hitting the crossbar..

Isla Pearl Fisher (pictured) put up a much improved effort to finish 4th of 9 at Carlisle on Thursday, after a few sketchy jumps early on he seemed to settle into a rhythm and hopefully he is now getting the hang of the job, we will look for a suitable handicap for him. After IPF's race I walked the course and found the ground rough and inconsistent so chickened out of running Four Fiddlers, I took a bit of flak but its important to follow one's convicitions in these circumstances. On Saturday at the Buccleuch p2p we had plenty of potential drama with Uncle Jamie riding and Lucy taking 3 outside rides, Almost Blue ran very well for Jamie considering he had been confined to his stable for most of the week, they finished a close 3rd, Lucy had two seconds, on Lesley Cottage in the Mares Maiden and Floreana in the Ladies Open, the latter just beaten a head. She then followed her Uncle home on Sorkatcheguy in the NPPA race to finish a good 5th after a two year absence. Luckily the main drama of the afternoon involved Mrs A leaving her binoculars in the Ladies loo, fortunately they were re-united by the end of the day.

This week we will sadly not be making our annual pilgrimage to the Cotswolds, we hope to have a couple of important runners at Hexham on Thursday if there is a little rain (Seeking Power and Native Coll) and at this stage there is little time to take the eye off the ball. Following that we should be represented at Lanark on Saturday and perhaps Newcastle on the same day, thereafter it is Carlisle next Sunday and Kelso on Monday.

Well, what's going to win at Cheltenham? who knows but spring like conditions could turn a lot of recent form on its head, either way I like the chances of Somersby and Khyber Kim on Tuesday and later that afternoon David Pipe's "banker" The Package might get a fright from Calgary Bay. If one wanted to oppose the awesome Dunguib in the opener then Oscar Whisky might be the one and in the Mares race later Voler la Vedette could upset her compatriot favourite Quevega. On Wednesday Diamond Harry might be good value to overturn the Henderson hotpots in the RSA Chase and everyone in the North will be hoping Kalahari King can lift the Champion Chase.... hmm that's a few trainers' weeks ruined having had the NWA kiss of death, win or lose let's hope for a great week's racing and all home safe and sound....

the week rolls on

Papamoa made a most encouraging racecourse debut on Tuesday finishing 5th of 14 with some decent horses behind him. Seeking Power decided to have a sore foot and was lame so he didn't run, he appears sound now though. It is too late to have him ready for Ayr on Saturday so he will revert to his original target at Hexham next Thursday, a little precipitation would help.

Today two go to Carlisle, Isla Pearl Fisher runs in the 3.15, Adrian Lane rides, 9 run and the ground is good to soft. He has little chance at the weights but the key with him is to give him more education over fences and Carlisle ought to be the perfect place for that job. Later in the day we run Four Fiddlers (pictured) in the bumper at 5.15, Lucy rides and 18 run, could be a bit of a stampede and lots of top stables are represented. I bought this horse expensively as a yearling (though not for as much as it says in today's paper!) with a view to trading him on unbroken, as happens he received a kick to the head whilst I was laid up with my broken leg two years ago. Due to go the esteemed Derby Sale in Ireland the consignor's vet said he would never be able to breath properly (and therefore race) so he was duly withdrawn from the sale. There was however no case for humane destruction so we were left with him, thank goodness for that as he is as nice a horse as I have ever had anything to do with, he has it all - looks, temperament, an engine and he jumps, all he needs now is luck.

He won't be as tuned up as the horses from the "bumper" stables so today is very much about learning, I hope he will run a nice race though,I should add that I will walk the course at Carlisle and if it isn't proper good to soft ground he will be withdrawn.

