The Blog

September 30th

Piccadilly Circus on the yard yesterday morning - horseboxes heading off in several directions, and then a massive yellow coach decanting about 40 Warwick Racecourse Members at 9.30...

We marched them out to the gallops for third lot - and then marched them back again. And, as with the TBA, I am pretty sure that they all made it back. A knowledgeable and interested group, and I hope that some of the note taking that was going on bears a little fruit through the Winter...

After Boho's victory on Monday (which propelled us onto the Racing Post's "Hot List" just below Sir Mark and Henry Cecil, and one above Sir Michael....???!!!), it was back to reality yesterday. Zazys Gift failed to shine on her debut at Warwick, whilst Jane Starkey's epic journey to Sedgefield with Mountain Beat also failed to produce any dividend. The former will be back on track soon (probably at Wolverhampton where she has worked on a number of occasions), whilst Mountain Beat will be stepped up to 2 1/2 miles...

Alex ("Zazy") Smith-Maxwell and her family on hand en masse to watch her horse. And in  no mood to allow the horse's disappointing run to dampen their spirits. As Alex's father said, "You had better watch out when the horse runs well...!!"

I am under enormous pressure to attend Barney's Harvest Festival Service this morning. He has raided the baked bean department ("harvest"...??) as his contribution, and I have a feeling that second lot will have to do without me on my hill this morning. I am sure that they will cope....

And smiles all around yesterday (and especially from Naughty) as Double Dash came back up the drive after his Summer holidays at his Owners the Scott-Dunn's farm. Our first Cheltenham Festival runner and a horse of some potential - great to see him again....      

September 29th

I wrote recently that downtown Dunstall has been particularly good to us in recent weeks. And Sussex, my home county, has also been the provider of many a good day...

For a fleeting moment in the Spring, we were in danger of becoming Plumpton's leading trainer, whilst there have been good days aplenty at both Fontwell and Brighton. Now all we need is to hit the back of the net at Goodwood...

To Brighton yesterday - and another good effort from Boho Chic, adding a handicap victory to her Bath selling win. Plan A had been to get a lead - but she broke so well that Matthew had to resort to Plan B immediately. Allowing her to bowl along in front, Matt kept hold of her head until the climb to the finish and, when he asked her to go and win her race, she shot clear...

Apparently somebody compared her acceleration on one of the racing forums to Dancing Brave in the Arc !!?? I have to admit that I never expected to hear Boho Chic and Dancing Brave mentioned in the same sentence.

A tough and genuine filly, she will be kept on the go until her date at the Tatts Horses In Training Sales. She is for sale - and if anybody is interested in a game filly who will win plenty, please get in touch...

Her race sponsored by Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer - and the Trainer sent home with some in the boot of the car. And joined for the post-race drink and viewing of the replay by the National Accounts Manager for Crabbies (quite interesting) and the three girls who had been promoting the product on the Racecourse for the day (rather more interesting......!!).

An utterly amazing sunset on the way home. If any of you were Northbound on the M40 from the M25 at about 6 O'Clock last night, you will know exactly what I mean. Stunning. I have been lucky to be in a few places where the sunset is a community event (AngKor Wat in Cambodia for one, the coastline of Goa another...), but last night's was right up there. I wish I could paint - but then again a painting of the sky as I drove through the Stokenchurch cutting would have struggled to do justice to the amazing sight we were witnessing.

Warwick and Sedgefield today. The horses all running well. I said at the beginning of September that the stated plan was to train a hatfull of winners in the lead up to the Sales. At thje moment, the plan is ticking along nicely....   

September 28th

Market Rasen packed on Saturday. A fine card, prize money aplenty - but Golden Feather sadly failing to bring any of it home. This was always going to be a massive ask - but Andrew is getting to know this horse better by the day, and this was definitely a small step forward....

A small dinner party for Candida's birthday on Saturday night - and a gentle Sunday yesterday, no runners but plenty of sport to take in on the television. St Nicholas Abbey looking every inch a classic prospect for next year, England winning (again) on the cricket pitch, Wayne Hennessey and Wolves hard done by by the 5-2 scoreline away at Sunderland...

