The Blog

16th November

Wild and windy this morning. But still pretty mild. And the first proper frost yet to arrive...

Saturday was supposed to be apocalyptic. But Uttoxeter was no more than blustery, whilst TV pictures from Cheltenham implied that it was a bright day beneath Cleeve Hill....

Golden Feather retired after his run in the seller. This kind horse made a horrible noise through the race, and his competitive days are over. He will head down to Lambourn to be a hack for Tessa Clark, Warren Greatrex's wife. And I know that he will be supremely well looked after, heading out to watch the gallops and going for the occasional day's hunting. He will be much missed here (especially by Valerie who rode him every morning and who adores him), but Tessa has agreed that Valerie can take him hunting whenever she wants. A peaceful and well earned retirement beckons....

Naxox travelled brilliantly for a long way in his race before stopping pretty quickly. He has had heart issues in the past, but the vet was on hand immediately and discounted any problem in this area. He may just be one of those frustrating "tripless" horses, but we have certainly not given up on him yet....

A happy morning on the Golf Course yesterday at Cowdray Park in Sussex. Charlie Methven (part owner of Wingull) and Al Sword (who used to have a bit of dual winner Maddy) and I braving the elements - and being rewarded with a stunning morning. Fine views of the South Downs, a clear course in front of us, some reasonable golf being played. There is a massive upside to being first away from the tee - and consequently we were finished almost before the door of The Noahs Ark in Lurgashall swung open....

And Ma Baker's incomparable roast beef added to the enjoyment of what was our first day without a runner for quite a while. Back on the downtown Dunstall treadmill today...

Paddy Power Day

The National Hunt season well and truly under way. The Paddy Power Gold Cup one of the highlights of the Winter.

We will be heading to Uttoxeter with Paul Beck's Golden Feather and Naxox. The prevailing conditions should suit both horses. Feather is a tremendously enthusiastic horse at home - but he is too high in the handicap, and so we drop a grade or two today in an attempt to boost his confidence...

Blacker than a black thing out there. A howling gale, but no rain at the moment. Difficult to tell how true yesterday's apocalyptic forecast was. And the weather, as ever, playing a massive role in our plans. Andrew Tinkler rides Pop for Henry Daly in the Paddy Power - but will switch to Uttoxeter if that becomes a non-runner. Difficult for Bernie Wharfe who has become a key part of our team. He understands the situation - and will get plenty of chances through the Winter....

Downtown Dunstall at it's bleakest last night. Horizontal rain. A good run from Fairmile in the feature race. And several of the "George Baker tenner" best turned out awards. I hope that this initiative to recognise the efforts of stable staff will be picked up and run with by other interested parties (bookmakers, trainers, jockeys etc) when our support of 50 races comes to an end. A tenner not a huge amount, obviously, but better than nothing and a small recognition of the long hours put in by stable staff to keep the show on the road....

Time to take on the elements. A bright, starry sky - so maybe we will be dry for an hour or two.

And I fervently hope that poor Princess Soraya comes through her ordeal of running in the first at Cheltenham unscathed. Good luck, girl. A sobering tale.....  

Friday

Two seconds, a third, a fourth, a fifth - and two out the back....

Bizarrely, one of the "out the back" runners, Prince Paolo, was actually one of the most pleasing. Up against a whole host of regally bred beasts, PP ran well for a long time. He will need a trip and a faster pace to show his true worth - but I have no doubts that he will be progressing massively in the months ahead....

Candida and I at Ludlow. Double Dash running an excellent second on his return to action. The tarpaulin coming off the roof of the parade ring tack shop did not help at all. He became pretty fractious before the start - and huge credit to Richard Hobson who was down at the start to lead him in. Poor Richard had got a lift to the races (he bought Prince Paolo for Oliver Pawle) and ended up playing a big part in our day !! I hope that the lunch I bought him compensated for his muddy shoes....

Wingull maintaining his progression with a creditable second behind the punted Canni Thinkar. Cliche, cliche - but this horse is going to give us a lot of fun over fences. Everything he does now is a bonus etc etc etc......

Chocolate Thornton having his first ride for us on Shut The Bar at Taunton. Choc reported that this horse jumped fantastically - and that he would have made more use of him if he had known him better. The ground had gone too soft in retrospect - but still an encouraging performance from Di Mitchell's tough little Midnight Legend horse...

