To the day…
Lucander and Pat C set alight our Bahraini pioneering mission with a stunning win in the Al Muharraq Cup. Dancing clear of a competitive field, our desert hero…
The horse who ensured that our tentative tiptoe into the Kingdom became a deep rooted commitment. There have been many hoofbeats and footsteps in the sand since that gilded afternoon, and yesterday evening we took another leap forward…
We lost dear Lucander on a misty eyed February night – but yesterday the smiles returned in this year’s running of the Al Muharraq…
Nesthorn. The Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale. With so many looking for the same type of horse, a tough coalface to mine. The obvious ones plucked away by the “obvious”. We had to dig deep, walk a lot of miles, revisit, reassess, dive far into foreign programme books, “one more walk please”, “can we see him trot….”
Nesthorn. Graffard. Juddmonte. Yup, we will improve one off that lot…..??!!
A fractured pelvis in the spring. A win ten days before the sale at Le Croise-Laroche. No, me neither….??
Dead heating in a 6 runner contest that would have slid past several radars and hardly screamed, “this wins the Al Muharraq…..”
But win the Al Muharraq is what he did yesterday. In a style that was strikingly similar to my old pioneering mate three years ago. I miss the old boy, and I will plant a tree on that corner where he took his last look over his domain, but yesterday we found an able successor. Batons are for passing even when tinged with great sadness…
Nesthorn. Cool horse. Fine ride from Benoit. A flickering ember of a dream now raging bright this morning…
Max Mayhem running well and hard in the same race, and the eye was dragged to him off the home bend. He will come on plenty. Lee Newman looking after him when chance had gone, but telling us that we have a good one for the weeks ahead…
And Desert Cop belying the “shall we shan’t we” ground concerns with an eye catching 4th in the Turf Series sprint. After a Summer where not one card fell his way, this was great to see, and he will be a feature of the Turf Series sprint races…
Massive credit to Sophie and Harriet who have spearheaded this early foray so seamlessly and so skilfully. Proud to have them on my team and at our side….
With C in the Gulf, I’m at home with about 47 (or maybe 57) of Barney and Tallulah’s mates for the weekend. Wonderful, happy, fun – C’s flight home horribly delayed, but quieter in the air than here…
A lovely Funeral Service for a dear friend in Lurgashall Church yesterday. 91 years young – a life well lived, and an innings well played…
And sad news to end with – Johnny Weatherby losing a tough and brutal battle. A top man. A lovely man. So sad…
