summer days...

summer days are here, the cattle are on the high hills and the horses are completely zoned out enjoying the exceptional spell of weather; eating, sleeping and looking fantastic.  All the staff are on holiday so it is just me looking after 30 or so horses, its very easy as I only give them a bowl of oats in the field each morning and I have to say I find it a hugely enjoyable time of year, just being out with them at that time of day is a joy, I love watching them mooching around, needless to say my mind buzzing with plans for each of them.  

Not much more rest though as this weeekend we will be bringing in five young horses to break and five of the "larger" types to start some pre-season exercise, plan is to start riding again later in July with a view to having most of the horses ready at the end of September.  I am please to have been able to place the horses that won't be in training here again next season for various reasons in good homes and it looks as though we will have a team of ten to run under rules and six to go point-to-pointing later in the winter.

Although there are obviously no runners from here Lucy is keeping busy and is riding Perez for Wilf Storey in the 7pm at Hamilton tomorrow evening, she is keen to keep her hand in and is flying over from Ballydoyle in Tipperary where she is working for Aidan O'Brien

Breakfast of course sometimes must be shared.......

Age

One of the more irritating aspects of having two children and a brother riding in point-to-points is that an increasing number of people seem to think that my 45 year old brother is actually my son; people are frequently saying to him "can you ask your Dad to..." and so on which of course causes him huge delight. Well, I am pleased to report that brother Michael's intelligent and astute au pair was recently asked to estimate which of the four of us was the eldest etc, she decided that brother David, 42 tomorrow, was the eldest and that I, 49 on Monday, was the youngest - tee, hee - so there!

Providing the forecast rain arrives we will run Native Coll (pictured on the riverbank gallop this morning) in the 7pm at Cartmel tomorrow evening, 10 run and Adrian Lane rides. It's a step up in trip but I think it will suit him and he should go well if he handles the track, funfair and estimated 20,000 spectators. It is a little concern that he hasn't run since 3rd April due to the dry weather but he seems fit and well. On Sunday we will be heading to the final point-to-point of the season at Hexham where Commercial Express, Almost Blue and Noir et Vert will hopefully run........ have a good weekend.......

phew...

isn't life tough... well it was when this son of Midnight Legend was born a mere seven weeks ago in the worst April blizzard in living memory, he will be named Easter Tempest. It's hard to believe we are living on the same planet as I sit here in my office gently perspiring and most of the horses laze in the fields.
Almost Blue wasn't competitive at Kelso on Wednesday, he will now have a full MOT before going to grass and hopefully we will be able to pinpoint exactly what has ailed him this season. Our next runners are likely to be at Hexham on Sunday 30th and that will be just about it apart from a possible trip to Cartmel if the weather breaks.
Fortunately Lucy is doing rather better than her Father, finishing a close 3rd on Floreanna at Kelso on Wednesday (at 40-1!) prior to a good 4th at Wetherby yesterday. It's non-stop though and today she has flown to Paris where she will be representing GB in an 18 runner "Nations Cup" 1 mile flat race at Maisons-Laffite tomorrow, it will be her first ride on the flat and promises to be an entertaining experience with jockeys from all over the world taking part. Sadly I wasn't invited as chaperone but will be taking a few days off to face some self-examination on the golf course, initially at Muirfield and thereafter joining Murray Keith's (in)famous Canon tour for more humiliation at Portrush. Need to do my packing - alka seltzer, neurofen, gaviscon, hay fever stuff, blister treatments...etc etc.. a portable chemists shop by the time I've finished, not to forget golf clubs and of course, lots & lots of balls........

Today...

..we run Almost Blue in the 5.05 at Kelso, 13 run, Jamie rides and the ground will be on the quick side. He won this race last year but this looks more competitive and he hasn't yet shown the same form this season; however he ran better than the bare result suggests last time and he was doing his best work at the end, he's proven on the track and the ground so I hope he won't be too far away. This will be the horse's 25th race, he has won 4 times, been second 6 times and third 4 times... let's hope he goes well. Jamie will certainly be trying hard but so will everyone else, particularly his niece Lucy who is riding Floreanna for the Boswells - she won on this game mare earlier in the season but she has looked a little quircky recently, again, let's hope they go well. Lucy then heads to Wetherby tomorrow to ride Fly Tipper for Wilf Storey in the 4.15.

Isla Pearl Fisher

Dennis Penny of www.pennypictures.co.uk sent me these shots of Isla Pearl Fisher at Perth this week, he has come out of his race well and I imagine will now have a shortish break before being prepared for an autumn campaign over fences, he should be a good prospect in 2m4f - 3m handicap chases on decent ground, fingers crossed!

