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| Richard's
Blog
Departed has been declared for the 5.30pm at Uttoxeter tomorrow. He will be wearing blinkers and Sean Quinlan rides. Hopefully the head gear will make him concentrate more now that he is back over hurdles. Unfortunately Eastwell Smiles did not get a run in the race and Golfers Crossing was also balloted out of the hunter chase at Hexham.
Watched the leaders debate last night. I though Cameron did alright. I think Gordon Brown needs a holiday and hopefully he will get one. I thought what a creep Nick Clegg is and he is nearly as good an actor as Blair, telling you exactly what you want to hear. I think he is too good to sell double glazing and should take over Betterware.
Please to report that Head Lad with a broken neck, is back at work. Don't know how this will go down with health and safety but hopefully nobody reads this blog anyway. I think he must have banged his head in the incident as he is smiling this morning.
Played tennis last night with Rick Allen, Neil ‘Wino' Gladding and John ‘The Terrorist' Dykoski. This time we only played for two hours instead of three and I am stiff as a board today but the tennis is definitely getting better.
Mark White is definitely feeling stiffer than I am, and am pleased to report he is walking around the yard at present though he is still pretty sore.
Was discussing today Gordon Brown's faux par with J Francome. Francome said he is glad he wasn't a politician as if the microphone was on him he would definitely used the words ‘fat' and ‘lazy' to describe the lady from Rochdale. He also expressed disappointment that she lived in Rochdale and not Leicester because The Sun headline would have definitely read ‘Leicester Bigot.'
Unfortunately I am not going out tonight so I will have to watch the leaders debate. I hope the real Cameron comes across and nails the funeral directors, ‘Clegg and Brown.'
Les and Linda Tomlin also popped in to discuss Bobby Donald's summer holiday. Wish I was getting one.
This afternoon I visited Amanda Langdale who has What A Vintage's offspring. Also saw our American Keeneland recruits who are now three, always interesting to monitor their progress.
We had a bit of a drama yesterday with a new recruit which led to our head lad, Mark White going to hospital. Luckily he came out today and knowing him, he won't be off for too long. Just emphasises how dangerous this job can be sometimes. The doctor told him he could go jogging tomorrow, I don't believe him.
Work morning went fine today, just pray for rain in May.
Today's ‘where are they now horse' is Go Ballistic. Now 20 years of age, this legend of the turf is spending his retirement at the Batsford Stud near to Moreton in Marsh. Runner up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup to See More Business, he was narrowly beaten in the Gold Cup the year it was run at Sandown, in the year of foot and mouth when under our care. Not blessed with the best wind or best feet, he was an incredibly brave individual.
A few months ago he had a colic operation, which thankfully he has bounced out of in great style and although ridden up until recently, he is proving very useful as a ‘nanny' to the younger horses at the stud. ‘GB' deserves a great retirement and the many who have worked with him will never forget him.
We were fortunate to witness Proclamation covering a mare and also had a walk around the wonderful paddocks. Overbury Stud has a great history and many good horses have been bred there including Grundy, College Chapel and Mummy's Pet.
A good time was had by all and we ventured to the Yew Tree at Conderton for lunch. A place we all highly recommend in future.
Following a debut chasing Fakenham, she unfortunately received a tendon injury which meant an early retirement. Despite being advised against it, the partnership have started a breeding program and she has now had three foals, the latest arriving last Friday. She has been covered each time by Kayf Tara, the first being colt with the latter two fillies. Will look forward to the offspring continuing the fun.
I finally backed Ashkazar to win on Saturday afternoon. Luce Bay went to Wetherby on Sunday, his wind problem has finally caught up with him and he has now been retired to the hunting field. I popped into the Murdoch's on the way home to see a few youngsters. Some potential athletes there and we look forward to having a lot more luck for Camilla and Willie in the future.
A sunny Monday morning when all the horses coats are looking shiny and that bit of rain over the weekend has made the grass grow. We made a few entries this week and hopefully the showers will continue.
Jim Bob, Gordy's girlfriend has annoyingly bought Jo a pink watering can over the weekend, this matches her jacket and her dogs collar. It is all getting too much around here as this is being typed on a pink lap top.
