31st August, 2010


Walid Marzouk and his wife Paula came over for lunch yesterday and we popped to the Horse and Groom following seeing Amore Mio and Drussell on the gallops.

They were both purchased at Doncaster May sales and we are looking for people to buy a leg in each. They are two useful horses that could well win over hurdles or fences and if you are looking for any interest over the winter, don't hesitate to be in touch.

A beautiful morning in Adlestrop once the mist lifted. I was joined by Brian Duckett second lot. Brian has been an owner for many seasons and is a great supporter. We caught up with new ideas for The Adlestrop Club including a fun quiz to be held on the Owners Day with the winner receiving a free membership of the Club.

We went to Daylesford for some scrambled egg on toast. If you have not visited Daylesford it is Lady Bamford's organic farm shop and its amazing who you meet in there. This morning Kate Winslet was in there, who lives locally. I did not have time to remind her that we both have an Oscar, the difference being that mine is a five year old.

30th August, 2010


All quiet on the runners front at present. No entries this week but we will be back in the swing with Fair Breeze, Eastwell Smiles etc to run soon. The string are at present cantering away building up their fitness for hopefully some faster work this month.

A busy weekend as ever. Friday evening was a wine tasting for our owners day. Neil Gladding of the Oxford Wine Company came over with a few samples. They have a particularly nice rose called Tariquet which has had a good write up in The Telegraph. It should get most of my owners tipsy in a very short time.

Following early morning gallops on Saturday, I travelled to Newmarket to see Snakes Head, a broodmare I have a share in at Northmore Stud in Exning. I have leg of her along with Lyn and Alan Blackman and David Bladon who have been members of the Dozen Dreamers syndicate since the beginning. I also saw her foal by Bahamian Bounty and he will go to the foal sales in December at Tattersalls and hopefully pay for a few bills.

In case you were wondering, I haven't had many lunches recently. Alan kindly treated me to a homemade chilli con carne in the local, whilst he had fish, chips and peas. It is always interesting to see my owners eating habits and I am sure you will be fascinated to know that he always leaves his peas until last and luckily for him his son hates them. Apparently there is no amount of peas that he cannot eat.

On Sunday Laurence Robertson MP popped over to have a look around the horses and we went to the Horse & Groom for a pint or two. Then it was off to Sunday lunch with Martin and Sue Harvey of Tori Global. I was accompanied by Barnsy who not only offered to drive but also offered to drink everything in Martin's house.

26th August

Good ground at Bangor felt like good to soft to Whenever and Sam Thomas reported that he just couldn't quicken in it, having travelled well to the straight. He undoubtedly needs firmish ground to show his best and hopefully the rains will stop soon and we will be able to get a run into him in September. We have no entries at present while we concentrate on getting the jumpers fit for October.

Pleased to say I played nine holes of golf with Laurence Robertson yesterday at Chipping Norton golf club. As many will know, Laurence is MP for Tewkesbury and a perfect MP in that he likes horseracing, hunting, golf, beer, food, pool and common sense. All very rare for an MP. Despite the rain it was nice to catch up on British politics and racing politics.

This morning Camilla Murdoch came to view Pezula who has been leased to Camilla, her husband Will and a few others for the coming jump season. The mare has done very well over the summer and looks far stronger this season. Hopefully 2 ½ miles on good to soft ground will bring the best out of her this autumn and she should provide a bit of fun for her new syndicate, The Squashed Club.

Later this morning Jenny Trier and Sally Goode made their annual visit to Adlestrop. Jenny and Sally had a share in Time Won't Wait, one of our first horses. Time Won't Wait won twelve races and was placed in some good ones too. He was known as the ‘Panto Horse' as he was owned by people involved with the Old Berks pantomine.

I always use an occasion involving the Old Berks pantomime to define quality of life. Michael Sissons, one of the co owners was always one of the stars of the panto. He was a top literary agent in London and a great supporter of the hunt, who insisted on dressing up as a woman on stage. The production was called ‘Gone In the Wind' a send up of Gone With The Wind, which also starred Richard Pitman amongst others. In the audience of the opening night were such distinguished guests as Douglas Herd, Lord Lloyd Webber and Lord Vestey.