Here endeth...

...the 2009/10 jump season, well, it did on Saturday afternoon. There is no doubt it was a tough season, the weather took the heart out of the season really but I can remember setting myself some targets in public in mid-January when I rather optimistically thought the worst of the winter was over. I wanted 50 more runners before the end of the season with 20% in the first two and 50% in the first four - how did we do - hmm, I shall immediately make the excuse that the weather caused much further mayhem with abandonments stretching even into April but I don't think we did too badly in the circumstances, we sent out 47 runners 8 of which were in the first two (17%) and 17 in first four (36%) and I must add we had no fewer than eight 5ths. For the season as a whole, 2 winners and 8 seconds from 66 runners, it would have been nice if it had been the other way round! For the new season what targets should I set, not sure as we don't really know which horses we will have but to concentrate the mind I think I should set a pre-Xmas target as historically it always seems to have taken me until Xmas to get going and that is something I would like to change - how about 30 runners before Xmas with 20% first two and 50% first four - we'll see how we go.....

Sorry if that's all rather boring (what's new?), we did end up having a busy weekend starting in the rain at Perth on Friday evening where Forcefield put in a good effort to come 2nd in the Bumper with his debutant stable companion Northern Flame a most encouraging 4th. Over to Balcormo on Saturday where Almost Blue put his lacklustre effort on Thursday behind him to finish 2nd in the Members giving the winner 7lb, Whispering Moor gave Kit a great spin for two circuits in the same race but tired badly and was pulled up two out. Lucy was then a close 2nd in the Restricted on Amour Daria (for the Waltons), Kit 2nd in the Men's Open on Commercial Express (giving 7lb to a horse that was completing a six-timer - something wrong there), Lucy 4th on Foodbroker Founder in the Ladies Open and 3rd in the Maiden on Amulree who at last showed us some ability again. The rain softened ground encouraged plenty of runners and I think I can say it was the best racing seen at Fife for many years, however that's far too many 2nds but no winners; so, horses running well but not quite winning, excuses aplenty but frustrating all the same.

That was nothing compared with what was to come on Sunday though, Lucy went to Wetherby to take a ride in a hurdle on a 50-1 shot for a trainer who rang her up out of the blue; it belied its odds and was 15 lengths clear of the field when it tried to run out and slammed on the brakes at the second last dumping her in front of the hurdle, it's momentum was such that it then appeared to kick her over the hurdle prior to jumping it and landing on her, this all happened in a split second and made most disconcerting viewing from my armchair (roast beef indigestion ensued!) - elation that she was going to ride a winner, followed by horror as she falls then relief as the cameras look back up the home straight to see her on her feet, all this within about 15 seconds and all I can do is sit and stare at the television. She arrived home at about 9.30pm; tired, but fortunate to be in one piece though quite badly bruised.

This week we hope to have a runner or two at Kelso on Wednesday evening, Hexham on Saturday evening and at the Lauderdale p2p on Sunday; at the same time starting to turn some horses away for the summer with the first going to grass by the end of the week (sounds quite appealing to me...)

Busy Weekend (I hope..)

Almost Blue galloping in splendid isolation past Scone Palace at Perth yesterday (picture courtesy of Dennis Penny), sadly at the back of the field, it was another lacklustre effort, it may have been the tacky ground but I feel there is something niggling him this season, he will be thoroughly checked out this morning but if nothing comes to light he may well re-appear tomorrow in the Members race at the Balcormo point-t0-point.
Today at Perth we run two in the bumper at 5.20, 9 run and the ground is on the easy side of good; Northern Flame makes his racecourse debut, he is a smashing long term prospect and today will be all about showing him what goes on, he will learn and we will learn. He has loads of ability but has been slow to come to hand, Campbell Gillies rides. We also run Forcefield with Lucy on top, he has had a couple of bumpers not progressing as much as I would have liked between them, I think it was probably because we hadn't done enough with him due to the weather - no excuse this time!
Tomorrow we should be well represented at Balcormo for our local point-to-point; Whispering Moor runs for the Stanistreets in the Members (first race, 2pm) with Kit on top, he seems exceptionally well and might be joined by Uncle Jamie on Almost Blue. We then intend to run Foodbroker Founder in the Ladies Open, Noir et Vert in the Mens Open, Commercial Express in the Club race and Amulree in the young horse Maiden.... it should be a good day and there is a very competitive pony race lined up to start proceedings at 1.30pm, hopefully see some of you there.