I travelled up to Newmarket late on Monday night with Mick and we checked into a hotel. In the morning I went down to watch work with Pete. Winker was out first lot. He worked extremely well without seeming to extend himself – Pete thought it was there or thereabouts his nicest piece of work this year. Nicky Nutjob, an …
Skid to make his mark
Skid Solo comes out today trying to break his duck in the first at Wolver. We thought a lot of him at the start of the season but he’s been disappointing thus far. To be fair most of Pete’s 2yos that have come out have been disappointing this year, but he had a nice winner yesterday and maybe things are coming right now. …
Ran rain go away
The weather is currently scuppering my racing plans. We made the decision this morning not to supplement Winker at Deauville – the ground there is on the soft side and there is heavy rain forecast on Sunday. These forecasts are extremely unreliable and it’s perfectly possible that Sunday could turn out to be a glorious summer’s day, but he misses …
Postcard from abroad
A quick one from me from the hotel computer. It’s not easy checking out the racing from here as all betting related sites are blocked by the Italian regulator. I can access the Racing Post site at least, where I can check out Bouguereau’s oppo. Only six runners but no easy task on. Boug is extremely well, but he has …
Goodwood Glory ?
Bert€™s Bouguereau, in Tuesday€™s Betfair sponsored Gordon Stakes, and the Comic Strip Heroes€™ Winker Watson, in Wednesday€™s Sussex Stakes, are declared runners at Goodwood this week. They face just five and six rivals respectively and hopes are high for a bold show from both. I have a slight concern about the ground being too fast for Bouguereau if the current …
Off on my hols
Up and down betting at the moment. Good bets on Addikt and Whispering Angel came in but I took a heavy loss on Royal Destination last night. I missed an opportunity when Papradon, who had nearly reeled in Lilac Moon last time, won the first at Newmarket at a big price. It’s a nice boost for her form though. Just …
Strike two
An unbelievable day yesterday when Tom won the second 2yo group 2 with another incredibly cheap buy. Firth of Fifth cost 5,000 Guineas – Classic Blade 19,000 Euros. It is an incredible training feat, and great credit also to Richard Kingscote who rode so intelligently. I didn’t go yesterday – it seemed like a good time to take a day …
Disappointment
A big day and I made arrangements to go to Newmarket – I decided to book a driver for the day. I had a few errands to run in the morning and I headed off a bit late. I slept most of the way there – when I have a driver I usually stay up late the night before knowing I’ll make …
Cats and dogs
More hideous weather today – I’m told that we’re getting a month’s worth of rain today here in leafy Surrey. I can believe it – it’s cats and dogs out there. It wasn’t raining at Newmarket overnight and early morning, but the rain started an hour ago and it’s chucking it down now (11:40). Rain is also forecast at Chantilly …
Gubbed
I had a good day at Wimbledon with Jane and our two daughters. In truth the girls were a bit too young to appreciate it and they got bored towards the end. When Andy Murray went two sets down we decided to call it a day and head home. Oh well. I spent most of the morning with Tom Goff who …