We took Dakota Boy to Stratford as planned yesterday but unfortunately we did not run him. We had hoped for a little more rain than we got and although he ran on good to firm before at Worcester the ground at Stratford seemed that little bit quicker. We spoke to Dickie Johnson after the first race and he said it was definitely quick ground and after hearing that we did not want to risk Hooky so we pulled him out and saved him for another day.
This week Satin Princess has entries at Bath and Folkestone, Welovetobouggie has an entry at Doncaster those two both on Thursday and Southandwest at Newmarket on Friday. All of those do depend on the ground.
Today was the first day back at school for all of the horses who had been out for the summer and I must say everybody was very well behaved. It as quite a warm morning so I think that helped keep their backs down at bit. Tomorrow the blacksmith comes in to supply the whole yard with new shoes and away we go for another season. It's the time of year when all dreams are still in tact and nobody knows what the coming months will bring. If we could just put on our wish list for a successful injury free season ahead and our wish could be granted that would be kind thankyou!
Hooky aka Dakota Boy is running again at Stratford tomorrow. We are hoping he can repeat his performance of a few weeks ago. It does look a winnable race and hopefully with the rain we have had it will just take the sting out of the ground so all fingers crossed.
We have brought all of the field horses up to the paddocks near to the house now in preparation for Monday morning when they start their first day of road work. They will just be walking on Monday and then slowly build up to trotting, cantering, working, racecourse and winning. Sounds so easy doesn't it. We still have a few horses to come back from their Owners where they have been summering. Sandofthecolosseum should be back at the beginning of the week and Midnight Trix should not be far behind. I think the staff will be pleased to have the horses back in to put an end to their painting etc.
We managed to get the majority of the invitations for the Open Day out this week. All seems to be organised so far, I've tried to book the sunshine for that day (5th Sept) and will have to wait and see if the booking has bee accepted.
Last week saw the sales at Tattersalls. Alex was there every day but did not manage to buy anything until the last day. Southandwest was bought on behalf of the Wall To Wall Partership who already own Weliketobouggie. He is a sprinter and is ready to run so it should not be to long before you see him on the tract.
We also bought Blinka Me who is an ex Mark Tompkins horse. He is a lovely looking horse and was purchased on behalf of Mr Helaissis who owns Lemon Silk, Dinarius and Regional Counsel. He will run on the flat to start with and will then go hurdling. He is still a colt and on the second day of being with us he took a real liking to my Hunter, Westie. Very strange as he is a chunky gelding and you would say not very feminine but everybody to their own! On that behaviour we thought it may not be the wisest to have the filly Satin Princess and Blinka out on the same lots for a while otherwise there could be problems.
Amazing to see the wet stuff coming out of the sky today. We do really need the rain as the fields are becoming very dry and speaking to our haylage supplier there could be a real shortage in that department come the middle of the winter.
Satin Princess ran at Leicester on Saturday and although we thought she may ran a little better than 6th there was a couple of times in the races where she changed her legs. Nothing to do with a problem on her behalf but there is a couple of dips at Leicester on the course and whether the ground was slightly different in the dip I'm not sure but it did put her off of her stride. She came out of the race fine and we will look for something else for her in a couple of weeks time.
Alex is off to Tattersalls Sales in Newmarket today. We have a couple of orders which is always exciting as long as you can find the horses to match the order. It's a bit of a strange sale as they sell in the morning then stop while everybody goes racing at the July course and then start selling again at 5pm. Sounds great but can make for a long day. Alex is hoping he will find something today otherwise he will be repeating the process again tomorrow.
We did not run Dakota Boy in the end due to the ground. Though he would not mind it fast we want to be a bit careful with him. Unfortunately he goes to the sales next week purely because his owner wants to cut back so if anybody is interested in him please give us a call as we would love to keep him in the yard.
Hopefully you will all have had a chance to see our new Newsletter which is getting a really good response and two of our horses have managed to find new Owners from it. We are aiming to do one every month so if you are not signed up for it just click on the Welcome Page of the website to register.
How very strange it was to see rain this morning. I think we have got so used to hot, sunny days that we have forgotten about the wet stuff. Luckily I don't think there has been enough to effect the going at Leicester tomorrow for Satin Princess. She likes to hear her hooves underneath her. She has had her back done this week and seems a lot happier for it and hopefully this will show through in her race.
Apart from Princess we are quiet again until Uttoxeter where Dakota Boy and Nautical Approach have entries. They would not like it to firm so if it could rain a little after tomorrow that would be much appreciated thankyou.
Philippa and I decided it was time get out there and meet some of the locals so we went to mother and toddler groups at Culworth and Wardington. A really nice group of mums and children. Although Philippa may not quite be at the friend making stage she seemed to enjoy herself and managed not to show us up to much, although at one stage her fascination with mobile phones took over again and she managed to fling one of the mums phones across the garden. Luckily it bounced rather than smashed so we have not been barred yet and will be in attendence again next week!
