31st January 2014

I got a speeding ticket and 3 points off Sam on the schooling ground. We schooled Susie Sheep and Rebekah Rabbit. Susie Sheep will work tomorrow after which we will decide whether or not to take her to Larkhill for the fillies maiden.  At Work Blue and Richard Rabbit worked on the grass, the others had routine canters on the wood-chip. Sam jumped Singlefarmpayment, unnamed horses by Apple Tree and Robin Des Champs in the school.

Lunette returned for pre-training from Shutford Stud.

Will this rain ever stop!

30th Januray 2014

Kibo is a natural jumper and thoroughly enjoyed his first experience in the loose school. 10 days of that and he will be a very accurate, effective and economical jumper.

We worked 2 unnamed 4 year olds on the grass, one by Apple Tree the other Robin Des Champs. Sam jumped At work Blue and an unnamed 4 year old by Flemensfirth in the school. The others had quiet canters on the wood-chip.

It has been a long day, the phone calls I had planned to make won't be made today. Most of the months paper work has been done. Pat my bookkeeper will be here tomorrow to pay all the suppliers, do the wages and enter everything into the computer - a painful task!

Chiquilline has been entered for Ludlow next week, we need it to dry out a bit, reading the latest going report I doubt they'll race.

2 weeks ago Sophie had a new car - to us anyway, 90,000 miles on the clock. Last week she ran into the back of someone and today someone ran into the back of her. It will now have to spend a couple of days in dock to be patched up.

29th January 2014

We worked Chiquilline, well Chiquilline worked himself as he certainly had the upper hand on Sam. Rebekah Rabbit, unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs and Cavite Epsilon on the grass.

Max Ward, At Work Blue, unnamed 4 years old by Robin Des Champs and  Flemensfirth all jumped under Sam in the school. The rest had quiet canters on the wood-chip and the 2 babies went in the school for some flat work.

Susie Sheep will have an entry at Larkhill in the mares and fillies maiden on 8th January. She will do a bit on the grass on Saturday and I will then decide whether or not we run or give her a bit longer. Sam had better get dieting.

Kim Bailey has kindly sent Kibo for a session of loose schooling.

It is that time of the month when paper work has to be done, it can be put off no longer! I now have blurred vision and will resume tomorrow.

28th January 2014

Most of my day was spent at Doncaster Sales, I went in search of a couple of foals. I had a bid on Lots 36 and 76, lot 36 made 32,000 and lot 76 30,000. Yet again proof that there is plenty of money there for the right horses. I will now fly out to Ireland on a day trip on Tuesday.

We worked Freddy Fox, Love Manhattan and Susie Sheep this morning. Freddy Fox is pencilled in for Barbury Castle on 16th Feb and Susie Sheep is also likely to get an entry. Love Manhattan will now go on tick over as he wants faster ground. This rain is insane, we are certainly water logged!

27th January 2014

The 3 horses at Brightwells sales on Saturday night all sold well. The Kalanisi was, in my opinion the best breeze-up horse there. The Antaricque horse sold as I expected, the breeze-up market is tricky, we are pleased and now have some funds to see the others through to the Spring. The Drinkymeister was bought by Aiden Murphy for John Perris. I used to ride a few p2p horses for John when John Porter trained them. I hope he is lucky for them, John is a gentleman. The trade was strong and the clearance rate very satisfactory.

This morning all the horses had quiet canters on the wood-chip. An unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs jumped in the school with Sam, as did Max Ward and At Work Blue. Two 2 year olds arrived from Overbury Stud, a filly by Kayf Tara and a colt by Youmzain. The filly belongs to Mrs Norma Harris and the colt Geoff Lloyd. These are the first 2 horses I have had for them as they have usually had them broken-in in Newmarket.