We took delivery of a nice five year old from Brian Murphy of the Dunraven Arms, over the weekend. He is a Beneficial horse called Just Benny and is a grand type standing 16.2hh. He has had one run in a point to point for experience and is owned by Richard Styles and Stuart Prior. Hopefully we will be able to run him in a bumper in May to find out a bit more about him.
Our ‘where are they now' horse today is Warjan. Warjan is spending his retirement with Melissa Chesterman. Melissa breaks a few of our horses in and worked for me when I first started training.
Warjan was purchased from France and was one of the favourites for the Triumph hurdle following an impressive British debut for us at Market Rasen, the year of the foot and mouth. With no Cheltenham that year, we took him to Aintree but unfortunately the heavens opened which stopped his chances of winning. He ran some very decent races for us and was a class act on his day but a tendon injury was the end of his career. He now hunts regularly which he is brilliant at. He is also a great lead horse for the youngsters at Melissa's stable just outside Burford and he is enjoying his well deserved retirement.
Luce Bay has been declared for Wetherby on Sunday. It is his champion hurdle and his future could be similar to Gordon Brown unless he shows marked improvement for the better ground.
Our team at the Moorcroft quiz were fourth last night. This was not a bad effort considering the stiff opposition. It is certainly a marked improvement on last year and our team captain, Peter Deal appeared pleased with our effort. Unfortunately we didn't play our wild card on the politics round as if we had, we would have been right up the backside of the winners. Instead we played our wild card on the music and movie round as we were relying on our team member, Sir Tim Rice who rightly blamed the questions. Unfortunately none of the team knew how many black keys there are on a piano. But as I pointed out to Gordy, Sir Tim is a lyricist not a musician, to which Gordy replied, “I don't care how much he has had to drink, he should have known that!”
The horses once again seemed in good form this morning but please send some rain. We have had a few new exciting inmates this week and look forward to discussing their prospects in the near future.
Went to visit Colin Smith today. Colin owned Jackdaws Castle and many good horses in the past. He had his seventieth birthday this week and we spent the afternoon discussing the prospects of his mare Pezula.
Chopneyev is our ‘where are they now' horse today. Chopneyev is now point to pointing having had a very successful racing career under rules. He was purchased by Claire Smith as a three year old through Antony Stroud. He went on to win three hurdle races including the valuable Tote Scoop Six at Sandown. Over fences he ran many game races and was successful three times. He is now under the care of the Hatch family and is giving experience to Ryan Hatch in his first season riding. The ground had gone a bit dry for him but I am sure he will give Ryan some fun next season.
Our team were unsuccessful last night in Steve Benton's golf day, however much fun was had by all and I birdied the last which is always a good thing. Tonight Gordy and I are off to London to be in Peter Deal's quiz team at the Moorcroft Quiz. This is in aid of the Moorcroft Centre which is a home for the rehabilitation of racehorses. This is always a competitive affair and Nicky Henderson's assistant Tom Simmonds is also joining us. We should be pretty hot on the racing round with a bit of luck however the general knowledge can be a bit sketchy.
As many of you will know, a few of our staff are from India and Pakistan and it was interesting to hear yesterday's discussion whilst riding out. The discussion was which meats they did and didn't. Some do not eat pig and some do not eat cow. Nepal then proceeded to ask Mark White if he had ever eaten lion. Looking quizzical, Whitey asked him to elaborate. “They sell it in Tescos,” said Nepal , “pork lion.” Dyslexia travels a long way.
Dark n Sharp was a very useful hurdler and chaser for us. He is now fifteen and is spending his retirement in Adlestrop. Placed in two Grand Annuals at the Cheltenham Festival, he won the Red Rum Chase at Aintree and later went on to win over three miles. Quite remarkable for a six furlong Group 2 two year old in Germany . Part of his longevity can be put down to the fact he has exemplary confirmation and is at present munching grass behind the office having had a buck and a squeal at Jo's fat balls.
Popped in to see Sue Welch on the way back from Ascot sales yesterday. Always good to catch up and walked around the fields to see a few of the home breds. This was followed by coffee and walnut cake from Tesco Finest. I will be back to finish that one off soon.