The pantomime took place at the beginning of March each year and on the opening night I was sharing a dressing room with Michael. Sissons would be 6'5” 20 stone, bald with a very soft voice. As he was playing a black mamma in the production, he had his face blacked, stood in the mirror turned to me and said, “Richard would you mind awfully helping me put my bra on?” As I connected the garment, he turned to me and said in the most serious of tones in one of life's most ridiculous situations “does our horse go to Cheltenham ?”

Life doesn't get much better.

25th August

Hopefully it won't rain at Bangor today and Whenever can take his chance in the 6pm. First lot we had our bank manager, Simon Keane visiting. Simon loves his racing like most Allied Irish Bank managers. Unfortunately like most men, since he has had a family he can't afford a share in a racehorse anymore, however he enjoys following our fortunes in every respect.

Dave Mason and Ian Dunbar came to visit Stormhoek this morning. He is new to us this season and has shown useful form in bumpers and novice hurdles. He looks very much a chaser in the making and is one of a number of exciting new inmates. Also out was Naranga who belongs to Dave's wife Pauline. He is a four year old by Generous who was purchased at the Cheltenham sale last December. He is a lovely athlete who is strengthening all the time.

This morning Notker arrived having had his summer holiday with his owners, the Keswicks, at Rockcliffe Stud. Notker is a very attractive but rather large four year old who has had niggly problems in the past but hopefully we will have a clear run with him this season and he is definitely a horse of potential.

24th August

Whenever has been declared for Bangor tomorrow. Hopefully the ground will be okay but if there is too much rain, he will not run as he seems to show his best form on a sound surface. Sam Thomas will ride him and hopefully with blinkers on he should put up a good show. Yesterday we took delivery of Sue Welch's four year old mare by Bollin Eric who is to be named Jerica. She is a half sister to Return Ticket, a horse we had a few years ago and also the useful His Nibs and Splendid Thyne.

She is an attractive filly and we had her earlier in the spring for a bit of education and it would be great to win a race with her to continue the line, as her mother is getting on in years now. There are still a couple more to come in now but we look to have a team of around 45 for this season. The best season we had, we had a similar number and hopefully there are some quality new recruits among them.

I read with interest Marcus Armytage's column in the Telegraph today. Better known as ‘Fluffy' to me, it is well worth a read and involves our friend Corky being stung by a bee on his backside.

Talking of mates, we had the pleasure of David Wike come to do some building work for us last week. I have known ‘Wikey' since my Graham Thorner days and I was best man at his wedding. He later went on to be assistant to Martin Pipe and Jenny Pitman and you can imagine he has a few stories to tell. Not only is he a good horseman but he is an excellent builder too. He has also been blessed with the wicked wit of Peter Kay proportions and has the ability to make us all laugh and he certainly kept the troops amused while I was in York.

23rd August, 2010

I have now returned from York . Great Hero pulled too hard in his bumper at Hereford but Paddy Brennan liked him a lot and said he travelled very well. We will now school him over hurdles and I am sure with a jump in front of him, he will learn to settle better and can only improve physically.

Fair Breeze ran for experience at Sandown on Friday. Liam Jones reported that she is still a bit weak but once she gets a handicap mark, should be competitive and be in the winners enclosure like her elder siblings.

York is always a great meeting which rivals Goodwood and certainly kicks Ascot into touch. Many owners are there and it is a good chance to catch up them all and discuss plans for their horses. On Wednesday I was a guest of Weatherbys thanks to Dr Paull Khan. They had invited many interesting people including a man who lived in Barbados and came to Doncaster every year for two weeks holiday. Nowt stranger than folk.

On Thursday I was a guest of 7 Day Catering and Mark Boothright. Mark has a share in Giovanna and sponsors Martin Keighley's yard. Martin and I had a good day attempting to avoid walking upsides Boothright who always wears outlandish suits. On this occasion it was a black and pink number. Many of you will have seen him at Cheltenham wearing his white, orange and green quartered effort on St Patricks Day every year.