24th January 2014

Many horses swung through on the grass this morning and all did it well. Alice and I headed off to Brightwells just before lunch. The 3 horses sailed through the vettings which is always a massive relief. After which the 2 breeze-up horses went for a practise breeze. The practise breeze is a must as it gives the horses confidence in the unfamiliar surrounding before the sales breeze in the morning. There were a good few lookers today and I think, as always, trade will be good for the nice horses.

23rd January 2014

I have returned from skiing trips feeling as bad but for different reasons! I am very sore and had planned to ride Chiquilline on the grass after breakfast. Sam had to do so as there was no way I would have managed him had he got free. The lads, as always have done a great job whilst I've been away and the horses are all in great shape.

Tomorrow lunchtime we head to Brightwells with a Kalanisi gelding and a gelding by Antarctique, they are entered in the breeze-up sale and The Drinkmeister is in the form horse section. We don't normally breeze horses but cash flow dictates sometimes.

I have backed off the 4 years olds for the last 10 days as they have a very good level of fitness and the ground is bottomless. Tomorrow many will swing through on the grass as they are starting to get fresh. We desperately need the ground to dry out a little as many of them want a sounder surface.

I hear Barney Curley pulled off another massive coup yesterday but as yet haven't caught up with the facts. He is a genius at it.

22nd January 2014

A safe day on skis, handbrake on a little. I've just finished more physio and I am still a little sore. Had I not have been wearing a helmet I think my neck would have broken. It was some slap!

We are on the first flight back tomorrow and I will be riding out shortly after breakfast.

21st January 2014

Alice says both the runners are in good shape.

Last night was a bit wild for some of the lads, eating lite cigarettes isn't something I've seen too often, last night a few were eaten. None by me, as a teetotaller I just looked on at the amusement.

Today we have been skiing in pretty much a white out all day. I had the most spectacular wipe out and am seriously lucky not to have hurt myself seriously. My nose is even bigger than normal and my shoulders and neck were in bits. When I finally hit the ground every bone in my body shock, as I slid down the mountain I wondered if my time was up. Had anyone been in my path I dread to think what would have happen. Tomorrow the handbrake will be firmly in place. I think I may whip-in! The crash wouldn't have happened had a very moderate ex jump jockey not taken my racing line. I was left with nowhere to go but over the edge. Heidi was summoned, Heidi is from NZ and is the best physio and masseur  I have ever experienced. My shoulders, although sore are fine and I can now move my neck.



 

20th January 2014

Both the Drinkymeister and Illicit Illusion won at Chipley Park. The Drinkymeister will now head to Brightwells on Saturday and a plan as to where we go next with Illicit Illusion has yet to be hatched. Alice, Emma and Sam all played their part in yesterday's wins and it is, as always, a team effort.

I am living like a Russian millionaire skiing in France for 3 days. I am one of seven people paying 100 pounds a night for a 16,000 pound a week chalet! Very spoiling, the snow is great and the skiing is mad. 7 racing guys on a ski slope isn't recommended and the competition and risks being taken to get to the bottom in front are all highly amusing. A couple of jump jockeys who shall remain nameless lost their bottle many years ago. They whip in!

18th January 2014

The Drinkymeister and Illicit Illusion head to Chipley Park tomorrow, The Drinkymeister will be pulled out of the ground is bottomless by race 8! Illicit Illusion will get the best of it being in race 3. I am half tempted to take The Drinkymeister to Exeter on 9th February for a bumper.

Last night I visited a friend in Swindon Hospital who has had heart seizure and was bought back to life 13 times on Thursday. She really is remarkable and has had a couple of tough years with cancer treatment and the recent death of her mother. It makes one realise what is important in life.

17th January 2014

Having considered applying for my riders licence, after this morning, I've decided that it is best left to younger folk. I took a tumble off Singlefarmpayment who decided not to take off at the ditch. Once we lassoed him he jumped 6 more fences including 2 ditches very nicely and learnt from his mistake. Onwards and upwards for him, Sam need not worry anymore about losing the rides. Well maybe I'll have a spin on Chiquilline. Chiquilline thinks he's god after his win last Sunday and is loving life. Saint Charles is also in fine fettle after his not ideal introduction to racing but thankfully, lives to fight another day and he'll be back!