Oh dear...

well, the only horse that ran below expectations at the weekend was the one owned by Mrs A, Commercial Express, hmm, clearly not as fit as trainer thought, "ground" said he, luckily we travelled to Alnwick in seperate cars... later in the afternoon Almost Blue put up a decent effort on ground far softer than he would have liked to come 2nd in the Men's Open. On Saturday Native Coll ran a good race to finish a close 5th, he was 10lb "wrong" and should go well when back in his own grade. Skipping Chapel ran slightly better than at Catterick on Tuesday, he has his problems now though.
Tomorrow we hope to run Seeking Power in the 3.20 at Newcastle, he will need to get over a last minute problem though, we will see in the morning, 5 run, Lucy rides and the ground will be holding, despite the low numbers it's competitive with 4 of the 5 winning last time and its a big step up in class, tomorrow looks tough but I do think he can progress further in the right conditions. Papamoa then makes his long awaited debut in the 5.20, Graham Lee rides and 14 run. This is a lovely young horse, the weather has played havoc with his preparation but I am happy with him now.
Later in the week we hope to be represented at Carlisle on Thursday, Ayr on Friday, perhaps Ayr on Saturday and also at the point-to-point at Kelso on Saturday so let's hope we keep busy...

Busy weekend (we hope)

Weather permitting we will have a busy time this weekend starting with Native Coll in the 1.55 at Kelso, he's a bit wrong at the weights and its a step up in class but I have been longing to run him over fences at Kelso which I think will suit him and frankly, with the weather still dodgy, I am going to grab any chance I can to get him on the track. 8 run, the ground will be gluey and Adrian Lane rides. Skipping Chapel makes a quick reappearance in the 3.00 after his disappointing trip to Catterick on Tuesday, he pulled too hard there and didn't see out the trip, to be honest we are only running because we sponsor the race and I was disappointed to see only 4 runners originally declared, they re-opened it and I declared him because the prize money is excellent and he seems well. 5 now run and Fearghal Davies rides. We hope to run Almost Blue in the Hunter Chase, I say hope because I wasn't quite sure about him today and I need to see how he is in the morning, if he does make it Jamie will ride and 5 will run, one of which, Robert Miller-Bakewell's Know the Ropes will be ridden by Lucy.
After a quiet night at the Ednam House Old Peoples Home in Kelso we will then head to Alnwick on Sunday where Kit is due to ride Commercial Express for his Mother, Mrs A, this horse is really bouncing and I am hopeful that he will run well.
As we are sponsoring a race Kelso Racecourse is kindly providing us with a box for the afternoon, I think it's known as the Duke's room, if anyone feels thirsty then please come and join us for a drink....
N

a little self-indulgence....

after escaping the frost last week it has been disappointing to lose the point-to-point at Alnwick today and I am afraid I have been a little self-indulgent by publishing various photographs below of our success on Thursday.
We hope to be racing again at Carlisle tomorrow when Papamoa is due to make his racecourse debut, he has been declared to run several times over the past couple of months, he seems well but as with the rest of them it is difficult to tell exactly where we are fitness-wise. 17 run and amongst them will be daughter Lucy partnering the Normile's point-to-point winner Barrhead which is also making its debut under rules. I am delighted that she is picking up one or two outside rides now on such nice horses as this and the Boswell's Floreanna, it is so good of them to give her a chance and I am sure she will justify the confidence they are showing in her. Later in the week we have a few entries at Ayr on Thursday but at this stage I think Almost Blue is the only likely runner.
We have had many gratefully received messages of congratulations from a huge variety of sources since Thursday and I am only slightly apologetic for putting the series of self-explanatory pictures below on the blog, I don't suppose I will often breed the winning horse (in partnership with brother Jamie and Stan) and the winning rider (in a slightly different sort of partnership with Mrs A), I won't bore you yet with some of the myriad of stories that have accrued about this particular animal but he was the horse that lost his bridle last March in a point-to-point and bolted prior to burying Lucy in a barbed-wire fence, with hindsight he was probably quite a "good thing" that day...

