And now....

Musselburgh jumping season begins, 5 runners tomorrow and logistics part of my brain overheating.  The groudn should be on the easy side of good and we kick off with two runners in the 1pm, King Brex is creeping down the handicap should enjoy the better ground and Kit rides; Goldtrek has been an enigma so far this season as I am certainly not getting the best out of her, I have changed a few things since she ran at Kelso a month or so ago, tomorrow we will find out if they have had any effect!

Goldtrek

We then run Issabella Gem in the 2pm, Lucy rides and 10 run, this is her third quick run and I whilst I expect her to continue to improve I suspect we won't see the best of her until  she goes handicapping.  Then in the 3.30 we run Or de Grugy (Lucy) and 10 run, I think he remains well treated but don't think he will really enjoy the faster Musselburgh pace, its an open enough race though and he goes there with a good chance.  As an afterthought I declared Commercial Express for the 4pm, Kit rides, 9 run.  Lucy also rides Captain Baldwin in the 1.30, Angel Sun in the 2.30 and Laybach in the 4pm.  Logistics now sorted and a mere 4 vehicles travelling from Kinneston to Musselburgh, Mrs A ferrying the jocks (Kit coming by train from Durham), two lorries and Trainer on his lonesome, no doubt my phone will keep me company.....

Or de Grugy leads the way at his beloved Kelso

And now....

Musselburgh jumping season begins, 5 runners tomorrow and logistics part of my brain overheating.  The groudn should be on the easy side of good and we kick off with two runners in the 1pm, King Brex is creeping down the handicap should enjoy the better ground and Kit rides; Goldtrek has been an enigma so far this season as I am certainly not getting the best out of her, I have changed a few things since she ran at Kelso a month or so ago, tomorrow we will find out if they have had any effect!

Goldtrek

We then run Issabella Gem in the 2pm, Lucy rides and 10 run, this is her third quick run and I whilst I expect her to continue to improve I suspect we won't see the best of her until  she goes handicapping.  Then in the 3.30 we run Or de Grugy (Lucy) and 10 run, I think he remains well treated but don't think he will really enjoy the faster Musselburgh pace, its an open enough race though and he goes there with a good chance.  As an afterthought I declared Commercial Express for the 4pm, Kit rides, 9 run.  Lucy also rides Captain Baldwin in the 1.30, Angel Sun in the 2.30 and Laybach in the 4pm.  Logistics now sorted and a mere 4 vehicles travelling from Kinneston to Musselburgh, Mrs A ferrying the jocks (Kit coming by train from Durham), two lorries and Trainer on his lonesome, no doubt my phone will keep me company.....

Or de Grugy leads the way at his beloved Kelso

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Farewell, wet August (and google blogger)

So, August ends, a chill in the air, autumn mists, horses hungry and aggressive at breakfast time.  Builders finished (for now!), gallop and schools all sorted, website complete, new software up and running, stables full, youngest back to school - times move on, busy but lots to look forward to and forecast set fair.
Routine work this morning, mostly on the all-weather, final spin on some of the grass before it was harrowed twice and top-dressed with seed in some areas, will be rolled and given a little tickle of fertilizer over the weekend then rested for a month, badly need the weather forecast to be correct or it will be all-weather only! Schooling fences and hurdles scheduled to go out early next week but been giving them plenty of jumping in the school this week, most particularly yesterday when Here's to Harry, Papamoa, Spinning Away, Buffalo Ballet, Elmaatigra, Issabella Gem, Makhzoon, Bertie Milan and Academy did lots showing varying degrees of competence, all going well in the end though!

Lucy on Lillioftheballet, how many "Dregs" will make it to "Rasen"

Lucy in action at Market Rasen tomorrow where she rides Altnaharra in the 4.45, Lillioftheballet in the 5.20, Carrietau in the 6.25 and Toshi in the 6.55.
Well, here endeth the grillionth blog on "google blogger"- from tomorrow I will be boring you via a new platform which will also form the core of the new website.  The latter is still slightly a work in progress so please bear with us and also any technical hitches I may have with "wordpress" - if you want to continue following there will be an opportunity to register on the site to be alerted when it is updated and I will also continue to alert via facebook and twitter.
If you decide that this is the perfect excuse to cease reading my drivel then I don't blame you and thank you for being with me so far.... however, be aware, the story is only just beginning........