This afternoon was Steve Benton's golf day in aid of the County Air Ambulance. I had a team of Colin Pocock, Dave Mason and John Cantrill who popped along for some indifferent golf to support the good cause. The great thing about golf is that many subjects are discussed on the way round including horses and politics. Let's hope David Cameron is better prepared than we were this afternoon for his debate tomorrow. It was discussed that people should have to pass an exam before they have the vote. Who agrees with this one?
Today's where are you now horse is Go Harvey Go. He has been retired following a leg injury. He was purchased at the Derby sale as a four year old by yard sponsors Martin and Sue Harvey whose company is Tori Global. Go Harvey Go ran many good races in defeat but his victory at Towcester will go down in history. On the replay you can hear Sue Harvey screaming despite the other three thousand people in the crowd. He will spend his retirement with Katie Merson who broke him in originally. Katie will no doubt spoil him for the rest of his life which he thoroughly deserves as he is a fine character. Katie's father is a great supporter of the yard and had a share in Mithak whilst her mother Lyn, is Nigel Twiston- Davis 's secretary hence Nigel's office is the tidiest it has been for years.
We sold Underworld Dandy at Ascot sales today. He has his own way of running and we wish his new connections the best of luck.
We are very pleased to report on our old friend, Yanns. We purchased him through Anthony Bromley when we were at Jackdaws Castle . He was never the biggest but was perfectly formed and was a rubber ball when it came to jumping. Having won his first two hurdle races for us, he went on to win three chases. All the jockeys that rode him loved him as he was such a good jumper yet he was barely 16hh. Previously owned by Darren Bloom, he was then purchased by Bellflower who had great fun with him.
However he was sold two years ago to the Wells family to go point to pointing in order to give their youngest daughter her first experience in a point to point. It was great to hear that on her first ride in public, she won on Yann's with the horse only marginally older than the jockey. He has now retired to do dressage and even at the age of 14 he is still a good mover. Yann's will always be a legend to us and we are delighted he has such a good home for his retirement.
We were really pleased with Pezula's run on Saturday. She came to challenge two furlongs out and could have done with a stronger pace. She looks sure to get her head in front at some stage over the summer now that she has grown into her frame.
Saturday morning we had a visit from Simon Rutherford who owns Rapid Return. Simon has been very patient having given the horse a wind op this winter. He is a horse that is very well handicapped over fences and hopefully on some good ground he will be able to get his head in front as he did at Worcester in the summer.
It was Andoversford point to point yesterday on what was a glorious day. I was kindly invited by the Phillions to a delicious picnic. The British countryside on a day like that is unbeatable and thankfully the mood of the day was a far cry from new labour.
This morning the horses enjoyed the sun on their back and it is good to see so many coming into their summer coats. Temoin has been confirmed for his entry in Saturday's Bet 365 Chase, which will always be known as the Whitbread to us. He needs a deluge of rain really but loves Sandown and is in particularly good form at present. The ground appears too firm at most places but no doubt the rains will come eventually.
Get well to Tom Siddall who in typical cavalier fashion has been riding with a broken neck. Tom is a great lad and gave Petroupetrov a great ride at Kempton recently and we look forward to his come back.
Whenever I drive across the Severn Bridge I always think what a great feat of engineering it is. Having witnessed Barnsy put up a broken rail in our paddock this morning, I think it is a similar feat. However my money is on the bridge to stay up longer than the rail.
Following on our series of ‘where are they now' I am pleased to report a grand old favourite of ours, Another General is a wonderful retirement in Sussex . He is being looked after by Beccy Green who is the commercial manager at Fontwell Park racecourse. ‘Gennifer' is loved like no other man in Beccy's life and that is saying something. When with us, he won seven races included a bumper, four hurdle races in a row and two chases. We used to take him hunting with the Heythrop a fair bit in his chasing days. Something that he loved to do. He was always such a good ride, the girls would queue up to ride him. Under Beccy's tuition, he does a bit of everything these days included one day eventing, hunting, working hunter and being a general star.