And off to the south coast today with Boho Chic. A tough little thing, she has been running well (including a Bath victory) and heads to Brighton with an each-way chance. Pretty busy on the runners front this week - although a little help from the weather gods would not go amiss, especially at Newmarket where we hope to run Excellerator in the Rous Stakes as long as the ground is not too firm...

Runners all over the place, the Sales at Goffs in Ireland, the Warwick Racecourse Members descending upon us en masse tomorrow morning - the diary for this week looking pretty full, but I guess that is probably a good thing.....  

September 26th

Downtown Dunstall being good to us on race nights....

Although getting there was pretty traumatic last night. The M5 / M6 Junction northbound on a Friday night is a "no-no", and so Valerie, Matthew, Barney and I headed off across country from Junction 2.

All was well - until an accident gridlocked Wolverhampton. A mile and a half from the track - but sitting motionless in rush hour traffic as the clock ticked away towards our first runner in the 6.20.

And so we pushed Matthew out of the car into the twilight of central Wolverhampton - and off he ran into the night. 30 minutes later (which seems quite a long time for 1 1/2 miles and begs the question as to whether he took the "alternative tourist route"..), Matt arrived at the track, apparently slightly purple in the face and sweating profusely. Possibly not the ideal preparation for a 6 furlong sprint...??!!

Naughty and Dan had saddled Romantic Queen - and we arrived just in time to rush into the paddock and leg Matt up. Worth the rush. Matt gave the filly a lovely ride - and when the split came against the rail, she sailed through and won easily. I have to admit that after her fall at Windsor last time out, I was hardly bullish about her chances....

Wayne and Paul Hennessey fast becoming our lucky mascots, Barney (although he asked the announcer to address him as "Barnaby..."?!) picking up the trophy, the orange juice still the safe option in the Winning Connections box....

And a fine debut from Paul and Susan Roy's homebred Major Maximus in the maiden. Outpaced and green early on, he stayed on really well into third place. A most encouraging effort - matching that of Jane Allison, Paul's Racing Manager, who had braved the Friday traffic chaos to see this 33/1 shot run....

A good night at the office. And in The Antelope on the way home. Too late to bed. But winners are never easy to come by, and need to be celebrated....   

September 25th

A long, long day yesterday....

Away from here at shortly after six, and not back up the drive until after 10 O'Clock last night...

Downtown Dunstall at it's most "alluring" under cloudless skies. Wayne and Paul Hennessey on hand to watch Heredias work with much encouragement, and Di Mitchell on hand to see her little (although he has grown through the Summer) star Shut The Bar....

Others to please in their work were Friendly King, Mile High Lad, Iguacu and Harellie. But there was also drama aplenty as one of the 2-year-olds managed to rip his upper lip open on a hook inside one of the stables. The Wolverhampton team were typically quick to act and massively apologetic - but nobody's fault. Horses spend most of their lives looking for reasons not to go to the races, and this was just another case to add to "the book of excuses"....

A local vet on hand pretty quickly - and doing a fantastic job with his stitching. And by the time we left, Team Wolverhampton firmly on the case removing all potential hazards.... 

And then down the A34 to Kingwood Stud for their annual yearling parade. As ever, the place and the horses looking immaculate.

Lunch at The Pheasant with Charlie and Pip Hills, Johnnie and Sophie Portman, Mark Smyly et al - and then back on the motorway, this time to head back to Kempton Park....

Another progression from Court Princess - not so from Chicita Banana. The Banana ran in the Brocklesby on day one of the Flat season and has been on the go for a long time - and last night it showed. She remains a nice prospect for next season....

Owners aplenty here this morning. The sausages already in the Aga. A couple more horses due with us this afternoon. And then downtown Dunstall tonight. Romantic Queen will hopefully have more luck than she did at Windsor on her debut for us (fell...), and Paul and Susan Roy's homebred Major Maximus beginning his career in the 7 furlong maiden. 12 of 12 is not ideal - but at least he will have plenty of daylight....

Another long and busy day ahead - but we would all much prefer it this way. Busy is good.....      

September 24th

As dark as a very dark thing out there.....

A downtown Dunstall work morning. Friendly King, Heredias, Shut The Bar, Bugsys Boy, Harellie etc etc about to be loaded onto Ken Gamble's massive 11 berth lorry....

Bubbles there to be burst - let's hope not....

