The weather is not great today as it is a bit wet and fairly miserable . It has definitely got that autumn feel about it .
We have got a few entries for the end of the week and I would think Quebec will have to run on Thurs as he has gone up 6lbs today and is in on his old mark this week .
We have Gowanauthat in again on Sat as I thought the handicapper would put him up a fair bit but as it turned out he has only put him up a pound . The only thing is that the race reopened with only seven runners in it and stayed at that number . So it maybe tempting !

The vets operated on Baltic Storm on Monday which is a disaster as he has struck into his tendon and will certainly miss the rest of the season . Its a cruel blow for both the owner and us as I really did think he would win a decent race this season and this sort of injury only happens to the good horses !
We put all the garden furniture away as I can't see us sitting out there again but come to think of it we didn't use it much in the summer anyway as it was another wet one .
We had our new horsebox arrive on Wednesday and I must say it is very smart although it was a month late!
We schooled eight horses on Thursday and they all jumped beautifully and most of them are quite forward . We don't have as many as I would like but we have quality horses this year and we've had a very good start to this season.
We went to Worcester on Friday to see if Gowanauthat could stretch his unbeaten run to six ! He ran an absolute blinder and lost nothing in defeat by finishing second to a horse of Jonjo's giving him 7lbs with the 3rd horse a long way back . I think the handicapper will have his say but as he has put him up 41lbs already I hope he is not too harsh .
I spent most of yesterday morning chasing my terrier Lilly round my garden with a frying pan as I am trying to get a urine sample from her for the vets . She thought it was a great game and after an hour I had to retreat to the house for a large gin and tonic and did think about giving the sample myself . The only thing is that the can't be many terrier's that had a bottle of Beaujolais the night before which I thought might come out in the result !

We worked Quebec and Baltic Storm on the Back of The Hill on Wednesday and they both went nicely.

I went to Newbury Police Station on Thursday to be told that all the charges against me had been dropped and my bail has finished after 9 months and 1 week. The whole experience was extremely stressful and I still can't work out why it took the police and the CPS 9 months to work out that I hadn't done anything. Anyway we all have to move on and I will get the next one vetted a bit better.

We schooled some horses on Thursday and Pickamix was brilliant. We worked quite a few horses on Saturday and we had some people from Red Letter Days. It was quite interesting as their daughter is about to marry the strongest man in Europe. It would be quite nice to have a son in law who could pull a jumbo jet up a runway as he can.

We were meant to have our new horsebox from Equi-Trek on Saturday but once again they found an excuse for it not to turn up. It is getting annoying as I only ordered it as they said they could deliver it quickly.

We had 2 runners on Sunday. Baltic Storm at Plumpton and Quebec at Uttoxeter. Tommy Dowling was having his first ride back from a serious fall in May where he broke most of the bones in his body. All went well and they won very easily although the horse overreached himself quite badly and we are not yet sure how good or bad it is. Quebec was beaten a head and would have put our winning streak on 7 winners from our last 7 runners. We have only got Gowanauthat in this week and he will run on either Friday or Saturday and it would be nice to keep his winning streak up. We have the highest strike rate in this seasons Jumps Table at 35% (Paul Nicholls 25%) long may it last.

We went to St Edwards on Sunday as both my daughter and son go there. William has just started and is a little bit precious as he's boarding and has never been away from home before but he's made lots of friends and is settling in.

It is definitely getting a bit chilly and I think Autumn is on the way.

On Thursday morning we schooled 7 horses with Harry Bannister, Tommy and Gavin Sheehan on board. After that Evelyn drove me to Southampton Airport and I flew to Biarritz. I met up with my Assistant Trainer Will Stuart and we drove to San Sebastian and found our accommodation.

On Friday morning I went to the racecourse to supervise Sureness stretching her legs. We had a very good lunch in the harbour with Paul Mott who owns the horse at our favourite restaurant La Rampa. The rain absolutely hammered it down and I think we knew what fate had in store for us.

We had another nice lunch in La Rampa on Saturday with Paul Webber and his owner David Higgins before we went to the racecourse as we were in a very late race. Unfortunately the rain had got in and all 3 British horses needed it fast so we all finished in the last 3 which was disappointing but we managed to make up for it in other ways.

The most important thing is the mare is ok and she arrives back today. All the other horses are fine and they will start doing a bit of work quite soon. We will make some entries for horses this week.

On Thursday we schooled Quebec and Baltic Storm with Harry Bannister on one and David Crosse on the other and they both jumped beautifully.

In the evening we were treated to dinner at the Queens Arms by Goffs and I think the only reason I was invited was because I owe them so much money for horses I have bought this season.

Terry Simmons, Jill and Andy Stone came over to see the horses and we had a nice supper in the Malt. I had an American Trainer and his wife staying the night as they had an owner wanting to ride out with a view to buying a horse and the next day the owner called Alexander turned up. He was dressed in a tweed cap a tweed jacket, jeans and suede brogues to ride out. The horse is a very safe ride and they got on really well. It is with a view to buying something to ride in America.

We had 16 people turn up from the Steeplechasers syndicate and we watched their 3 horses working on the gallops. We had drinks in the office afterwards then a very jolly lunch in the Malt which went on for quite some time.

After they had all left I went home to watch Gowanauthat at Stratford. He ran an amazing race and managed to win his 5th chase in a row. He is an extraordinary little horse and he has now gone up 41 lb so life will get a lot tougher.

On Sunday I got Tommy to drive me down to Paul Nicholls open day. It was very satisfying going there knowing I have a much higher strike rate for this season than he has. He also hasn't got a horse that has won 5 in a row. I always feel a bit depressed leaving his open day as you realize what a serious team of horses that we have to take on. He only paraded 83 of his horses but after seeing 5 of them an owner of mine and myself retired to the lunch tent to share a bottle of wine. It was a very good day and Bobby Davro was hilarious.

We pulled out very early on Monday as Sam had to drive 2 of my lads to Slough to get them National Insurance numbers. It should have been 3 lads as I had a very good Frenchman who came up to me in San Sebastian and asked me for a job. I spent a fortune on accommodation for him and after only two weeks he thanked me for the job and said goodbye. He went to Newmarket that day and is now working for William Haggas. The staff shortage in Racing is a desperate situation right now and every yard in the country is short of people. I really don't know what we are going to do.

Yesterday evening Sureness went on her travels again as she is going back to San Sebastian for a big race on Saturday. She has to go from Portsmouth to Le Havre as Calais is far too dangerous right now. We are all looking forward to seeing her run out there again and she is in tremendous form. I am flying over on Thursday to supervise her and obviously we are hoping for a big run. Apart from her we haven't got many to run as one or two of them are a couple of weeks off a run.