The ground at Uttoxeter is still described as good and having spoken to the clerk of the course we are hopeful it will be safe enough for King Jack tonight. However we will walk the course before deciding. It is always the same at this time of year with horses that need genuinely good ground. The ground dries up so quickly that there will be inevitably some wasted journeys over the next few months but it beats breaking them down.
As predicted the leaders debate last night was pretty dull. Whoever Mr Cameron has been listening to, he should dump them and just be himself. Nick Clegg was impressive last night, however I do not need any double glazing.
Following on from our horse in focus, it has been suggested that we should do a series of ‘Where Are They Now.' Each day we will do a report on where some of our retired horses are spending their days.
Both Noble Lord and Central Committee live together at Bob and Pauline Scott's stud in Essex . I have visited them many times and they actually have an ensuite field shelter. The Scotts requested them as companion horses for their youngsters. At the time they did not have many horses but they have collected quite a few since. However they are loved to bits and have the life of riley. Noble Lord won many races for us. He was second in the Scottish Grand National for us and also ran in the Aintree one where having jumped brilliantly and avoided all the trouble of the Red Marauder year, only to stumble at the thirteenth, surround by loose horses.
Central Committee was a multi winner for us and despite having a wind problem was as tough as teak, and was a decent staying handicap hurdler on his day.
Thanks to the Scotts, these two legends are having a joyful retirement and it is well deserved.
A quiet morning of exercise and I had company on the gallops including John Goldsmith, who has shares in several horses with us. John originally had a share in Listen Up and has been a great supporter of the yard for many years. It was good to meet up with him last night in the Horse & Groom at Oddington to discuss future plans.
We have declared King Jack for the 7.40pm at Uttoxeter tomorrow. Hopefully the watered ground won't be riding too firm and with luck he will give a good account of himself in a competitive handicap.
This week I was fortunate to be asked to the English Speaking Union to a charity lunch. (Yes another one). Ian Robertson, Chris Cowdrey and Roger Dakin were speaking. Robert had a share in Cash Converter, a Thurloe horse we had a few seasons ago and is always very entertaining. Whilst Roger Dakin is a former England hockey goal keeper and a very amusing man with it. Chris's brother Graham was also there and I once had the pleasure of receiving two cricket trophies from their legendary father, Colin. This was in the time when there was an inter stable cricket tournament at Arundel and in my Henry Candy days, I was surprisingly selected to represent the Lambourn area. Although not a talented cricketer, I do remember taking a rare catch on one occasion and I still have the silver tankards to remind me of those good old days. It is a shame that these inter stable tournaments don't happen anymore but with so much racing it is inevitable they have receded.
Looking forward to the leaders debate tonight but I have a feeling it will just be drum as thanks to the press, people are frightened to say anything any more.
Whenever didn't appear to get the trip yesterday at Exeter so we will drop him back to two and half miles next time.
Monday I went to a thanks giving service for Fred Welch. Unfortunately Fred passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was a great character and was part of my childhood love of show jumping. Another hero, David Broome gave the eulogy and did Fred proud.
We were fortunate enough to have Fred and his wife Sue as owners. Fred would always speak his mind and was a great horseman and just loved the countryside and all its sports.
It won't be the same without him but Sue is a wonderful person and I am sure their racing colours will be in the winners enclosure for years to come. One thing is for sure, we will never forget Freddy Welch.
Gentle Guru had one of her fizzy days at Folkestone whilst Underworld Dandy proved why he is going to the sales next week with his display at Windsor . We are hoping the ground has dried up enough at Exeter for Whenever today. Have given AP his instructions and he has given his to me.
We had visitors this morning and it is always nice to see the sun out.
Gordy came in with his blog story of the day. A certain member of staff who shall remain nameless, told Gordy that her brother was in Australia and was driving back which was going to take him twelve hours. Gordon surprised at this mark queried it was only taking twelve hours to drive back from Australia said, “ Are you sure you don't mean Austria ?” The reply was, “I might do?” Apologies to Hannah.
Petroupetrov won first time out over fences at Kempton on Friday. He jumped brilliantly and was a ridiculously large price for a horse that had been waiting for three miles on good ground over a fence. He was given a fine ride by Tom Siddall who is an excellent jockey and has been helping us out with schooling recently and we were delighted to give him a winner. We look forward to Petroupetrov following up in a few weeks time. Departed and Ballykelly ran in the same race and disappointed but have had their problems.
