Boom boom

Sydney Cove

The little fish are sweet, as the great WA Stephenson said as he watched The Thinker win the Cheltenham Gold Cup from his beloved Hexham, and right now for me there is no little fish sweeter than Sydney Cove who battled bravely to win his first race today under Keith Mercer.  Sheikh Mohammed bred "Sydney" and until today he has lived very much in the shadow of his Group winning siblings but, whilst it was a lowly race, I can assure you the pleasure he gave his connections today will have matched anything his illustrious brothers have achieved.  It is deeply rewarding to win a race with a horse other trainers have given up on and Lisa Ogilvie deserves credit for giving this horse another chance to shine and taking time to work him out; another colourful chapter in the book could be written, it was a team effort and particular credit should go to our physios Grania and Gillian as well as Gemma and Lucy who have done most of the work with him at home, he is not straightforward! It was of course a shame that Lucy was not on board and therefore all the more pleasing that she had a good winner later in the afternoon on Danny John Boy,  I was on my way home by then but am hoarse from shouting at my hands free as "Tommo" called her home, haven't seen it yet but it sounded like a tremendous ride, something to enjoy this evening when the "man from Beijing" arrives.  It is also worth pointing out (and I hope the owners won't mind) that the last three horses to win for this stable have cost an average of just under £2500......   

Four Fiddlers

Tomorrow we run Four Fiddlers for Dan and Michelle Macdonald in the 12.25 at Kelso, Lucy rides, 14 run, ground easy side of good, this is a decent horse but this looks competitive and I am uncertain whether the extended trip will be a help or hindrance........ will know tomorrow!