Stand In Flames drawn poorly and never able to challenge at Southwell, whilst Iguacu ran pleasingly (and very gamely) to be third in his race. Both horses can win again soon...

The weather forecast looking a bit "iffy" to say the least. Cheltenham's meeting starting today. Always a great spectacle - but with weather warnings around the country, we will have to see what runs where. Uttoxeter looking our most likely port of call tomorrow....

Paul Beck with us overnight, along with his mates TJ and Barry, to see his quintet of horses here canter this morning. Naxox and Golden Feather on course for Uttoxeter tomorrow. Jericho, Tyson and Outaoais on the comeback trails.

A very exciting National Hunt team beginning to take shape. As the days get shorter and the nights longer, we have plenty to look forward to.....  

Thursday

I doubt whether there are too many people who can "boast" that they have visited three all weather tracks in one day....

Valerie, Matthew Davies, Mark Coumbe and I had that dubious privilege yesterday. Downtown Dunstall to begin with. A very satisfactory work morning. Horses ranging in age from 2 to 12 pleasing us - and able to get our gallops completed just before the Tom Dascombe battalions arrived...

And then onto Southwell. Kummel Excess a head away from landing her first victory at the third attempt. She is on a decently progressive curve and it will not be long before she gets her head in front. We like these little Exceed and Excel fillies, and I am sure that this horse will maintain her improvement into next Summer....

A trip too far for Inconspicuous Miss. And then Dontbugthebunny running on gamely but too late up the long straight. She is on the cusp of winning.....

Final port of call - Kempton. A staggeringly small crowd, all of them apparently squashed into the Owners and Trainers Bar. Another step forward from Court Princess, staying on really well into 4th over 2 miles. The slow pace her downfall, she would have been much closer off a truer gallop...

Back up the drive at 11.00, some 16 hours after we had headed down it. The car filled with sweet and crisp packets and, alarmingly, the remnants of a KFC. Those hot wings are good...!!

Horseboxes heading to Taunton (1), Wolverhampton (1), Southwell (2) and Ludlow (3). Our busiest day yet. Some each way chances amongst them. It would be nice to be able to report on a winner this time tomorrow..... 

Wednesday

Dank, damp, dark - a perfect downtown Dunstall morning.....

Eleven horses being loaded up onto Ken Gamble's massive horsebox as I write. And then runners at Southwell, and then Kempton tonight...

An allweather treble. How exciting is that ????!!!

Thrilled with Divy's 4th placing yesterday. To use the old cliche, he will come on a ton for this and remains a star in the making.... 

November 10th

The headlines on the news channels each morning telling a desperately sad tale of troop deaths in Afghanistan. And, depressingly, one almost becomes immune to the mounting tally. "Another five soldiers killed in a roadside bomb in Helmand Province" becomes an almost daily refrain....

So sad. And a real sense of a Government spiralling out of control. No apparent cohesive rationale. Disparate and often contradictory quotes from politicians. Do the Government really know what they are trying to achieve? And, if I am confused about their motives and plans from the cosy comfort of home, how depressingly out on a limb must the brave men and women of the Armed Forces feel?

Time to draw stumps and come home? When senior Generals suggest that the operation is severely flawed, it beggars belief that this "campaign" is progressing as intended. I just hope and pray that tough calls are made one way or the other before Afghanistan becomes our Vietnam... 

Another perspective check. Life can be pretty tough at times, and we all make mistakes. But I guess that there are thousands of members of the Armed Forces who would love to have to deal with the "stresses" of my job rather than face the daily prospect of dying for a debatable cause. Being beaten a nose in a horse race hurts. But compared to what so many people have to deal with, it is no more than an inconsequential "trifle".....

To Lingfield today. The return of Divy. We have made no secret of the fact that we love this horse. But we also have little to compare him with. Today is not D Day. He is ready to run, and I am hoping for a massive effort. But there are other targets on the horizon - and I would be happy if by 2.15 today those targets remain attainable....

Divy running in the all black colours of Rory Sweet, carried around Cheltenham with such distinction by Frenchmans Creek and Marble Arch. Rory has kindly loaned the colours to Messrs Delaney, Jefferies and O'Sullivan. I hope that Divy does them credit....