A red letter day...

well, how about that, after what has frankly been a miserable winter Kelso yet again produced a moment of magic when Lucy drove the giant Seeking Power clear to win the 3m Handicap Chase. It was her first ride over fences (apart from one circuit in a Hunter Chase on Wise Man when she was 16) and only the horse's second run over fences, we were taking a chance by going into a competitive 16 runner handicap with such an inexperienced pairing and this was reflected in his odds of 40-1 but it was exactly the sort of contest I had planned to find for the horse, we had been looking since mid-December and I am just delighted that racing beat the frost and we were blessed with the required luck in running. It was wonderful for Lucy to record her first win against the professionals (all male!) in front of the usual appreciative and enthusiastic crowd that Kelso attracts.
It was down to earth with a bump in the next though when she parted company with Floreanna (for the Boswell stable in Northumberland) in an eventful Hunter Chase, then in the closing bumper Fearless Footsteps ran much better than on her debut but she needs to progress again if she is going to make the grade. Earlier in the afternoon Isla Pearl Fisher made his debut for the stable under Fearghal Davies, it was his first run over fences and he didn't jump nearly as well as he does at home which was a little disappointing but he got round to finish 4th and will be seen in much better light in handicap company, he enjoyed himself and learnt a lot which was the main point of the exercise.
The horses have generally been running well all week, Native Coll (Fearghal Davies) started the ball rolling with a 5th of 14 at Newcastle on Tuesday, an excellent effort in very testing conditions after 15 months off. Skipping Chapel (Fearghal Davies) came 4th on the same card, again tiring in the home straight on the heavy ground and then on Wednesday Forcefield (Lucy) made a most encouraging racecourse debut to finish a good fifth in the bumper at Musselburgh.
Beating the weather has been the story of the week and that looks like continuing over the weekend; we hope to run Almost Blue and Commercial Express at Alnwick on Sunday and then Papamoa at Carlisle on Monday but the forecast is very dodgy so we will have to wait and see...

While the cat's away....

It may appear that I have been rather quiet lately, this is because Mrs D (Mrs A's mother-in-law) told me to shut up until I had something a little more cheerful to say, well, Mrs D has dragged Mr D off to somewhere in darkest Africa and I will therefore take the opportunity to stick my head over the parapet.
It has continued to be a most frustrating period with two thirds of the racing in the North since early December being abandoned (statistics courtesy http://www.lucindarussell.com/), the weather has made it impossible to build any sort of continuity into the horses' training schedules let alone their racing. Every time we think we are about to get going again the weather closes in so I disclose our many plans for the coming week with a certain amount of trepidation...
WEATHER PERMITTING, Native Coll will run at Newcastle on Tuesday, a course & distance winner he has been off since injuring himself at Carlisle in November 2008, it's a long time off for a big horse like him but he is as fit as we can get him at home and he seems well. His younger brother Skipping Chapel is likely to join him; we might run Forcefield at Musselburgh on Wednesday and Isla Pearl Fisher, Seeking Power, Fearless Footsteps and possibly Almost Blue at Kelso on Thursday. Hopefully we will also be represented at the Alnwick point-to-point next Sunday and Carlisle on Monday 22nd, plenty to look forward to if the weather behaves.
I have been quietly updating the website with news of what runners we have had, suffice it to say they haven't exactly been starring but we were delighted last weekend when Lucy had her first winner for an outside stable when picking up a spare ride on Floreanna in the Ladies Open at the Jedforest, it was a decent little race and she got back up in a blanket finish to win by two short heads; with luck she will retain the ride and the horse will reappear either under rules at Kelso on Thursday or at Alnwick on Sunday.
Mrs A has been playing her usual starring role; she was quite challenged this week though when a bay horse galloped back into the yard, fully tacked up but riderless, she caught the steaming beast but had no idea which horse it was or which stable it lived in. Oblivious to this drama, I was changing for a meeting; glancing out of the window I did wonder why brother Jamie was walking up the drive without his steed, the talented but fragile French bred Noir et Vert (ex Ferdy Murphy & a lovely propect for Hunter chasing), he seems to be Francois' favourite horse, funny that...