Hugh and Liz Webster were here to see their Apple Tree 4 year old canter through on the grass, he deos it nicely and will keep progressing with a view to having a run in the Spring.

16th January 2014

Rebekah Rabbit, Susie Sheep, unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs and Cavite Epsilon  all cantered through on the grass, the others had routine canters on the wood-chip.

There is little to report on the horses front.

Tilly came home last night and couldn't wait to get back to school this morning, she won't be home now until Saturday night. It is a massive relief that she has settled as we expected. I think we miss her more than she misses us.  Stow under 8's are now training for The County Cup, Sholto will be training on Friday evenings as well as the Sundays we aren't racing.

15th January 2014

Illicit Illusion and The Drinkymeister did their final bit of work before Sunday, both horses did it well and I am very much looking forward to them running. Alice will be in charge as I had planned a 3 day break thinking we wouldn't have any runners this weekend. Emma and Sam will be there to help and they are more than capable of managing without me.

I see that Full Shift finished 2nd but am yet to watch the race, apparently, connections are more than happy with the run.

I have just eased off a few of the 4 year olds as they won't want bottomless ground or the ground when it starts drying out. They are on tick over for a fortnight, after which we will see where we are and hopefully start making some plans for a few of them.

14th January 2014

No Alice today, she must have been sick, Alice doesn't take sick days and has shown for work many times when others wouldn't. Emma had a bug over the weekend and maybe Alice has caught it - hopefully, she'll be well enough to come tomorrow.

Knight of Noir won at Exeter today and I'm sure there's more to come from him, he looked progressive and I always thought he wanted a sounder surface than Soft Heavy in places, what do I know when it compared to the Pipe team. Full Shift is declared at Newbury tomorrow and Avidius Cassius has an entry in Ireland on Saturday. It is one of the many joys following the horses we have sold and obviously, we always want them to do well. I found myself roaring at AP today on Knight of Noir and it's fantastic when they win.

The horses we schooled at Cocklebarrow yesterday all seem fine this morning and had a relatively easy day. It was a frosty morning but it hadn't really got into the ground so we took one lot over to the grass and after a quiet canter decided that we'd wait and do a bit more with them tomorrow after the rain forecast for tonight!

Tilly started he new school yesterday and the house is a bit odd without her, reports suggest that she has settled in well and I can't wait to see her tomorrow. She will come home Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Although, they all drive me mad I miss them dearly when they aren't here.

13th January 2014

That's it! I schooled three 4 year olds around a circuit and a half of Cocklebarrow this morning and am dusting off my boots and applying for my riders licence. Robert Alner was champion P2P  jockey well into his forties!

On to more serious matters - Chiquilline won easily yesterday and was just too classy for the competition, he won't get away with jumping fences as he did the last when sent Hunter Chasing, all said and done he jumped very well. Sam gave him a smashing ride and let him stride along after a circuit as he wasn't settling in behind. Sam will need more porridge and less ice cream. Chiquilline may head to Bangor for a 2.5 mile Hunter Chase on 7th February.

Saint Charles was bought to a stand still at the 3rd fence and given hindsight Tom would have pulled up immediately, there is always another day. Instead he carried on and the horse has had a very hard race and will need 6 weeks before we even consider running him again. He must have some engine to get to where he got to before unseating at the last just behind the leaders. I have nothing against Tom Weston, he did what he thought best at the time and that is that. Both horses seem to have come out of the races in one piece, their legs handle great. Those involved at Cocklebarrow did a fantastic job and should be applauded for their efforts regarding the course and the set-up. The declarations was a total shambles and that needs to be resolved before next year. Some didn't pay their £10.00, no one checked weights, colours, headgear or anything else that is normal in the course of declaring a horse. It was in fact shocking and a total mess.