On Friday I was a guest of Aegon thanks to my owner and school friend Jon Dadswell. Jon and I were neighbours and have known each other since we were five years of age, although we look a bit different these days!

Owners Suzanne and Nigel Williams also attended York on Friday for a day out and we caught up later in the day to discuss winter plans.

Whenever was taken out of Newton Abbot yesterday as the ground had gone good to soft. He is in great form but typically it won't stop raining. Hopefully the first time blinkers will be used to good effect soon and he has entries at Bangor and Ffos Las this week.

Many of the jumpers have now started steady cantering up the gallops and everyone has commented on how well they look. We definitely have the strongest team of horses that we have had for some seasons and we look forward to the autumn. Let's pray they stay fit and healthy.

17th August, 2010


Great Hero has been declared for the bumper at Hereford tomorrow evening. He ran a super race at Uttoxeter last time under Richard Johnson and Paddy Brennan takes over tomorrow. It is a competitive event and hopefully the ground will be well watered. Hopefully he will have a good each way chance and learn a bit more from the experience.

I had a good day in London yesterday meeting up with owners. In the evening I had a leisurely supper with owners Helen Nixseaman and John Rosbotham. They are both owners of Pak Jack. Helen and John are work colleagues at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and we always have great fun when meeting up. John and I have know each other since the age of five and we have always shared a passion for horseracing and it is always great to catch up.

Unfortunately during evening stables yesterday, Faisal got banged on the nose when feeding a horse and was taken in to Gloucester hospital by Whitey for stitches. Hopefully all has gone well and it should improve his looks.

16th August, 2010



Eastwell Smiles decided he didn't like flat racing once he got passed in the straight and will now revert to hurdling. However owner Sue Harvey had a lovely evening despite missing Rick Astley.

Jo is now back from her massage course and hopefully you will get blogged a more. However I am in York this week so again it will be a bit intermittent. Hope you don't miss it too much.

On Friday Colin Pocock delivered back Captain Tidds and his unnamed Oscar four year old. They look in good condition following their summer break and we are looking forward to a successful season ahead. Hopefully Captain Tidds can win a decent handicap chase for his ever patient owner. Whilst hopefully the Oscar will be running in a bumper later in the season.

On Friday I was kindly invited by Lawrence Robertson MP for a game of golf and a catch up on the racing world. You will remember his partner Annie rode Stop The Show for The Adlestrop Club in the charity race at the Cheltenham Festival.

Lawrence loves his racing and is a top man and is joint chairman of the All Party Racing committee. Luckily I beat him on the final putt on the last hole which was a body blow for the very competitive member of parliament. I later took him on at pool down his local pub where he has his own pool cue kept behind the bar. He is the pub champion but after two matches it was a draw and I look forward to the rematch.

Lawrence is a very popular member of his constituency and gets ribbed a lot about the political scene. However if only more MPs spent as much time with their constituents sharing a pint, a game of pool and a great deal of humour then the house of commons would have a far better reputation.

Yesterday I joined Martin and Sue Harvey at Cotswold Hunt Show near Andoversford. We went to support their now retired racehorse, Go Harvey Go in the rehabilitation of racehorses class. ‘ Harvey ' is now having the life of luxury thanks to Katie Merson who broke him in as a four year old. This was his first attempt and he performed very well and looked in great condition. Although not getting a rosette on this occasion, it is only a matter of time.

12th August,2010

Let's hope Eastwell Smiles runs well this evening at Chepstow. It is a 2 mile 2 flat race and hopefully if things go well, he should run a good one.

The horses look really well and so they should at this time of year and they are getting fit for the exciting season ahead.