Wet Wednesday

Rain again today and log burner looking tempting from the other end of the office but it's still August and heartened by the forecast.  Weather induced focus on the all-weather and schools today, although we haven't been on the main grass gallops yet the other areas have taken a bit of a hammering so plans are in hand to repeat the normal spring restoration work later this week and then rest them for a month, hopefully before too long we should have some stubble to use and if the forecast is correct the riverbank should be back in action again next week.

Of course there's nothing wrong with the all-weather, 90% of racehorses in training never use anything else, I think it's just me that gets a bit bored and prefers to throw in a bit of variety.  No runners planned over jumps until the end of September, perhaps the odd foray on the flat before then.  An average sort of evening at Sedgefield yesterday for Lucy, two also rans and a fall from a 100-1 chasing debutant, not ideal, today she heads to Catterick where she rides Tongalooma in the 5.10, a sprint on the flat, thereafter it looks like being Market Rasen on Saturday.

Monday

A fine Sunday here yesterday and OK so far this morning but a wet and windy afternoon in store.  A quiet-ish Sunday, making plans, shuffling horses around, working on the new website hoping we will be ready for 1st September launch.  Quick trip into Edinburgh to drop Kit at station, assuming he found his way there he is due to start work this morning for Nicky Henderson, a month's secondment, hopefully he will come home armed with new ideas, his mathematical brain has been usefully deployed here recently with the assistance of GPS and heart-rate equipment, some interesting analysis emerging, you never know - I might end up being able to tell when a horse is fit!
A rare chance to read the Sunday papers, the two Golf Clubs which are unfortunate enough to have me as a member are coming in for quite a lot of flak regarding their male only membership policy; this is only likely to intensify in the lead up to the 2013 Open at Muirfield, it's a very tricky issue and I don't envy those on the relevant committees.  One hates seeing the Members being portrayed as a bunch of  neolithic misogynists but  they shouldn't be forced to have an any sex policy just because they happen to play golf, it would need to be applied across the board which would have implications for many other institutions.  I wonder what would happen if an existing male member had a sex change operation, at what particular point would they no longer be admitted to the changing room?  Must have a look at the Club Rules, not that I am planning anything of course!  Personally, whilst I don't necessarily agree with it, change is inevitable at some stage and Clubs might be better to be proactive before they find themselves backed into a corner.

Fleet Fox

Some jumping this morning for Buffalo Ballet, Four Fiddlers, Papamoa, Issabella Gem, Makhzoon and Fleet Fox, others in the schools and on the all-weather. Cartmel abandoned today, Sunderland home game abandoned on Saturday but 15 miles down the road they are watering at Sedgefield for their meeting tomorrow - such is the nature of this barmy climate, Lucy is there to ride Word of Warning in the 4.40, Itstooearly in the 5.10 and Isitcozimcool in the 6.10, the last evening meeting of the year, so that was summer...

Boots and things...

A lot of things have made me happy this week but none more so than Teddy Grimthorpe's report in the Racing Post that Henry Cecil ate a lobster, a grouse, and even pudding in his box at York after Frankel's win on Wednesday. I think everyone was a little taken aback at how ravaged by illness he looked, but he has been there before and we can only pray that his fortitude will once again see him through.  I was also happy to hear that Sir Henry had bought some sets of the extremely expensive equine boots for soft tissue therapy that I rather nervously bought at Blair Castle International  Horse Trials yesterday.  Almost as expensive as the boots that I bought for myself, dangerous place for the wallet.  Also happy with the state of the horses that have stepped up to full work, they seem healthy and strong, a few more stepping up next week.

On the Riverbank

Some of the new boxes

Happy to have six new stables finished, an excellent job and a bit of a queue waiting to take occupancy, added to this week by Back on the Road, a grand type who has come over from Ireland and will point-to-point and Hunter Chase for brother Jamie.  Happy to have a big stack of haylage and a shed full of hay, miraculous considering what the weather has thrown at us; even this week it has rained every day in one way or another, the farm is sodden, harvest looms.

Horses grazing with cattle at a soggy Kinneston