Cheltenham Week
It is the second day of Cheltenham and I have retired gracefully to the office, having ridden 3 lots in gale force winds, the last lot was a little hair raising, with Mr F struggling to stay on his feet with the wind. I decided that for safety's sake we would lunge the last few. The racing was great yesterday, proper jumps racing on real testing ground, I managed to back a few winners and am looking forwards to today.
The last couple of weeks have been a little tiring, with the boycott and trying to know what to do for the best with racing and my owners. Its hard when you are under pressure from all sides to know which way to turn, however I had to do what was right for my owners and it worked out fine. There are always going to be people who disagree with each other, I would just like to think that we can still see each other's points of view and be more tolerant and understanding of each other's situations. Marmont ran a lovely race to finish second, he just got tired in the ground but came out of the race well and to be honest, I went to Fontwell because it was the first time he had a chance to run on the right ground and the owners had been so patient I felt I owed them a day out. I was just delighted Marms didn't make a noise or need scoping after the race! He is in great form and entered for Friday at Fakenham, although looking at the forecast I don't think we will bother going. I have also entered for Taunton next week, hoping that it doesn't dry out in the wind.
We shouldn't have run Into the Mist at Fontwell, all the owners were there and they were very keen to run, it was my fault, I should have pulled her out when I saw how dreadful the ground was. She hated every yard of it and was far too weak to get her feet out of it, however she behaved beautifully and it has done her no harm, in fact we jumped her yesterday and she loved it, so she will have a spin over hurdles soon.
I ran Its for Alan on Sunday and he could not have been a more different horse to the one that pulled James's arms out at WIncanton. He was very quiet at the races and never picked the bridle up. We trotted him up the next day and I noticed that he was moving off track, this usually indicates sacroiliac issues, which Trevor confirmed when he came to see him. We are injecting it today and then he will have a month quiet to get him using it and for us to build up the muscle again. To be fair we have always struggled to keep him strong since he came from Ireland, he clearly has had neck issues and I think that works its way back to the back end causing the sacro to become weak.
In positive news Mr F came out of FFos las well, he hated the ground but he needed to start somewhere, he is entered for Taunton next week and we will also enter for chepstow, he needs the soft to get the best out of him.
Starfoot is nearly ready to run and seems to be in very good form, I think John is keen to go chasing with him so he's off schooling on Friday, i'm very much looking forwards to him running.
We have a new team member who has fitted in like she has always been with us, welcome to Zora. Zora's daughter Veronika came on trial to see what she thought of the job, unfortunately she had to travel too far everyday to take the job full time and I really needed someone who was close by. Ronnie loved the job so much she recommended it to her mum and we haven't looked back. I am so grateful to my staff who are fiercely loyal and hard working , they never skive off, love the horses and are always happy and relaxed. It makes my job so much easier and I am even more determined to get things right for them as much as for the owners and I. So thank you guys!
In other news I accidently may have bought another horse (sorry Mum), I really liked the look of her and she is a 3 year old filly by Passing Glance out of a mare who has produced a 4 time winner. She is a big girl and I have just turned her out for a month before we bring her in to do some quiet work. Buying them privately seems to be the best way for me to find soemthing that isn't ruined or doesn't cost the earth. Im not sure what I will do with her yet, clearly I should sell her to an owner to stay in the yard, however I do like the thought of having something to breed from down the line.
Welcome jemima
Watching Cheltenham yesterday was brilliant, I was tempted to go but I can see so much more on the TV and to be honest I struggle with such big crowds, however if we are ever lucky enough to have runners there I'm sure I can be persuaded to go again!