Gone…
Variables and vagaries and Weather Gods playing silly buggers…
Meaning that the job of being a Clerk of the Course is often a thankless and tough gig. Weather Apps that tell different tales. Trainers of influence. Storms that swing darkly by without dropping a drop. Others that hang heavy for hours. Watering systems that sometimes don’t work. Drains bursting….
Tough gig. Meaning that going descriptions from track to track can vary significantly. Depending on whims and habits and considered decisions that can be made to look very silly by the “silly buggers”…
Meaning that “Good to Firm” at one venue is entirely different to “Good to Firm” at another. Newbury on Saturday. “Good”. Midweek, the going description specifically said that the aim was to race on a mix of “Good” and “Good to Firm”. By Saturday the “firm” bit had disappeared into the ether, and Desert Cop “wheel spun” his way through the final furlong on ground that was described to me by plenty as on the easy side of good…
George Hill and his team at Newbury do a fabulous job. And this is not implied criticism. Merely an observation that it is becoming increasingly harder to gauge what ground we are really going to race on…
We have moved on from the days when my great mate Hugo Bevan would give his going descriptions from around the breakfast table. And would tailor his report according to the preferences of respective callers….
We have moved on. But Jeez, I thought my training gig was tough enough, but these Clerks sure don’t have it easy. Especially as weather patterns seem more and more unpredictable…
Newmarket for me on Saturday. A fabulous lunch with proper friends. Hilarious. TEX running fine to be 3rd in the “Hands and Heels” Handicap. But “fine” does not define. This horse will have his days for sure…
Plenty of horses yesterday. But none that needed our saddles. The Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Some gravity defying showjumping. Other stuff too that made me cry with laughter. A happy day off our treadmill…
No runners today. Desert Cop won’t go to Windsor. Rain around. And he deserves a day off…
Derby incoming. This was a good one. 1989…
