12th July 2014

All but 2 of this years bunch of 3 year olds are now riding around the school, another one will get there today but we'll not be rushing the other as he simply needs to grow in confidence before he comes out of the lunge pen. The Presenting horse we bought in Doncaster is now out and about on the farm as are the 2 that were sent from Goffs. The Derby sale horses will remain in the school for several weeks before they head out and about.

Hopstrings is declared to run tomorrow at Southwell, she has run very well there before yet finds herself up against a couple of horses who look very well handicapped, Jonjo's being the one in particular. Hopstrings, in my opinion is on the wrong side of the handicapper but naturally I like to be proved wrong. She's won one race and was consistently punished for standing in her stable. Handicappers aren't allowed to own horses but perhaps if they did they would have a better understanding of the difficulties trainers are faced with when it comes to the handicap system and placing horses, especially at this time of year.

Sholto and Panda finished school yesterday and Tilly finishes today, 8 weeks of additional stress ahead!

Tim Curtis and Jeremy Barber have been appointed on to the board of the point to point committee, Tim had Billy Biscuit in training with us, I am sure he'll bring plenty to the table. I know Jeremy from my riding days and again, am sure he will be a huge asset. I doubt there was 2 more suitable candidates in the country.

8th July 2014

I have failed miserably with postings on my blog of late and need to get back into the routine. There has been little of interest to report on a daily basis since we got back from The Derby Sale. All those are now riding around the lunge pen. Liam Treadwell has been helping us out backing the babies and has been doing a fantastic job. Robbie Dunne came in today to help and will continue to do so when he's not needed elsewhere. I can safely say they are the nicest bunch of horses we've had and I am very excited about more than one of them. We still haven't finished buying and will be heading to the August sale in Ireland in the hope of finding a few more. Our trip to Deauville was enjoyable and productive. I would recommend Deauville to anyone, its a beautiful place and well worth a visit for a short break. We bought one horse by Policy Maker, Paul Nicholls has his half brother, Virak, and I'm told thinks highly of him. He will have a chance to get over the ordeal of the sales and travelling before we start to ride him, he is broken and cantering already so we have time on our side with him.

The new yard is coming along, albeit slowly, the gallop is all but complete, tracks to and from it are now under construction and the ménage started to go in today. The BHA were here today to inspect the licenced premises and are very happy with what they saw, a few tweaks here and there and from what I understood the licence will be granted.

Hopstrings had a blow this morning in preparation for Sunday, she will have a handy weight if the top ones stay in and will run with credit. Liam will be back in the plate.