The sticky ground at Chepstow put paid to Bobby Donald and Crackerjac Boy's chances whilst Stop The Show bled at Southwell yesterday which they can do this time of year with pollen etc.
We have two runners on the flat today. Gentle Guru at Folkestone where I feel the ground has dried up too much and Underworld Dandy at Windsor . Hopefully they will run with merit.
I took Barnsy with me to Aintree and as ever there are too many stories to tell. However he has walked into the office this morning, having got one of the barmen from the Fox at Oddington whom he calls ‘Flymo,' to rummage through his bins. The reason for this was Barnsy had backed a horse in the bumper at Aintree and left before the result. He had been informed of only the winner and therefore had thrown his ticket away. However, he was up in arms this morning as the people who had looked the result up for him and not told him of the second and third horses. Barnsy was under the impression that he had backed the second and had asked my secretary Jo, to photocopy the perceived winning ticket. However I inspected it and shook my head as he had backed Amuse Me, the mount of AP McCoy who was tailed off last and not Dare Me the mount of Richard Johnson who was second. Once again you couldn't write it and I can't wait to tell ‘Flymo.'
It was great to see McCoy win the National and I was perfectly placed to see his celebrations as he went past the line. He is a remarkable man and a good bloke with it but I am sure he will admit that riding a Grand National winner will be insignificant to riding a winner for me tomorrow at Exeter , where he partners Whenever. If he gets the trip, he should be in the three but no doubt I will blame the jockey.
As I am a sucker for charity, last night I was the quiz master at the Chequers at Chruchill. The evening was in aid of The Blue Cross and I was asked by landlady Assumpta if I would do the honours. Assumpta is an archetypal Irish angel and difficult to say no to as she would do anyone a favour.
An entertaining evening was had by all and the winning team happened to be headed by our sponsors and owners Martin and Sue Harvey. No skulduggery involved there then!? It was a close finish and Sue won it on the tie break question which was ‘which musical would you associate with a Liverpool anthem?' Do you know the answer?
It is amazing how many people read this blog one of which is Camilla Dunford, wife of Pete ‘the print' Dunford. However if I was married to Pete, I would also read blogs.
The internet went down yesterday so sorry to all those sad ones that read this.
Yesterday we schooled Pak Jack over fences before his trip to Aintree for the Topham tomorrow. He appears in good form. He has a great record over those fences and let's hope he can run another cracker tomorrow. We have booked Graham Lee to ride who won the Grand National on Amberleigh House.
We have Mr Mackay running today at Taunton but I feel the track will be too sharp for him, but let's hope his wind is better on the better ground.
We run three in the same race at Kempton tomorrow, something I hate to do. However there are very few three mile handicap chases on good ground and all three, Ballykelly, Petroupetrov and Departed have been hanging on for a run for a while. Three miles around Kempton in a handicap is far from ideal first time over fences but Petroupetrov and Departed have schooled well at home whilst Ballykelly jumped well on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter.
David Simons who has a share in Tiger Line popped for a chat this morning. Hopefully David is really getting the racing bug and I always enjoy our conversations. We look forward to Tiger Line winning for him soon following her excellent second at Chepstow.
At lunchtime I gave a tour of the yard to some employees of Tori, our new yard sponsors. They are in Adlestrop having their annual conference and are staying at the Horse and Groom in Upper Oddington .
I am now on my way to Aintree with Barnsy to have dinner with Helen Nixseaman, the main owner of Pak Jack. You can't beat those Aintree fences.
I have been through the Grand National form and as you are too late to have the 28-1 on Comply or Die which I have taken, my each way bets are Maljimar and Ballyholland. Maljimar has run some excellent races in defeat and was a good third in the cross country race at Cheltenham this season whilst Ballyholland has been running over shorter trips but is by Tiraaz, whose offspring stay very well. Barnsy's tip is The Package, which come Saturday afternoon will probably be known as ‘Barnsy's Bismark.'
