Just a quickie today as I’m off to Kempton. King’s Head runs in the 2:40 and he’s favourite. He’s been disappointing lately and we’ve dropped him to claiming class. He’s working very well at home and if he puts his best foot forward he’ll win this race in a canter. It’s a big if though. He doesn’t need much of …
Not the easiest
A quiet day yesterday – my two boys went to see “The Snowman” up in town with Jane’s mother. Eddie who is four and talks non stop and has opinions on everything had his grandmother laughing all day. He explained his strategy to her for getting us to put the TV on; “I ask mum, and if she says no I ask …
Getting in the mix
I’m having a quiet time of it here on the farm. We’re very exposed here and it’s very cold – we’ve all had the flu and are mostly staying in. The kids (and me) have been spending a lot of time on the Wii, which can be a bit dangerous. There’s this game called Mario Kart where you career around …
Momentous day
I went to Lapland on the weekend, which was good fun. It was a real winter wonderland – pine forests of deep snow. We had a late night husky ride (they don’t half motor), a reindeer sleigh ride followed by a trek to meet Santa in a hut in the woods and a snowmobile trek. The cabin was decent but the …
Conspiracy
I’m going through a quiet period horse wise. Mon Michel is probably out for the season, and he was possibly my best prospect for this year. Tifernati was bought to go hurdling this year, but he had a massive wart on his backside which had to be removed – he should go in to Gary’s at the beginning of January. …
Early morning call
If there’s one thing I dread it’s when a trainer calls me unexpectedly in the early morning. Gary Moore called me early on Friday – Mon Michel is probably out for the season with a leg problem. We don’t know how bad it is yet as he kicked and broke the scanner when we tried to take a look, but …
I’ve had better
I’ve had better weekends. On Friday in the day my main fancies ran badly, although I found a couple of winners to limit the damage. I had three runners in the evening, all fancied a little bit and they all finished tailed off! I decided to have a go at the Scoop6 on Saturday – I put only one in each of the …
Harty and Hendy
Three runners at Wolverhampton this evening, and I may go up. King’s Head goes in the 8:50 and both Shepherd’s Warning and Effingham go in the 9:20. King’s Head comes here mainly because we haven’t had the right ground to run him over the jumps. He doesn’t like it soft and it’s tough finding the right opportunities for him over …
Thoughts on Melbourne
I’m back at my desk having flown in to a freezing cold Heathrow at 5:30 this morning wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I hardly slept a wink and I’m fading fast – as soon as I’ve done the blog I’m off to bed. I couldn’t have been more impressed with Melbourne – it’s got everything. It’s clean and well maintained …
Derby Day
Still in Aus and still suffering from jetlag – I suspect I’ll finally get over it when it’s time to go home. I travelled over with Stephen Morana, Betfair’s Chief Financial Officer, who is also feeling it. I had a busy day Wednesday, finishing late in the office – Stephen was asleep in his chair. We walked back to the hotel – I had an early …