This morning at Cocklebarrow we schooled Rebekah Rabbit, Susie Sheep, Richard Rabbit, The Drinkymeister, Freddy Fox and a 4 year old by Fruits of Love. All went well and they will have learnt from the experience.

11th January 2014

Saint Charles, Cavite Epsilon, Rebekah Rabbit, Susie Sheep, 4 year old by Fruits of Love and  Robin Des Champs 4 year old all schooled. Chiquilline had a small blow on the grass, he and Saint Charles will be running at Cocklebarrow tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be overcast and not too cold so I think those coming to Cocklebarrow tomorrow are in for a real treat. Charlie was here last night and told me that a band would be playing and that the atmosphere should be fantastic. I am certainly looking forward to it. A big crowd is certainly anticipated, please come and support Heythrop p2p if you've not planned anything else. A massive effort has gone into this track and in promoting it. It deserves to be supported.

Gloucester are playing Munster tonight and I fear Gloucester will get a real kicking. Sky + will yet again come into its own as I have to drive a mate back Abingdon way. We have had to replace Sophie's car - I rang a number on Auto Trader only for it to be answered by a very good friend of mine, Rob Drury. The deal was done pretty quickly and he is kindly dropping it over to us and I am running him home. Hopefully, everyone is a winner.

10th January 2014

Unnamed Apple Tree 4 year old and At Work Blue both schooled over 9 fences. Most of the others stayed on the wood-chip accept Chiquilline and The Drinkymeister who did a little bit of work this morning on the grass. I am now at a stage where some of the horses need an away gallop. The grass gallop we use for this is closed as it is simply too wet. I am hoping given a dry week we may possibly get on it at the end of next week.

Sholto has now started working in the yard at evening stables and it appears that I now have another person on the payroll as he asks for money after each shift!

9th January 2014

Susie Sheep, Rebekah Rabbit, Richard Rabbit, Cavite Epsilon, Saint Charles, Chiquilline, At Work Blue, Singlefarmpaymnet, unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs and Illicit Illusion  all schooled. Sam got a slap off the unnamed horse but he jumped well afterwards and all is well. The others are all jumping with accuracy and I couldn't be happier with the way they are all schooling. The credit must go to Sam who has started them all off superbly in the school.

Illicit Illusion and The Drinkymeister will have entries at Chipley and we will see where we are with them in a weeks time before deciding whether or not to run. Losing Whitfield is a blow to us as that is where the pair would have been heading. I believe the loss of the meeting at Whitfield is due to the lack of sponsors. It is rather disappointing they didn't act sooner and do something pro-active to generate sponsorship - if they did they didn't promote it too well. I would have sponsored a race for them had I known that it was likely to result in stumps being pulled!

This afternoon I popped to Shutford Stud to see Lunette and Lyric Ballard. Lunette will be coming back here at the end of the month for pre-training and Lyric Ballard will be returning to Hughie Morrison.

8th January 2014

Freddy Fox, The Drinkymeister, Unnamed 4 year old by Apple Tree and Unnamed 4 year old by Fruits of Love all schooled. The others had quiet a canter after working yesterday. We managed to stay dry today, the first time for a while! Ginger Fizz ran at Doncaster and jumped very well, another good advert for our loose school.

7th January 2014

A busy morning as we took 15 to the grass, we jumped off our last lot just before 1 O'clock having got on our 1st lot at 6.30. We then loose schooled a couple before Sam and I walked Cocklebarrow.

