And soup. Up the A3 and around the M25. In thick fog…

A red sun struggling…

And then prevailing. The stolen hours of dawn. When most folk with any iota of sense are still deep in sleep. Sensibly…

But…

Those whose alarms do not rage away with the big figure being 5 at this time of year are missing out. White chill across lawns and cricket pitches and pastures green. Proper ice in the early breeze, but that red sun rising and bringing with it warmth and the promise of a brighter day ahead. Weekend morning roads are a joy to navigate. Stay sleeping sleepy heads…

Gallopers galloping before 7. Workers of the dawn. Under gin clear skies criss crossed with busy vapour trails headed near and very far…

Work mornings always come with the added frisson. Sometimes a little tense. Fingers crossed and hands clenched tight as gallopers fly by. Getting there. Final touches. Plenty of entries upcoming. Fill up those diesel tanks….

“Busman’s…….”

A gorgeous evening yesterday. And so we headed to Fontwell. Middle of the course. Summer jumping. Properly warm in the sun. Live sport…

The last day of the National Hunt season. The Whitbread at Sandown. It is, of course, not The Whitbread – the Bet365. Which has a different ring to it…

Dan Skelton crowned Champion, and all credit to him and his team having been mugged by Willie in sight of the winning line in recent years…

A runner for us tomorrow. DESERT COP (Charlie Bishop) to Nottingham. Which should have been Epsom but is not for a reason or three. Marginally less convenient ?! But fast ground is key to this lad, and so we will fire up the engines and head north…

I have posted this more than once before. But “Whitbread” weekend is hard to pass without reflecting again on one of the greatest races of my lifetime. Not a dry eye….

Drought conditions….

In Tamworth. New South Wales. Their website tells me that they have manicured lawns and rose gardens. I hope that they have been well watered because the centre of the track is burnt brown…

Early days – but farmer friends in Sussex throwing the words “drought conditions” into conversations. Already. It is still only April…

“Good to Firm” appearing in several going descriptions. Unsurprisingly so at Bath where they cannot water. Why can’t they water….??

We have become so used to the fact that they can’t push water up that hill that we forget to ask why ? Why do they not have, in this day and age, an irrigation system ? I’m sure that there is an excellent reason, but if the Romans could do it….??

They have clearly had a bit more rain at Weribee. Green, green grass abounds as they head down the back straight in the 6th…

Tallulah with one more afternoon behind the bar at Perth. Go find her. She needs tips – of all varieties…

First Lot. “Riders up”. A bit behind this morning, so that will have to do for today…

Weekend well…

Shuffled….

The cards that we are dealt. Some good, some bad, some ordinary…

The worst part of this ridiculous job is the passing on of bad news. The moment when the bubble is burst and a dream or three lies in tatters. Injuries and setbacks and disappointments are inevitable. And they come along to keep feet firmly rooted…

In the vast majority of cases, those on the receiving end of the “bad” and the “disappointing” are wonderfully understanding. Yesterday’s team a prime case in point. We move on. Because we have to…

And the best way to move on is to go again. A simply stunning St Mark’s Basilica filly en route to Epsom from Doncaster. A hugely exciting addition to the team, she will look very good raging past several winning posts in the months and years ahead…

“Very good”. “Very happy”. “Moving beautifully.” “Feels ready….”

Work mornings that are accompanied by positive debriefs tick a lot of boxes. Working several on the Polytrack yesterday. Jack Dace in to ride four lots. It is about to get busy and those motorways are about to be hit…

Perth yesterday. Dan Skelton completed a remarkable full house of winners at every National Hunt track in a season. Tallulah and some Edinburgh mates there in the Scottish sunshine. Manning a bar down by the last fence. If you are racing there today, go and say hello…

Manchester City edging their noses in front of Arsenal. Just. But this is not done and dusted. Twists and turns…

The Guineas just over a week away…

Supersonic Zafonic. 1993….

Feels like yesterday….

