Sadly nothing went right for Avertor last night at Wolverhampton. He missed the break, got squeezed back and then he had to pull wide off the bend to get a run.  It was an impossible task and he did well to be beaten less than 2 lengths in 3rd.  There was no doubt that with better luck in running he should have won.  He remains the ' bookmakers friend ' having started favourite yet again !

Starlight Walk is still a real baby and very weak, she should gain some experience today before returning to her owners stud for a winter break.  Next year she will be suited by 10 furlongs plus.

Definightly left this morning at 6am in a LRT box to join up with Hughie Morrison's colt Pisco Sour who runs in the Group 1 on Sunday at Saint Cloud. They will then travel on to Maison-Laffitte for our race on Monday. The race looks tough but Definightly's owner Simon Emmet will be thrilled if he reaches the frame as it's a Group 3 and he has all ready won and been placed in Listed races, we will have the final declarations later today.

Our only runner today, Avertor runs at Wolverhampton in the 7.10 with William Buick.  He has probably become our most frustrating horse in the yard and so far a bookmaker's dream. He has run well (except at Goodwood last time) all summer but without winning.  His sprinting companions that he's capable of working well with have included Genki + 8 lb,  Definightly + 27 lb,  Bated Breath + 22 lb  and Zero Money +12 lb.  Blinkers didn't seem to work last time so we're running out of options.....!

Starshine got the trip well and stayed on to finish 3rd, there was a moment 2 furlongs out that it looked as if she might win but she lacks a finishing kick.  There may be another opportunity on the AW  to win a race before she retires to stud.

No runners today but there is a possibility that Definightly might travel to France  tomorrow. There's a 6 f Group 3 at Maisons-Laffitte (The Prix De Seine-Et -Oise) on Monday, I will study the opposition before making a decision. At this stage it looks competitive with horses like Main Aim, Dalghar, Artic and from Sweden Alcohuaaz, who has won his last 3 listed races.  

Our first four yearlings being ridden and  doing really well.

Bahamian Bounty ex Digger Girl Colt

Diamond Green ex Savioli Filly

Exceed and Excel ex Spanish Quest filly

Three Valleys ex St Edith colt

Starshine runs this afternoon at Nottingham in a 2 mile handicap at 3.40pm.  Her last race at Ffos Las was a bit of a wasted journey to Wales as they crawled for at least 10 furlongs before leaving her rather flat footed when they sprinted up the straight.  Whether she will 'get '  2 miles in slow ground we will find out this afternoon but there aren't many options left.

Silbury got very lost in the heavy ground at Leicester yesterday and she will be returning to Waddesdon Stud shortly.

All the horses at Newmarket found new homes and I was particularly pleased that Spoken sold so well for £105,000 to Mr.Khalifa Bin Shael Al Kuwari and he will be continuing his racing career in Quatar.  I hope he does really well for them as their quality standard of racing is improving, he should be suited by their conditions as he loves fast ground. 

Silbury  runs in the 2.00 pm at Leicester today and she's our only runner. She steps up in trip to 7f which should suit her as long as she settles, but the heavy ground is likely to be against her.

Tomorrow afternoon we sell our draft at the Horses In Training sales at Newmarket.  They include :--

LOT 627   Cheam Forever  won 3 times and placed 7 times.

LOT 629   Truly Asia  won once and placed 8 times. A  jumping prospect.

LOT 632   Spoken  won 4 times and £27,483. I will be sorry to see him go as he as turned out to be a very progressive horse and I can see him winning decent races in the future. He should suit buyers from the USA, Hong Kong and Australia as he loves fast ground.

LOT 633   Thistle Stikk has run twice with some promise and as a big gelding he should make a jumping prospect in time.

LOT 635  Walcot Square  won once and loves fast ground and AW.

LOT 636  Yabtree  won once and placed 3 times.

LOT 637  Embezzle a backward 2 year old.

LOT 638  Sriking Priorite a 2 year old who won first time out in June.

LOT 639  Sugar Beet  a 2 year old, won twice and placed twice.  