I have heard people describe Cocklebarrow as everything a race track would normally be described as, but it can't be every type of track and it is a matter of opinions. In my opinion, it is a galloping track and horses will have to stay due to that fact rather than any other. It isn't sharp, how a track well over a mile round can be described as sharp is beyond me. Yes, the bends are sharp but the straights must be getting on for the longest of any p2p track I can think of. Stratford and Fakenham are two example's of what I would choose to describe as sharp tracks, nearly always on the turn. That is something you are not at Cocklebarrow. The winners will have to travel and jump and the cream will come to the top. If your horses are not good enough to come to the track don't knock it for those that are. I believe if we were racing there tomorrow the ground would ride on the soft side of good. As the track is in its infancy stage how the ground will hold up if everyone turns up on the back of a massive entry I don't know. An unbelievable amount of effort goes into this sport and without those willing to give their time and financial backing we wouldn't have it and it is time a few realised that. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but some are best kept to oneself and if you don't like it go somewhere else. Perhaps Horseheath, which I believe has been cultivated by a farmer!

6th January 2014

My prediction of a massive entry at The Heythrop has been proven to be correct, 232 entries. It will be very competitive racing and a great day out for any family. A heated marquee with children's entertainment is being laid on so no one has an excuse not to attend.

This morning, Singlefarmpayment, Richard Rabbit, At Work Blue, Rebekah Rabbit, Susie Sheep, Saint Charles, Chiquilline and an unnamed 3 year old by Robin Des Champs all schooled. The others had quiet Monday morning canters on the wood-chip.

Sophie took her car in for a problem and returned home to tell me the gear box needs replacing, the quote to do so is 5,000. That's all in need in January and am now on suicide watch!

4th Jnauray 2014

4 horses cantered on the grass the others stayed on the wood-chip. I only rode 2 lots as Johnny Wills kindly invited me shooting. We had a wet but fabulous day. Thankfully, Kim Bailey was pegged well away from me. Last time I shot with him he didn't miss much and I generally miss many. I did notice he missed a few today - I reminded him of those misses as I left the party. It really was very spoiling and the wet weather didn't dampen the day at all.

03 January 2014

Feeding at 5 a.m. this morning the rain poured down and I couldn't wait to start riding out! Thankfully, it brightened up and the morning wasn't too bad. We worked Chiquilline and Saint Charles, both have entries at The Heythrop a week Sunday. The other 3 year olds all cantered on the grass. It is hard to believe but the grass has taken this filthy weather better than my wood-chip which is absolutely saturated.

It has been a long day as I've just walked in the house since firth thing this morning and I've still paper work to do. I think it will have to wait.........

In Sholto's school report it suggested that he had a wicked sense of humour, as seen below, I just wonder if he's spent too much time with Sam.

2nd January 2014

A beautiful sunny day!

At Work Blue, Saint Charles, Rebekah Rabbit, Susie Sheep, Freddy Fox, Richard Rabbit, Fruits of Love gelding and Chiquilline all schooled, they did it nicely they are really starting to get to grips with things. The others stayed on the wood-chip or went in the school.

This afternoon Max Ward came back into training, we will see where we are in a couple of months and make a decision as to what route we take, possibly a p2p or novice hurdle.

I spent a miserable hour or 2 catching up on paper work and still have a heap to get through.

01 January 2014

Another year slides by, by god they go fast!

Last night Sophie and I spent the evening with some mates and had a lovely evening. Knowing what time I hadto get up this morning we had planned to leave pretty soon after midnight but ended up getting into bed just before 3 A.M. This morning I wondered how I'd manage but didn't fare too bad. I rode out Chiquilline and Saint Charles before moving the fences onto fresh ground. Yes, I got soaked to the skin twice, once this morning and again the afternoon when I put the wings back up. I can't think of anyone else apart from The Heythrop Hunt P2P committee that welcomes this amount of rain. everything is sodden and we are washed away. I had planned to go hunting today but am fed up of getting soaked and couldn't see how I could possible enjoy it. I definitely made the right call.

Below are a couple of links to the filming that was done at Cocklebarow on Sunday - They are different.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLWSrW937Wk&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YiWgq12sZo&feature=youtu.be