phew...

.. after longer than I care to remember we were back with a winner yesterday when Contendo won the 11 runner Maiden race at Lanark, idling in front he prevailed by 3/4 of a length from the hot favourite confirming the promise shown a few weeks ago. He was named "Contendo" (which means "to strive/struggle/hasten" in Latin - his sire is Classic Cliche) by daughter Lucy when she was studying Latin at school a few years ago and whilst I'm not sure he has always lived up to his name it was thoroughly appropriate that she was on board for his first victory, hopefully he can progress from here now the penny has finally dropped. (2nd left below - he looks bored...)

Otherwise it was a mixed sort of day, Almost Blue put up a very promising effort in the opener, catching the eye with late progress to finish a close-up 5th of 13. Foodbroker Founder also put up a decent effort (and his first clear round over fences) to finish a close 5th in a high class Ladies Open and will be seen to much better effect when the ground dries up further. Smart Cavalier led them a merry dance in the Men's Open before fitness told 3 out, he will come on for the run and may make a quick reappearance at Kelso on Saturday. Torche unfortunately burst a blood vessel in the final race on the card, this is not the easiest thing to remedy but I will do my best.
We are unlikely to have any other runners this week unless it rains whereby we may be represented at the Tynedale point-to-point at Corbridge in Northumberland....

N

yo ho ho...

...it's off to Ayr we go today where Whispering Moor runs for the Stanistreets in the 2.10, Fearghal Davies rides, 12 run and the ground will be soft and sticky. It's not a perfect race for him in that it is back over hurdles and it's 2m4f rather than 3m but I felt it was the best race on the card for him and I was hesitant about running him over 3 miles as he might just be a little stuffy after the fortnight's freeze up; he's had plenty of work this week though and I hope he will run a decent race to give the stable (and owner!) a boost after such a frustrating winter.

We also hope to have a handful of runners at the Dumfriesshire point-to-point on Sunday which has been relocated to Lanark this year, the horses all seem in good order and may have benefitted from an enforced relaxation in their schedule due to the weather; the team here did a marvellous job whilst we were enjoying -25c in the Alps, about half a metre of snow fell producing fantastic conditions but golly it was cold......

N

PS the aptly named Northern Dusk is in great form after a short lay-off and will hopefully make his racecourse debut soon. He's a lovely horse with a good pedigree, we've been very patient with him and he is showing plenty of ability, the sort of horse to keep a trainer awake at night!

all fired up....

for the first time this season the weather has started to beat us and it is only possible to canter steadily on the "all-weather" so last night we organised ourselves for an early morning sortie to the beach at St Andrews for a serious workout... however it started snowing as I fed the horses just after 6 and by 7.30 things were clearly a "no-go"

tempted as I was to give it a try I opted for more of the slow steady work at home, yet another wintry morning....

Who knows what is going to happen on the racing front but we have Smart Cavalier entered at Musselburgh on Wednesday, Whispering Moor at Kelso on Thursday and the point-to-pointers at Alnwick on Sunday 15th. We are heading to the Alps tomorrow for 5 days skiing which seems quite a sensible thing to do in the circumstances though the forecast tells me to expect -22c tomorrow night.. brrrrrrr.

turning the corner?

the point-to-point season kicked off yesterday with good competitive racing at Kelso in remarkably benign conditions. Although we didn't come home with much I was delighted with our three runners; Torche ran a very solid race for brother Jamie in a high class Mens Open race, he was lying in 4th (of about 16) and closing on the leaders when J felt him take a couple of false strides so quickly pulled him up, he seems fine though and this was a most encouraging effort. Contendo ran in the "Restricted" race with Lucy on board, there were about 14 runners and he was moving up nicely through the field alongside the eventual winner (well done Cornelius!) when he was brought down 6 out, Lucy took a bit of a kicking but was most encouraged by the way the horse jumped and travelled. She also rode Seeking Power in the Maiden and finished 4th of 16, not beaten far this was most encouraging for his first race for 2 years. Most importantly for me though, the horses proved themselves fit and healthy and I needed what I was seeing at home confirmed on the track.







The grannies appeared to have found something to smile about.....

....not so sure about the anxious parents briefing the jockey












it may only be 4th in a maiden point-to-point but it was a relief to be back in the winner's enclosure with our old friend Seeking Power.....

This week we may be in action at Carlisle on Wednesday though I suspect the weather will play havoc across the country