With very few horses to run before the end of the season it was great to have such a rewarding day at Newbury yesterday. We have now reached 50 winners (a strike of 20%) from 65 individual horses, for the first time since 2003. I am very pleased and proud of the way everyone on the payroll at Beckhampton have pulled together and worked so hard to produce better results from a smaller string.

Al Kazeem put up a very encouraging performance to beat a well bred and well fancied  colt of John Gosden's. It was exciting to see the first two pulling 9 lengths clear of a fancied Michael Stoute colt and his owner John Deer should have a lot to look forward to in 2011. Being out of a Darshaan mare (like Genki and Blue Monday) he should stay at least 10 furlongs. He is just the type of horse that I like to train, good temperament, plenty of scope and still learning.

Deceptive ran as I expected and should make a better 3 year old when she goes handicapping. She will be returning to Sandringham for her winter holiday soon.

Clowance what a star she is, yet again patience has been rewarded. It's almost embarrassing to admit that she was only having her 8th career start yesterday as a 5 year old . She has been difficult to train on anything other than soft ground and the lads in the yard have spent many hours keeping her going. Her future is at the moment still in the melting pot but her CV is now looking pretty good.

Sergeant Troy ran well and I hope will win handicaps next year on better ground.

Camberley Two was still a bit green and he got a little tired in the slow ground and he may run once more before the season finishes.

Proponent didn't enjoy the holding ground and having had a long season that started in Dubai he may have gone 'over the top'.

Brunston ran a much more promising race to finish 3rd in a decent race and he might run in the November Handicap at Doncaster before going hurdling.    

A big team of 7 runners for us at Newbury, sadly I am confined to the bed with a bad back.  Al Kazeem and Deceptive probably run in what looks like the weaker of the 2 divisions of the mile maiden race at 1.30pm.  Al Kazeem should be an 'improver' but he's a big colt and the message hasn't fully got through to him yet but I hope that he will be in the first four. His form was let down by Sir Michael Stoute's colt Levitate yesterday at Doncaster in 7f maiden, he finished 11th having finished just in front of us at Newbury. The filly Deception still has a lot to learn and she ran very green at Kempton recently.

Clowance 2.40pm has required plenty of patience from everyone in the yard but especially from her owner and breeder Barry Hurley (Seasons Holidays) who luckily loves her dearly.  She has never been that easy to keep on the go but more importantly she needs soft ground to see her at her best, so I am hoping we will get the ground and that I have her fit enough having not run since April. She has become quite a lazy worker at home which is not surprising for 5 year old mare but on her best form she could be in the 'mix'.

UPDATE......The weather men are nearly as bad at tipping as I am...Newbury was forecast to get 5 to 8mm over night but only received 3.6 so the ground is now good to soft, good in places.....fingers crossed that the ground suits her. 

 Camberley Two and Sergeant Troy will need to improve to feature in the 4.15pm as it looks quite a strong race. The former ran embarrassingly badly at Sandown but he hated the 'kick back' that day and I hope after plenty of practice recently, he will show his true form. Sergeant Troy is another big colt and ran well at Windsor recently but it was a weaker race than today's and he should be a better prospect next year.

Proponent has had a rather frustrating season although he has run extremely well in competitive races on every occasion from Royal Ascot to Goodwood, York and the Cambridgeshire . He probably has too much weight to carry but he remains in good form.  Brunston surprised us first time out when he won the Newbury Spring Cup at a long price and he's managed to disappoint us a few times since, he's fit and still looks great in his skin so maybe tomorrow could be another good day?

 No runners today.  After having a discussion with Clowance's owner Barry Hurley, we have decided to run her in the St Simon Stakes at Newbury tomorrow.  With a forecast of rain overnight she should get the soft ground that she needs.  As with Cityscape, we have had to be very patient with her waiting for the right conditions.  On her reappearance last year at the Curragh in the Irish St Leger she was beaten half a length by Alandi having been off for 18 months. As a three year old she won twice at Newbury, the Robert Sangster Memorial Maiden Stakes and  "The Swettenham Stud Fillies Stakes" a listed race.  Having been placed in three Group 1's she is arguably Montjeu's best daughter and she will be a fine addition to her owner/breeder Barry Hurley's broodmare band.