I woke up this morning to read the sad news that Philip Schofield had been killed. I still haven't heard how or what happened. Phillip was riding at the same time as me. He was a feared man and you certainly didn't poke up his inside, if you did, you did it very quickly, otherwise, without doubt you would have been through the wing! Apart from his fierce competitive nature he was a very nice guy. He had a word in my ear one day, most of which I didn't understand but I knew what he meant and didn't push my luck again. His son Nick is making a real fist of being a top class jockey who will surely land a big job one day soon. I have always thought that he may have been snapped up by Lucinda Russell.
Trea Newell was here to see Hopstrings and we will be aiming to run her 3rd July at Worcester. Sam texted me to tell me that Bet365 wouldn't give him a price on Network Rouge for the Champion Bumper. I hope he isn't aimed at that race, it is the ruination of many horses.
Silver Breese my seldom used hunter has gone into retirement at Shutford Stud, Tim Rootes needed a companion horse around the stud and it seemed silly not to let him have him for that purpose. He'll have a fab retirement and will have the best of everything - lucky Silver.
It was no surprise for me to read that 73% of trainers are struggling to make it pay. Many people, (not all), fail to realise how labour intensive training racehorses is. Many trainers or people like me running pre-training and breaking-in yards have been afraid to put fees up and have carried rising costs. I have a life style and want for nothing but never have money in the bank. I am far from complaining and very happy with what I've got. Greed will kill any business. In fact, I get the feeling that suppliers have now stabilized their increases for now. If costs continue to rise the sensible ones will have to raise their fees, the ones who are too afraid to do so will go bust. I have always thought the prize money issues are a complete red herring and genuinely believe that people would race for nothing.