We had our annual visit from Ian Brown on Tuesday. Ian has been a lucky owner and has had good horses such as Averted View and Gentle Guru with us. He has also owned Majestic Missile, Roaring Forte and had a share in Petrushka. He spends most of his life in Malaysia but spends the summer in Britain and it is always fun to put him up in Adlestrop overnight. He saw his filly Fair Breeze, half sister to Gentle Guru work well on Wednesday morning and hopefully she will make her debut at Sandown Friday week. She is not as fast as Gentle Guru being by Trade Fair and will probably want a mile and a quarter or more eventually.

Today Lizzie Prowting came over for her annual birthday lunch. Lizzie owns Rich Buddy, a promising son of Kayf Tara who will be running in bumpers this autumn and following seeing him, Richard Johnson and Choc Thornton joined us for lunch. Lizzie is always great fun and was a great friend of the Duke and most of lunch was spent laughing and reminiscing about the good old days.

We were discussing that for the Adlestrop Club in January following the great success of A Winter's Evening when Francome, Pitman and Delaney spoke of the fun times with Fred Winter, we thought we should have an evening celebrating the light of D. Nicholson. Amongst Johnson, Thornton, Marston and Clarkson the stories should have The Adlestrop Club very entertained and we look forward to organising an evening early in the new year.

10th August, 2010

I hope you are not missing the blog too much. As you know, Jo has been on a massage course and therefore being technically useless, I cannot blog myself.

Pleased to report we came back from Doncaster sales with a few new purchases and details will follow. If you fancy buying a share in a decent racehorse, please get in touch.

Friday was fun as I played in the St Josephs golf day at Oaklands golf course in Buckinghamshire. I was invited by Father Martin, who as you will know has a horse named after him owned by Sue and Martin Harvey. Despite getting forty points and there were no prizes other than the longest drive - of which the bottle of whiskey was immediately passed on to Father Martin.

The Adlestrop Club cricket match took place yesterday. As ever we played the locals in a 40 over match which ended in victory for the home side, much to the disappointment of the opposition's captain!

I feel the match could have been won had my nephew Sebastian not gone to The Fox at Broadwell for three pints of cider beforehand. Last year he won the match for us, this year he lost the match for us – however great fun was had especially as Warren Marston bowled so badly but made up for it with his batting.

The raffle raised money for Adlestrop Cricket Club and the Injured Jockeys Fund and appropriately Choc Thornton turned out to pick out the raffle tickets. The prizes this time being quite attractive due to the fact that they had not been supplied by yours truly.

I know many of you are missing the blog. It was a very busy week at Goodwood. As you will know, I do not take a summer holiday but on look upon Goodwood as a busman's trip.

Guy Harwood kindly invited me to his party on Tuesday evening which was a wonderful affair. Managed to corner Sir Michael Stoute and asked him why he had been quoted in the Racing Post as saying he liked horses with small ears and eyes. I accused him of taking the micky but he assures me he wasn't and doesn't know where the quote came from. However I can confirm he likes the opposite.

I had the delight of playing golf at Goodwood on Wednesday morning with Rick Allen, Bob Scott and Adrian Powell. This is an annual match and once again Scott and Powell beat us but it was a close run thing.

The racing was fantastic all week and Hughsy and Hannon were something else. As I have said before R Hughes has more self confidence than any other jockey and he would fancy his chances if he rode the tortoise against the hare.

The highlight of the week is undoubtedly the crazy golf challenge at Littlehampton. Due to Rick Allen being nine off the tee at the eighth, Phillips won it much to everyone's disgust. Charlie Allan was second and played a blinder for a newcomer. Whilst Barnsy now realises the game is harder than he thought and next year it will require a buggy.

We were treated to picnics all week thanks to Andrew and Jane Nicholls and Colin Smith. So many of our owners are there, it is a great way to catch up and if you have never visited, it is a must.

Pleased to report that all at base is going well and there is a start of a new term feeling in the yard. We have entered Whenever at Worcester on Friday in the three mile handicap hurdle where he will probably wear blinkers as he worked well in them on Saturday morning.

It is Doncaster sales this week so blogs maybe intermittent and also Jo the slave is physically off work but not mentally.