Luke Morgan came in to ride a few out, Luke is an old mate who was a very good p2p rider, he rode over 100 winners. He has been living locally for years and we have spoken about him riding out for 3 years now, this morning was the first time we actually got round to organising it. He will be a huge help to us schooling the babies and will ride out when he can. He has just landed a job heading the Strutt and Parker Country team.
All horses had routine canters, those that galloped away on Saturday just went for a quiet hack about the place. Billy Biscuit has come out of it well and I am keen to take him to Chaddesley if the ground is decent. Major Martin and Kncokdhu seem fine too. Major Martin's race looks hot on papers with many entries from trainers that need huge respect. John Ferguson has an entry, the likelihood is it will be a very well bred flat horse. The vet will be here on Wednesday to trach wash Knockdhu and Major Martin, it is a routine procedure we carry out before any horse runs. Last year we took a horse to Exeter, he had shown no signs of illness, he looked great, was working well and licking his feed bowl clean every night. He ran a stinker, we trach washed him the day after and it was filthy, hence the precautionary trach wash of runners now. It is another cost but a lot cheaper than transporting horses to the races to disappoint.
I have named my Shantou gelding Medieval Gateway.
Sholto won the sand crab again at rugby yesterday, he is a good little player and like many fathers I have huge expectations of him. England vs The All Blacks game was outstanding, what a stepping stone into the 6 Nations. We beat them everywhere, especially up front, a great game to watch, lets hope they take it forward and win the Grand Slam.