Ghufa ran well last night at Kempton. His first run in the ownership of milliner extraordinaire Cozmo Jenks. Ted Durcan happy with the horse - but bemoaning the lack of pace. He will have his days on the allweather through the winter. And I hope that there are many for him and the two jumping prospects on their way up from Cozmo's Dorset base - going to the races with her and her gang is going to be fun, fantastic, frantic and seriously entertaining (and only quite good for the liver....)

We will be adding a link to Cozmo's website shortly....

And back to Kempton tonight with two. Getting quickly back into the routine of the night time allweather....

September 23rd

Work mornings are a lot of fun. A degree of tension as we wait for bubbles to burst, but above all exciting to see horses progressing according to plan. We have a definitive plan for every horse. If this implies rigid inflexibility, that is not the case. But by creating realistic targets, we can tailor each horse's regime accordingly.

All the staff on the yard could run a marathon in 3 months time. But each would need a different training strategy. It is the same with horses. We have a training regime to fit all - but within that, there are numerous variables that apply to each individual. Some thrive on a lot of work - others resent being overfaced. The key, to my mind, is to train your horses on our terms - whilst allowing the horses the flexibility and freedom to show us what suits them best.....

We are very lucky to be on our own out here. Plenty of farmland and quiet country lanes to wander around - there will be days when the team just hack off around the place for an hour or two, never touching the gallops. Keep your horses in a relaxed and happy state of mind - and then they will relish rather than resent the increased workload required to get them to the Racecourse at peak fitness.

And feeding is another key. We feed our horses a lot - if that is what they want. Horses that are "good doers" give us more of a chance to up their work schedule - if they are eating well, they are taking their work well. Ant does a fantastic job being in charge of the feed - whilst the basic diet is pretty uniform dependent upon the stage of training a horse is at, there are many fine variables that can make the difference between finding a clean manger in the morning as opposed to one that has been "picked at"......

Happy, relaxed, well-fed and warm (if they need 3 rugs, they get 3 rugs) - key ingredients. You cannot make a slow horse fast - but you can give a horse every opportunity to attain it's maximum athletic capability. If that is not good enough, so be it - but at least there will no excuses.....

A few of the 2-year-olds on the cusp of their debuts. The Exceed and Excel filly that Angie Sykes bought us last October because she reminded us of Excellerator (Kummel Excess) pencilled in for Wolverhampton on Monday, Susan Roy's home-bred Domedriver heading to the same venue on Friday night, Alex Smith-Maxwell's Pastoral Pursuits aimed at Warwick on Tuesday....

Kenyan Cat in great order after her 100/1 debut third at Leicester, Sir Alex Ferguson's Paolini colt working tomorrow morning, Arik and Betty Rayzner from Israel getting ever nearer to seeing their 2-year-old make his debut, Chicita Banana and George Baker with targets this week, Firefly Mustique working well as he tries to put two disappointing runs behind him.....

A distinctly National Hunt feel to the day outside. But still a bit of Flat action to be got through before we polarise our minds on the jumping game (and the 9.20's at downtown Dunstall....??!!)   

September 22nd

One of those fascinating, paper-pushing, envelope opening, computer tapping days yesterday.....

The upside (one of the upsides, for there are many) of this "job" is that I get to see a lot of Barney and Tallulah. And yesterday, to break away from the paperwork mountain, I drove to Tysoe village school to pick up Tallulah. Tysoe has recently been put on the map by the arrival in it's midst of BBC Racing legend and top man Cornelius Lysaght - surely a shoo-in when the next round of voting for Church warden comes up....

On the way home, I asked Tallulah what she had learnt during the day (a fascinating line of questioning that has little deviation as the term rolls by, always followed by the "what did you have for lunch?"one). To my surprise, I thought she said "Bollocks, Dad"......

A little surprised by my "butter would not melt" daughter (actually, on reflection, of course it would melt....), I started to give her a "bollocking" about her language....

"No, stupid Daddy, not bollix, PHONICS......!!" We had hysterical giggles the rest of the way home...

A few changes going on around the yard. Some of the Flat team heading off on their holidays. But, luckily for us, an empty stable never remains as such for long. Two horses from an up and coming Welsh Trainer settling in well (I like the idea of "training for trainers"), and Sparkling Montjeu (short break in field) and Music Box Express (long break in field) back in as of yesterday afternoon...