I don't think anybody can complain about the summer this year. With the hottest weekend of the year so far we should have had a brilliant weekend to match the conditions instead it turned out to be very disappointing. Welovetobouggie ran at Lingfield on Saturday night. He was stepped up in trip and was running after a very winnable mark. Hopes were high but he did not seem to handle the track very well and ended up near the back. There was an awful lot of kick back and that may have been a contributing factor as some horses don't enjoy that, I don't suppose you can blame them. We will try him back on the turf again but rain is need for that!
Alex drove the box down to Lingfield as all drivers were out on Saturday night. He did not get back to nearly 1am but not to worry, it was Sunday the next day bit of a lay in before going off to Uttoxeter with Nautical Approach. Unfortunately nobody had told Philippa that so she thought a 5am start was called for. Not a happy daddy.
We really thought Nautical would run well. He is very well handicapped and the track should suit. We had wanted him jumped off in mid division but he somehow got to the back and had 15 lengths to make up to start with. He ran well and finished in the first 6 but should really have been closer. He will run again hopefully on the 6th July again at Uttoxeter and we are going to try stepping him up in distance.
That result did nothing to cheer a very tired Trainer up but luckily my drivers were all back to work yesterday so he did not have to drive the box and was back to catch the end of the terrible England display. They were pretty useless and deserve to be on their way home now. I am sure if we all got paid the same as them we may put a little more effort in.
A quiet week this week with just Dakota Boy having an entry at Worcester on Wednesday and Satin Princess will have an entry for the weekend.
We survived Philippa first holiday. Survived may seem a strange word to use about a holiday but when you take a 10 month old away for the first time I'm not quite sure you can describe the break as relaxing. She was very well behaved but being away from home gives her a whole new place to investigate. Now she can open drawers and doors her daily ritual was to open the mini bar and empty out the contents followed by nearly shutting her fingers in the door. The beach did not turn out to be a lot safer. The image of playing in the sand and making sandcastles sounded wonderful but all she seemed to want to do was to see how much sand she could get in her mouth at one time! The word careful seemed to be used constantly throughout the week but she had a great time and we had a break. The saying a change is as good as a rest seemed appropriate!
As far as the important business of the horses are concerned maybe we should go away more ofter. Dakota Boy ran at Worcester after only being back with us for a short time and came home a winner at 40-1. It was a really messy race with one horse slipping up in front of him on the bend and another falling right in front of him a few fences from home so he did well anyway to avoid those two incidents. His Owner Mike Tuckey was there to cheer him home and I think he was even more pleased after he had a little bit each way on him. He does have entries this weekend along with Nautical Approach but we will see what the ground is like. With the glorious weather at the moment it's great for the sun tan but not so good for the going stick! Weliketobouggie also has an entry at Lingfield on Saturday and as long as he gets in he will run.
Weliketobouggie had his first run for us at Leicester last Monday. He is a stunning looking horse and his Owners, The Wall To Wall Partnership were really pleased with the way he looked. He has had time off with a few niggles but we have got him back to the track and he ran a really respectable race. The jockey said he needs further as he has not got a real turn of foot and when the rest of the field sprinted he was left a little flat footed but galloped onto the line. You never know he may be a hurdler although I don't think this is what the Owners wanted to hear as they do like their flat racing!
Satin Princess ran down at Chepstow on the same day and ran really well until the last furlong when they just went away from her but she finished in mid div and it was an encouraging run back after her break.
Dakota Boy has come back to us. He has spent the last season Point to Pointing with Mike Tuckey, his Owners son. He was very full of himself when he came back but has settle down well. We hope for him to have a run next week. He is the horse that is on the front of the website in case you wondered who it was.
We are hoping to get away next week down to Devon for a few days. Philippas first holiday which could be an interesting one. We have definitely had to re-think the type of holiday we go on this time. Usually as long as the sun is shining and we can lay beside a pool then it's happy days but this time we were looking for children friendly hotels with baby pools and plenty of entertainment if the weather is horrible. How things change! I'm sure all will be fine and I think I would rather be in Devon than house and whippet sitting in Edgcote which Helen who drives the horseboxes for me has very bravely taken on. Thankyou Helen.
When we get back there is plenty of Sales shopping to do as our thoughts immediately go to next season. We again enter that time when we dream of Winners Enclosures all around the country and hope those dreams come true.
Superior Wisdom ran up at Haydock on Saturday in a very competitive hurdle race. He was 9th in the end but we were really pleased with the way he ran and had obviously recovered from his Ayr mishap. He is finished for the season now as he does needs some cut in the ground.
Bobbisox ran at Towcester on Monday evening. She has been in really good form but the ground had dried out to much for her and she got run off of her feet and ended up in a PU! She needs some real cut in the ground so again another one on summer holidays.
All quiet now and slowly one by one the horses are going out. They can't go out full time at the moment, there was a frost last night of minus 4 in some places and that would be a bit to much of a shock to the system after being snuggled in cosy rugs for the last 9 months. It is supposed to warm up towards the weekend so hopefully it won't be long before they are out twenty four seven.
Calypso Girl has an entry at Wolverhampton on Monday but apart from that we are quiet. Shopping next week though at Doncaster Sales. We have a few orders which is always exciting. We are hoping prices are still reasonable however everytime we go the ones we want always seem to be the expensive ones. We must have expensive taste!