Unavoidably part of our lives. Unavoidable. A promotional tool on occasions. A medium for abuse and vitriol when a favourite gets beaten. Ducks and water and backs…

There are some racing “pundits” on Instagram and X and elsewhere who come across as just plain angry. Tell them that the grass is green and they will find a counter argument. Each to their own I guess. Chacun…

A subject that is taxing a few wise minds at the moment is the subject of Barrier trials. Fabulously organised by Craig Witheford and his team, these are superbly educational for young horses. Who are put through the stalls and then galloped at racecourses. We took four to Lingfield recently…

Load into the gates. Jump out. Pull up after a furlong or so. Load again, and gallop / canter / breeze over 6 furlongs. These are not races. They are not even pretend races. Filled with horses of varying precocity both mentally and physically. Some will be further “forward” than others and will be asked more of a question than the less precocious up the home straight….

Trainer and jockey instructions will vary massively. Not D-Day for these young horses, just part of the process and a step up that learning curve…

There is a groundswell of opinion mounting from some of the keyboard warriors. I don’t mean to use that term in a derogatory way, but there are plenty of “pundits” whose screen time must be eye watering. Opinions on everything, all day and all night. It must be exhausting to be on permanent scroll mode…

Several calling for the “results” of the Barrier Trials to be published, and I can see their point. Personally, I feel that this will only muddy waters as opposed to providing transparency. To emphasise, these are not races in any form. They are educational gallops for young horses learning their trade. Some will gallop through the line, others will be tenderly handled…

And you can bet your last bottom dollar that several of the “tenderly handled” will be a lot classier than those pushed out with more vigour…

I have been at several Barrier Trials. And in my opinion, any attempt to decipher and publish the results would lead to confusion and flawed opinions being formed…

Somebody suggested that connections are interviewed before the Trials to garner their gallop plans. That is absolutely fine by me. I am all for transparency…

But the point I’m trying to make (rather badly…) is that winning a trial by 5 lengths or finishing in the ruck is not in any way the full picture. Educational gallops, such as the ones we are about to have at Epsom this morning, are no more than part of the process. And to read too much into the “results” of Barrier Trials could easily be very counterproductive for punters…

What is wrong, and being insinuated in some places, is that a huge amount of relevant information is being withheld to the detriment of punters….

By all means, publish the results – but don’t expect them to be the road to untold riches…

On another note, I have never spent so much time looking at updated notices on the BHA admin site. Fixtures and races being thrown hither and thither. Plans are hard to make. Hoping very much that this early season “hiatus” settles down…

No runners today. Or for a few days. Goffs Breeze Up Sales today. Searching for the diamond in the rough…

Calling…

The Breeze Up sales at Goffs. Doncaster Racecourse. Breeze today, sell tomorrow…

A flying machine or three in the catalogue. But also several who will struggle to raise a gallop in the months ahead. That is the way of it. Sort the wheat from the chaff…

And add a massive dollop of a commodity called luck…

There are some who will be seduced by those that blitz the clock. Whilst others will major on conformation and pedigree. Nervous vendors at the recent Craven Sale in Newmarket, and there will be more of the same tomorrow when the gavel is raised to start proceedings…

Where there is disruption, there might be opportunity. Perhaps…

Yorkshire traits – “direct, sometimes bloody minded, stubborn, straightforward…”

A Breezer with similar characteristics would not be a bad one to go to war with at the races in the months ahead. Royal Ascot and Glorious dreams…

Very good to have Josh Stacey and the Racing TV cameras on the place yesterday. Filming an Epsom feature. To include us, Jim Boyle and his Guineas dream, the Derby preparations – and that pub where the winner’s name appears on the blackboard overnight – or not….??

The Derby looming over the horizon. Remarkably. Spring weeks are raging by…

We have had fewer runners than normal, mainly through design. We could not legislate for bugs and critters and broken widgets, and a couple of other potential runners have been blighted by abandonments and postponements at every turn. And we have now bumped into an Epsom target next Tuesday that has been moved up country. Quite a long way up country – and “up country” is massively less convenient than “on the doorstep….”