There will be plenty more toing and froing in the weeks ahead as some head to the sales, and others home to their owners. Just hope that we can maintain the traffic back the other way....

A very amusing conversation with my great mate Kim Bailey last night, not entirely unconnected with the toing and froing (is that a real word....???) of racehorses. More to follow - although suffice to say that he is the beneficiary in this instance, even if I do use the word "beneficiary" in the loosest possible terms......

I gather from Kim that his Assistant Mat is one of the earlier readers of this blog. Morning Mat - whenever you want a proper job, give us a shout......!!!! 

September 21st

Not an auspicious weekend in terms of results - both Dontbugthebunny and Golden Feather well fancied, but failing to get involved.....

Yesterday's run by Golden Feather teaching us plenty about the horse, and we will move forward from this lowly beginning - the only way is up, hopefully.....

Uttoxeter bathed in glorious sunshine and, despite Feather's disappointing run, one of the most fun days I have spent on a Racecourse - or, to be specific, "Racecourse Car Park". Candida had put together a fantastic picnic. The rack of Lighthorne Lamb, still warm, a huge highlight. Paul Beck and his family with us, so too Ian "Wimby" Flanagan (do you remember him thrashing that Phillipoussis fella at Queens a while back...??) and his girlfriend Lucy. Patrick and Valerie back from their well-deserved holiday in Spain, Rebecca Curtis and her boyfriend Garrud joining us before and after saddling her runner.....

The weather positively "St Tropez". Our cars amongst the very last to leave. Some ridiculous sprint races instigated by Tallulah (1/10 already for next year's Sports day...) and Barney. A Foinavonesque moment involving Paul and Wimby....

If training a "pulled-up" can result in such a party, Lord knows what will happen if we are lucky enough to train Paul a winner....!!

Suffice to say, Feather, who was "murdered" on the turn away from the stands, is better than he showed yesterday and will bounce back from this. Many plans and tactics for him and Paul's four other horses that we train were discussed yesterday - a potentially very exciting quintet....

A quiet couple of days on the runners front. A few of the 2-year-olds on the cusp of a debut run, others turned away already for the Winter, the jumping team coming to the fore. Exciting times. I love Autumn. I hope that it proves a lucky season for us, both on the track and in the Sales ring where we will be seeking out some exciting additions to the team...

One in the horsebox to Uttoxeter. Three on the way home. We now train two for an up and coming Welsh trainer. Pressure....!!

September 19th

Ayr Gold Cup Day. What fun it would be to have a runner. I remember vividly Lochsong storming home in this race under a 7 pound claimer (I think he was called Francis Arrowsmith), and for some reason it has always been a good race for me on the punting front. Nowadays, Group horses masquerading as Handicappers seems to be a pretty effective mantra in these big handicaps - I will be backing something at the top of the weights....

Pitch, pitch black out there. In stark contrast to the pictures of Bart Cummings being interviewed at Rosehill in New South Wales on ATR right now. Bright sunshine and clearly a gorgeous Spring day.  Not difficult to see why Mark Wallace found the racing scene down under so alluring - I wonder how he is doing? I saw his brother Paddy recently who told me that his first two runners were beaten in photo finishes under Kerrin McEvoy - I am sure the first winners are on the board by now....

Whilst the more established teams head to Ayr and Newbury, it is back to downtown Dunstall for us tonight in search of another notch on the scoreboard. Dontbugthebunny looking to give Jerry Jamgotchian a second winner in the space of 3 days. She is quite a flighty filly, but hopefully by saddling her in the stables and walking her to the start (that will be Patrick, not me...??!!) we can keep a lid on her fiery temperament...

And then to Uttoxeter tomorrow with Golden Feather, our first runner for Paul and Rachel Beck. Uttoxeter always well supported and busy. We will be having a picnic (forecast - "sunny intervals") in the car park, some racks of local Lighthorne Lamb to look forward to....

Finally, there have been some moving and eloquent tributes to Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson in recent days. I saw a transcript of the oration delivered at Jamie's funeral by Tom Ryan - as expected, a brilliantly crafted, evocative and emotive piece. Neither rode for us, but it was clear that they had the talent to go far. Desperately sad. And yet another signal, as if we needed it, that every day is for living to the max, as we never know what is around the corner.....