Luckily the rain has stopped and hopefully we will be able to have a few runners this week. Pak Jack was put through his paces for the last time before he runs in the Topham on Friday and appears in good form. He needs twelve horses to come out of the Grand National which looks unlikely but we will just have to monitor the situation during the week.
Owner Camilla Murdoch who along with her husband Willie, owns Luce Bay popped in. With the prospect of the ground finally drying up, hopefully he will be on the course soon to prove that he is ground reliant.
Last night was the grand final of University Challenge which is always a ‘must'. Cambridge captain Alexander Guttenplan led his team to an easy victory. A very bright lad who gives Paxman stick, which has to be something to be supported. However I don't think he would be a lot of use with a pitchfork and a saddle. Let's hope the boy has common sense as well.
The general election has finally been announced. I advised a fair few of my owners to back Cameron to be the leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister some years ago. Hopefully I will be right. Dave says all the right things but I just think he should be a bit more angry about it.
Jo has invested in a fat ball holder to be put up outside the office. The fat balls are proving quite popular and one advantage of technology was that she bought it on Ebay for £2.23.
While dictating this blog, I am looking at Barnsy with Beanie on his lap. He looks very tired for a man who has only just got up. One of my many regrets is that Barnsy didn't own Sage computers and sell if for two hundred million, then I could be the next Howard Johnson. Perhaps not.
Peter Thomas has emailed through a questionnaire for the Racing Post which they publish on a Sunday. He has asked me to make some of the answers sane amongst the more idiot ones, we should have a bit of fun filling that in!
Today's horse is an unnamed gelding by Beckett out of Princess Accord. This five year old is owned by Charles Allan. Charles is one of my biggest owners weighing in at twenty three stone eight pounds, now that he has been on a diet. Luckily his horse goes a lot faster than him and has been pleasing us with his homework the last few weeks. He has got a little buzzy after his work so we will lay off him a bit with the intention of running in a bumper around the beginning of May. He was purchased at Doncaster May sales as a three year old and is a half brother to some decent winners and hopefully his purchase price of four thousand guineas looks to be great value.
As ever a busy weekend with lots of visitors on Saturday morning. John and Pat Cantrill, Dave Mason and Ian Dunbar came to see their string including Great Hero, an unnamed Robellino six year old and Stop The Show. Also Mike and Pauline Kelly who have a share in Bally‘sicknote'kelly popped in. The sausages and bucks fizz went down well.
In the evening I was kindly invited by Gee and Mark Bradburne to supper. Amongst their guests were Cornelius Lysaght and Simon McNeill. They are always great company
Cornelius hates me pointing out that Lysaght is an anagram of ‘ghastly,' whilst Simon McNeill is now a starter having been a jockey for many years. Simon is known to me as ‘Senio' as he was a member of our Brazilian style football team called ‘The Commitments' in my Lambourn days. He gained his nickname as the eldest of the team. This is how Andrew Thornton got his nickname of ‘Lenzio' as he wore contact lenses but our favourite nickname was always Pat Thomson's who was a conditional jockey for Nicky Henderson at the time and was known as, ‘Patio.'
I went to Plumpton yesterday to saddle Lucky Sunny in the last. Because it was a fairly uncompetitive affair we hoped we would get away with the awful ground and the too short trip. However we did not get away with it and he pulled hard before finishing fourth. He jumped well and hopefully this will take the freshness out of him and he will be far better off on better ground on a more galloping track.
Last night I was kindly invited by Les and Linda Tomlin to supper. It appears that suppers have taken over from my lunches at present. In case you thought he wouldn't get a mention today, Barnsy came with me. Linda is an excellent cook and we had great fun in their cottage in Moreton in Marsh. Barnsy ensuring that there was nothing left for Les's bubble and squeak today.
Unfortunately Warwick is off today where amongst our runners was Gentle Guru who had been napped in the Racing Post. She had previously won over course and distance as a two year old on her favoured soft ground but we will now have to look for another option.
Today's horse in focus is the unnamed six year old by Robellino. He was bred by Fred and Sue Welch and is a half brother to the useful mare, Gold Reef. He has grown some two inches since being purchased and because of this has had various niggly problems including splints. However he appears to be able to gallop and his owners John Cantrill, Dave Mason and Ian Dunbar will soon be naming him in order that he can run in a bumper in May.