Perfect storms…

And having spent a King’s Ransom filling up the car yesterday, we might have to mark time on those longer journeys for a while unless categorically the right race to target. Costs rising – and closer to home makes sense until / when / if we get a bit of stability on fuel prices…

Long, long season ahead. Straight bat. Don’t get rattled when plans are thrown awry by matters beyond our control. Yorkshire grit. Geoffrey Boycott. Nil point in playing in the “corridor of uncertainty…”

Right, where’s that catalogue ? Where is that Royal Ascot horse? He or she is in there…

On Saturday. Good to be racing. After a hiccup or three, and a bug in the Brighton grass…

Sunshine and an excellent card attracted a healthy crowd. I still hanker after the old stands and their dated charm – the “new” iteration looking as if they plonked a Lidl or Ikea warehouse amidst these fine Berkshire acres. Times change…

Although the race that Fizzy Bear contested was a throwback for sure. A 26 runner maiden. Loaded with great skill by the stalls handlers. Our lad missing a beat as the gates opened. And with the cavalry charge concertinaing its way over to the stands side, Fizzy was stuck behind the proverbial wall. As were many….

There will be plenty of winners to come out of this race for sure…

The Classic Trials following this spring’s pattern. Muddy and waters…

With Epsom postponed for a week, we will be light again on runners for a few days. But plenty of visitors in the diary. As was the case last week. Which is exactly how it should be…

Good to have the Jockey Club Senior Steward Dido Harding and Chief Executive Jim Mullen with us. The Derby Festival is not going to be reinvigorated and revived overnight – but the groundswell of positivity is very tangible, and a real sense of purpose and intent. A couple of years until the 250th running of the great race. How cool would it be if that landmark running of the Classic takes place in front of packed stands and a heaving Hill…

Weather Gods, please take note that your assistance will be gratefully appreciated on the first weekend in June henceforth…

Arsenal played well, but the lead disintegrating. A draw would have been fair. But sport is so often not fair. City are now favourites. And they have the momentum whilst Arsenal will be racked with “what if” and “if only….”

Sport, Bloody Hell…

Requires hours of poring through several programme books, discussions with owners, weather apps aplenty, calls with jockeys agents and clerks of the course…

Never an exact science – but all we can do is make plans that give our horses and our owners the best possible chances of maximising their potential…

To all of the above, we now need to add psychic powers…

Cheltenham, Chelmsford, Brighton and now Epsom have abandoned or postponed meetings for various reasons in the past few weeks. Meaning that plans for many have been thrown to the wild winds…

We have a mare who was due to start her season at Brighton this afternoon. When that meeting fell foul of the pesky insects, the cunning plan switched to our doorstep next Tuesday. Until that plan went awry as well. A remarkable set of contrasting circumstances that you would struggle to make up…

We will regroup and go again – and that Programme Book is becoming extremely well thumbed. Although I guess it is quite hard to “thumb” an online fixture list…

A runner today. Just. And thankfully….

“Just” because Epsom on Tuesday was the most likely plan. Until considered thought (and a touch of the “psychic”…?!) led to a Newbury declaration at the 11th hour. A 26 runner Maiden !! Which feels like a throwback to some of those monster fields that appear on those Pathe reels…

FIZZY BEAR pleased us on debut at Kempton. Jack Mitchell on board again today. Another step up that learning curve. And with 25 others bouncing and boring their way up the Newbury straight, Fizzy will certainly learn plenty….!!

An excellent card at Newbury, but a bit of a shame that the Fred Darling and The Greenham are the first two races. TV scheduling I guess. I will leave that one right there….?!

A Scottish Grand National as well…

Remember this fellow winning it…

Larvae….

“Reaching up to 3cm long with thick leathery skin….”

They sound pretty unpleasant little critters. They can, apparently, wreak havoc with your lawn. Voracious munchers of grass…

“Brighton Abandoned”. Saturday’s meeting falling to the leatherjackets….

I feel sorry for the Clerk Of The Course Jack Hastings. But for the abandonment to be announced just over an hour before declarations closed for Saturday’s meeting beggars belief. Horses declared, jockeys booked, owners informed, tables secured….

I spoke to Jack, and apparently the track was raceable on Wednesday evening. But BHA course inspectors discovered yesterday morning that those leathery jacketed things had got properly stuck in overnight. The timing of the “abandoned meeting” notice implies that the course inspector was not exactly at the track at the crack of dawn…

Communication is key. The fact that there was even an outside chance of racing being abandoned was not even mentioned. When I could not complete my declarations on the BHA “clunky” admin site at 8.45, I assumed that the gremlins had got into the system. I was wrong – no gremlins, just the leathery jacketed ones…

Communication !!!! Come on guys, you can do better than this. We do not make race plans on a wing and a prayer….

