I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Doncaster with Tom and the Owens. We looked at half the horses in the sale and ended up buying 12 for Manor House stables – we’ve already sold three of them. Doncaster is a good place to buy forward 2yo types – the pedigrees typically aren’t quite top class but the horses are …
Perfect Day
I woke up yesterday in my house on the south coast. A quick shower and down for breakfast – Jane and the kids, her mother, her brother and his family all milling around. This house has been in my family since my Grandfather built it in 1933, It had been very run down, a bit like the wider area, but …
There’s something about Trotty
Perhaps I’m an eternal optimist but I’ve got a feeling that Jonathan Trott may turn out to be something special. He’s taken his time to make his test debut (28) but the finest wines take the longest to mature. He just looks right to me somehow. Swindon lost their first game 5-0, but I’ve become optimistic there as well. They …
Bob
I’m out and about today but I can now update my blog with my Blackberry, so no excuses any more. Some of our friends are just back from holiday, and we spoke to two of them yesterday. One mother said that whenever they went to the beach they would play ‘run like Edgar’ (Eddie is Edgar) – you run down …
Why Dad why?
When I was young I remember a comic strip called “why dad why” with a young boy who was always asking his dad silly questions. Eddie is at that age now, and I understand where the strip was coming from – I have to deal with questions like “who would win if a tiger fought a gorilla?”. It’s a very …
New Venture
It’s a while since my last post, and a lot to blog about. I’ve taken a 50% stake in Manor House Stables, going in as joint owner alongside Michael Owen who built the stable up from nothing. Tom Dascombe comes in as trainer, although he still has to focus on his Lambourn stable for a while as there is work …
Born free
It’s chaotic at home at the moment with the children now full on and with nowhere to hide at home. Robbie is making life more difficult as he’s found a way to get out of his pen and he keeps running off onto the common that adjoins the farm – I’ve had to go in after him six times in …
Commercial type
A good win for Quaker Parrot on Thursday, and she’s proving to be a nice commercial type. She isn’t blessed with the ability of some but she loves racing and really lights up when she gets to the track – she’s learning and progressing and on the whole is one to stay on the right side of. Open Glory, who …
Subtle hints
Long time no blog. I’ve been out and about for a while now with no blogging time, so a fair bit to catch up on. Last Thursday I went up to Cambridge with Steve Morana, Betfair CFO. We spent the afternoon in the offices of a small company called Featurespace – they are data analysts specialising in fraud detection. I studied …
Sports Day 2
A long day in the sun yesterday and I missed all the racing. It was prize giving at school and sports day for the older ones. Eddie didn’t win his class prize and he moaned loudly for the rest of the ceremony – his cries got louder as each prize was announced. He was entertaining in his race – I whipped him …