It is raining for a change in Adlestrop. We have had Good Friday visitors including the Tomlins, who came armed with hot cross buns and champagne, Easter eggs and wine for the staff.
Luckily my staff don't like champagne so we had a glass on the gallops. We viewed Bobby Donald on the gallops who is waiting for dryer weather, like them all.
We have declared Lucky Sunny for Plumpton on Sunday as it looks like a race he would have a chance in. He has schooled well enough at home and although the ground will be heavy, at least he has gone in it before.
Last night I took Barnsy over to the Lygon Arms in Chipping Campden to collect some valuables. We saw legendary local butcher, Clive Porter in there. Clive is a real character and a master butcher and according to Barnsy, his faggots come highly recommended. Clive is a Surrey boy originally and my aunt taught him English as a young boy, which is probably why he became a butcher.
As with all Barnsy trips, we had to pop in a couple of places on the way home and met up with Paddy Brennan in the Fox. Paddy is interesting to talk to and it was nice to re-enact that great Gold Cup again.
Today's horse in focus is Whenever. Whenever was purchased by Anthony Stroud Bloodstock as a yearling in 2005 from the October sales in Newmarket . He was always a good moving horse who was backward as a two year old. His owner John Williams said early on in his ownership that he didn't mind what I did as long as I didn't ruin him. Therefore whenever John asked when the horse was going to run, my reply was always “whenever,” hence his name.
In his opening maiden he was a running on third over a mile and a quarter and went on to win his next two races at Goodwood and Doncaster . His four year old debut second at Sandown was very pleasing and was then beaten under two lengths in a valuable handicap at Ascot given an appalling ride. Despite running some decent races, he was finding it hard to get his head in front so we took him hurdling and he was an impressive winner on his debut at Plumpton in the autumn. He must have good or good to firm ground to be shown at his best and ran a decent second recently at Taunton . Hopefully the ground will dry out enough before the end of the season to get another novice win into him. He has a handicap mark of 116 and hopefully he will be up to performing well in decent handicaps in the summer on the flat and over hurdles over a trip.
1st April, 2010
Unusually for a Thursday we had a schooling session this morning. Both Warren Marston and Tom Siddall came in to do the honours. Warren was in his element because the sun was so bright we couldn't school over fences, which is always a huge relief to a man of his age. However the rest of the morning went well.
Chris Leigh came to see me on the gallops this morning to view his Heythrop point to point winner, Von Galen. Since the horse's success in the two runner affair on Saturday, Christopher thinks he is Aiden O'Brien and Paul Nicholls rolled into one. Unfortunately he is the weight of Paul Nicholls and the height of Aiden O'Brien.
Last night Racing Post journalist Peter Thomas came to stay. We always treat him to a session with Barnsy who did not let us down and Peter was treated to a series of Barnsy stories including the story of the ‘pickled eggs' and the ‘mysterious midnight phone call.' Remind me to tell you them if ever you see me.
Barnsy is exciting about the prospect of Pak Jack running in the Topham at Aintree next Friday as he has a share in him but is worried about the heavy ground. He visits Pak Jack every morning and has a good half an hour conversation with him sharing his polos. He might not be the best horse in the world but he certainly has the best breath. Co incidentally, Pak Jack and Barnsy have similar teeth.
This morning we have finalised details of our next Adlestrop Club visit which will be to the Overbury Stud, where Kayf Tara stands on the 27 th April. It should be a good day out. I feel sorry for people who are not members of the Club.
Underworld Dandy is today's horse in focus. He was claimed at Wolverhampton by John Mills and came to us in December. He has won twice on the flat and has been placed for us. He is not the biggest but is by a very tough stallion in Fraam and is entered up on the turf at Warwick on Monday. Hopefully he will prefer the ground conditions there than the all weather.
John Mills has been a long time owner of ours and owned amongst others, Singing Detective, Soviet Sceptre and Frogmarch with us. John and I have had great luck over the years and let's hope Underworld Dandy can get his head in front for us.
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