When will Brighton race again….??

Another day of Classic trials and another day of muddy waters. The show moves on to Newbury today and tomorrow. Those who are keeping their powder dry and heading straight to the Guineas will not have been terrified by what has played out so far…..

The Greenham tomorrow. We will be there. Not with a runner in the big race – that can wait until next year…

This was the day that we realised that we were in the presence of something pretty special…

Time of year…

In many respects. Green shoots, brighter dawns, hope springs…

Classic clues aplenty at this time of year. Or not ?! Some years, there is clarity and very obvious favourites. This time, the waters and the ante post markets feel muddy and murky…

A 50/1 winner of the Nell Gwynn yesterday. A few winter dreams in tatters and bubbles going pop. The Coolmore battalions spluttering as opposed to charging – but long odds on that they will find a superstar or seven amongst the regally bred..

The Craven today. Hidden Force or Hawk Mountain ? Or more left field stuff…??

Our Epsom neighbour and great mate Jim Boyle living the Guineas dream with Into The Sky. Headed straight to Newmarket. As others falter by the day, Epsom hopes soar…

Grey and gloomy and bleak out there right now. Feels and looks like February. The weather has been in and out at best, and a few yet to find their summer coats. Who can blame them ? Royal Ascot sheen can wait for brighter days…

An exciting bunch of horses to go to war with. A lovely group of 2-year-olds, but madly precocious is not what they are going to be. Horses that will hopefully be on the place for years – and not “here today, gone tomorrow” pocket rockets. Long games need to be played…

There is no rush. Only April. Time and patience is the way. The only way…

Constitution Hill will not be at Newbury on Saturday. Sadly. The ground deemed too fast. Where do they go now ? Keep tipping away – or spring grass in quiet paddocks…..?

Day 2 of the Craven Sales yesterday. Trepidation – again. It will be fascinating to see how the upcoming breeze up sales elsewhere pan out given the reality check of this week. And with pinhookers running for cover and scrabbling to get their horses away and sold, they are unlikely to be so brave this autumn at the Yearling sales….

Corrections come in all markets. Where there is disruption there is opportunity…

There is opportunity…

A mantra drummed into me by a great financier friend…

We certainly sit in disruptive times. A fragile ceasefire that could tip one way or the other. The IMF informing us that the UK will be most affected by global economic instability. Armed Forces understaffed and underfunded that would struggle to defend Bognor Regis let alone the entire nation. And worst of all, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes appear to have had a row…

So where to find the opportunity when all around is muddle, mess and mayhem….??

Tattersalls Sales grounds in Newmarket a good place to start – obviously…

The Craven Breeze Up Sales have historically been where we watch on with envy as those with the bonkers big wallets flash the cash. Although usually it is the preening peacocks who are very good at flashing other people’s cash….

But yesterday evening, a dose of reality fell upon this gilded sales ring. The Racing Post bloodstock reports that invariably major on the big numbers without diving down into the sometimes brutal reality below the surface are more considered this morning…

“A palpable sense of trepidation hung over day one of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale, with much of the concern centred around the absentees from the Park Paddocks buying bench.
Who does and doesn’t play will be revealed in due course, but while there was a succession of chunky prices for the two-year-olds who hit all the right markers in their pre-sale workout, Tuesday’s trade proved conspicuously all or nothing.”

Where there is disruption….!!

At a Sale where we invariably fail to raise a hand in meaningful bid, we have come home with two immensely exciting young horses. “Value” is an impossible word to apportion to the purchase of racehorses – but many folk were not in Newmarket, and might well be waking up with thoughts of “missed opportunity” swirling around the mind….

A stunning Kodiac filly and a Palace Pier colt will be headed down the M11 to Epsom shortly. Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood written all over them – obviously…

The former half owned by one of the very biggest names in our industry, and fabulous that some very famous colours will be on the place. Half of her is for sale. As is the Colt….

FOR SALE……!! The Summer Of Fun beckons. Come and meet your Royal Ascot horses….!!