18th February 2012

A great day, Chiquilline won the restricted comfortably and Avidius Cassius won the maiden at Whitwick. Sadly Trouble Digger failed to make it a treble. He had been off the track for over 2 years and ran with the choke out! He showed little or no respect for the fences and just ran aimlessly at them before tipping up at the second. He landed on his head and hopefully it has knocked some sense into him. He has done more schooling than any horse in the yard as he is always used as a lead horse for the babies. I think the moment just got to him. If he is fine in the morning he'll head for Chaddesley for the 1st division of the maiden. I feel so sorry for the owners, John and Liz Wills, they have been so patient as we've entered him 5-6 times and pulled him out as the ground has been too fast. Lucky they've owned horses for longer than I can remember and they understand the game better than anyone. It's just so disappointing. Anyhow, one mustn't labour on the disappointment. Chiquilline could be anything and he will certainly give Tessa Blazey some good days out. Avidius Cassius has it all in front of him, he's only 4 years old, 17 hands and as raw as the day is long, today's performance was incredible and I think he's a good prospect for the future. He'll have his hind shoes off on Monday and will be ticked over until the sales. I would rather sell in April when trainers only have the option of turning them into a big green field. I think he's done enough this year. He's just going to get better as he strengthens up and fills his frame. I love him and have always thought anything he does this year is a huge bonus. I actually choose him at the sales and Charlie was kind enough to let me buy him for the partnership. Sam gave both winners smashing rides and said Chiquilline just jumped and took him there sooner than he wanted.

Enjoy the good days as we have plenty of bad ones.....................!

Off to bed now as I have an early start in the morning. I'll be feeding round at 5 and getting everything sorted for another days p2p.