over exuberant having had over 600 days since his last run and pulled far too hard. He jumped extremely well but didn’t get home. The combination of the tacky ground and pulling too hard was the problem, but a shorter trip/better ground should be the recipe for success and I am sure he will be winning soon!

We schooled Victor Leudorum, Murray Mount and Quebec this morning on Kath Walwyn’s schooling ground. James Davies schooled Murray Mount and liked him a lot. Our conditional Tommy schooled Quebec, who was the horse that impressed me most this morning, and our young Amateur Shane schooled Victor, who as a seasoned campaigner, jumped as well as ever. Second lot; Mr Big (ridden by Kara) led Some Kinda Lama and Capatosta over the hurdles. They were both very impressive, but unfortunately we couldn’t take a video of it as the visibility was poor, but we will endeavour to do so next time. Third lot; Tommy schooled Aspasius and Shane schooled Le Legro in the ring, and as you can see from the video, Le Legro electric! Although he isn’t the biggest of horses, he showed plenty of scope and enthusiasm and will definitely jump a fence. He is one of three horses in The Neardowners syndicate and I am really looking forward to seeing his first run.

We welcome on board some lovely new owners called Anthony and Wendy Smith, who have bought a share in The Neardowners, and came to look at their horses yesterday. They are new to racing as their interests have mainly been in Eventing and Hunting, and I am looking forward to giving them their first winner under the rules of racing! There are now only a few shares left in The Neardowners, so please call me or the office if you would like some more information.

Please see video below (Le Legro & Aspasius schooling):

Aspasius & Tommy

Le Legro & Shane

Fourth lot; we schooled two lovely new horses who we bought from Sylvester Kirk; Dukes Den and My Anchor (see video below). Neither of them had schooled before, and I must say, I was very pleased with how they both did. They both have lovely attitudes and are going very well up the gallops. We have just set up a new three horse syndicate called “The Sunrisers” with these two horses are in. Please email or call the office for more details. We will put more information on the blog re this shortly.

The children are all back at school and we now have a week without any racing, so I am looking forward to catching up with our owners. 

Charlie Mann Racing Club

Today we have added two new horses to our Charlie Mann Racing Club.

If anyone would like to join the club, please download the application form on the "CMRC tab" or email info@charliemann.info for more information.

There should be lots of fun to be had and all members get a free Charlie Mann Racing baseball cap!

AGNES B

5yo grey mare

Great Palm (USA) – Say Sadie (Say Primula)

Agnes B is a lovely, big and athletic sort who was bred by the Dawson family in Yorkshire, who have already supplied us with winning horses; Bridal Suite (IRE) and To Begin. She is currently unraced but has already schooled over poles and will run in a bumper before the end of the year, before going hurdling. She has the scope to make a chaser in time.

 

Agnes B

CHIEF BOTTLEWASHER (IRE)

4yo bay gelding

Moss Vale (IRE) – Edwina (IRE) (Caerleon (USA)

Chief Bottlewasher (IRE) has been placed in an Irish Bumper on soft ground. The winner of the race, Sir Will, was bought by Peter Bowen and has subsequently gone on to be 2^nd in two competitive bumpers. The horse that came second, Cape City Boy, also won next time at Down Royal.

Chief Bottlewasher (IRE) is a lovely strong horse who will go hurdling this season and will make a chaser in time.

Chief Bottlewasher (IRE)

Schooling youngsters & a lovely lunch!

All the babies have now schooled in our sand ring and have now progressed to schooling on the grass over the hurdles. This morning Gavin Sheehan came in and schooled Dragon City over the big hurdles – he is an absolute natural and really enjoys his schooling. He has an entry for Uttoxeter next Wednesday in a Maiden Hurdle race for the new Earth Wind and Fire syndicate. He was a winner on the flat for Harry Dunlop and has plenty of size about him and as you can see from the video of him schooling below, he is a chaser in the making! There is one share left in this syndicate, which is £3600 (inc VAT) plus training fees for a 1/5 share and we think he is very good value at that and well worth the investment. Please call Charlie on 07721888333 or Katya on 07799880078 if you are interested.

Video – Mr Big leading Dragon City and Murray Mount over the hurdles.

Murray Mount is owned by a very good owner of ours called Hitchy and as you can see from the video, he really enjoyed schooling upsides Dragon City and we look forward to him having a run soon.

Gavin then schooled Baltic Storm (IRE) with Aspasius (GER) and Capatosta (USA). Below is a photograph of them being presented to the hurdles. All three of them are natural jumpers and are exciting prospects. Capatosta (the chestnut) is one of the horses in The Neardowners syndicate, which still has shares available.

On another note, we had a wonderful lunch on Sunday for the Cody Wyoming syndicate (Charlie Mann Racing Club I). Even the dismal weather couldn’t put a dampener on the day, which was a great success. Cody was on great form as always and I think all his owners thoroughly enjoyed seeing him and are looking forward to lots of fun (and hopefully lots of success) with him this season. Katya organised the day beautifully and a great day was had by all.

I am off to Doncaster Horses in Training sales today, and will endeavour to rush back for drinks at Oaksey House this evening by invitation from the Jockey Club who are arranging a drinks party to celebrate the many successes and all the great horses trained on the Lambourn gallops of late. I will let you know how it goes in my next blog.

Airpur Desbois (FR) has an entry at Worcester on Tuesday 8^th – he is very fresh and well and having come third last time out, we are hoping that he will improve on that and run well again.

Katya and I went to Germany last week for two days and looked at some lovely horses - we will let you know what comes of this shortly, but in the meantime, here is a picture of me riding work in Cologne…. I haven’t lost it yet!!!