9th November

Remarkable, and a little scary, that it is 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. The BBC footage being played out as I write seemingly from a couple of weeks ago, not a couple of decades. I was working in the City at the time. On the tube at about this hour of the morning, heading into a faceless trading floor filled with egos and, in those days, the smell of stale cigarette smoke. As I was, at the time, a 20 Marlboro Gold a day man, I was certainly more than partially responsible for the latter. How I miss it all......

The Breeders Cup evening organised by Fitzdares (probably the finest bookmaker in the land) a great fun event. The Mandarin Oriental on Knightsbridge. Plasma screens aplenty relaying the action from Stateside. A delicious dinner and some spectacular wines. An evening to savour. Goldikova extraordinary, Conduit given a gem of a ride by Ryan Moore and Zenyatta beyond compare - an utterly compelling evening of sport (and a British Heavyweight Boxing Champion as well....)

A busy week ahead. Entries aplenty. A bit of juggling required. The weather Gods sitting in the wings ready to play their hand. Today the calm before the storm. No runners. But paperwork mountains to address and plans to finalise. A few of the jumpers ready to be unleashed. An exciting, and nerve-wracking, week.....

Breeders Cup Saturday

Thursday evening. About half past seven. The Bath Arms near Longleat....

"Err.... We have no booking in your name, Mr Baker." "You are joining 9 others for dinner ? We have no booking for that number"....

Not a great start. Am I in the right place ?? Am I on the right date ??

A couple of nervy telephone calls - and I establish that I am in the right place at the right time. Which is a bit of a relief...

"We have no rooms left. But there is the gatehouse down in the park..."

And so it came to pass that I spent Thursday night at the end of the Longleat drive, with the most fantastic views of the stately home and grounds. The only marginal downside being the pitch black walk "home" after dinner through the Park, tales of the "Longleat Lions" ringing in my ears. Each hedge that I strode past seemed to rustle and shake as if a giant cat was about to leap out. In all probability, it was no more than a couple of slugs munching on a leaf - but I was relieved to reach "home" unscathed.....

To London this evening for the Fitzdares ("probably the finest bookmakers in the world"...) annual Breeders Cup dinner. Always an eclectic and interesting gathering - and great fun. And hopefully another good time in the Californian sun for the Europeans. 

Thursday 5th November

As I trundled around the gallop before dawn yesterday morning, I foolishly thought that I had had a remarkably "mechanical incident" free few months. Foolish indeed.....  

On the way to downtown Dunstall, I pulled into the services on the M5 to grab a Racing Post. No Racing Post. So I turned on my heels and ran back out to the garage forecourt....

No car. Sh*t !!! My effing car has been stolen. Can you believe how stupid I had been to leave the keys in the ignition. "But Officer, I was only rushing in for a newspaper"..... A split second of feeling completely helpless, trying to remember what belongings of note were in the car...

But then I spied, some 50 yards away, the bonnet of a car protruding out of a hedge. Sheepishly, I approached the hedge, to be greeted by the sight of a decimated brick wall beside the hedge. My car - but if it has careered into and smashed the wall, the damage is sure to be not inconsequential. Gingerly I walked around my vehicle, clambering over bits of splintered branches, and remarkably all seemed in perfect order. The smashed-up wall had not been my car's doing....

Starting the car, I extricated myself from the hedge - and proceeded northwards onto the M5 in an orderly fashion. Note to self - check that hand brake is fully engaged. I expect to see my car's antics on Sky Tv's next blockbuster series, "Cars with minds of their own....."

Some pleasing work at downtown Dunstall. A couple of eyecatching pieces of work. And then a perfectly satisfactory run from Phoenix Enforcer at Warwick. Softer ground and more of a trip and she will be winning again. 

Wednesday 4th November

A downtown Dunstall morning. The horsebox revving up and ready to go....

The big news (only news) from yesterday being the birth of a son to my sister Muffy and husband Charlie. Fred trading at about 2/5 at present, a copying of the Rooneys with "Ki" a rather more generous million to one shot...

London for lunch today with Breeding Capital guru William Sporborg and Jimmy Brecknock. Followed by a bit of Emirates action with Arsenal taking on the might of FC Metal Scrapings from Uzbechistan - I think..

The rain arrived big time yesterday. Warwick could be pretty squelchy this afternoon. Perfect for Phoenix Enforcer....