AUGUST 2015
|
Monday 31 August 2015 |
|
|
It was
such a ghastly day, weather-wise, that I didn’t venture out to Huntingdon; but here
are the results for my runners of interest:
Pattara (Noel Williams/Gerard Tumelty) won the
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3 furlongs & 137 yards] (8 ran); Noel’s stable
jockey James Banks rode the Fergal O’Brien-trained 9-2 shot and finished only
4th! Daydreamer
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up and Menace (Noel Williams/James
Banks) finished 7th in the Maiden Hurdle ([1 mile 7 furlongs & 121 yards]
(10 ran). Both Kyles Faith and Cearys were
non-runners. Menace was
last of those which finished his race and the race comments were “mid-division, not fluent 1st or 3rd, well
beaten from 3 out”. But Noel was very pleased with both of his
charges; having tweeted: “Pleasing
day at Huntingdon Races, Pattara deciding that
winning's easier than being an old witch and Menace jumping well on his
hurdles debut!” Perhaps that’s why James Banks chose not to ride Pattara! EPDS Racing has arranged Open Mornings for their
owners, with the Noel Williams yard’s date set for Saturday 10 October; that
coincides with the first proper Saturday of the National Hunt season, when
racing takes place at Chepstow. I almost forgot to mention that Wayne
Hutchinson rode his 7th
winner of the
season aboard Volcanic at Cartmel on Saturday.
Hurricane Fly pictured winning the 2013 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham It was
announced today that Hurricane Fly has been retired. More Here is
another link relating to Hurricane Fly.
More And
trainer Willie Mullins also pays tribute to the horse. More And this
is where Hurricane Fly shows what a nice horse he is ... NOT! The almost-victim is Rich Ricci ... https://mobile.twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/638327320336564224?p=v And if
that link doesn’t work, try this one: Also announcing
that she is going to retire at the end of this season is Hayley Turner. More Davy Russell
will be on the injury sidelines for a while, having sustained a broken arm
and broken foot at Cork yesterday. More But better
news of Jason Maguire who hopes to return to racecourse action soon. More Victoria
Pendleton finished a close 2nd on her second racecourse outing, on this
occasion competing in an amateur riders’ race. More This is a
good publicity initiative by the Fergal O’Brien yard: https://twitter.com/FOBRacing/status/638075176614236160/photo/1 There’s no
racing at Newton Abbot tomorrow, as the racecourse has succumbed to the
rain. I’m not
looking forward to this week at work, as my colleague is on holiday ... it’s
often difficult to keep up with the workload with two of us in the office,
let alone one! |
|
|
Sunday 30 August 2015 |
|
|
There’s National
Hunt racing at Cartmel and Huntingdon tomorrow,
with runners of interest at the latter: 13:30 Pattara (Noel Williams/Gerard Tumelty)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3 furlongs & 137 yards] 14:05 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Chase [2 miles 3 furlongs & 189 yards] 14:40
Daydreamer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Menace (Noel Williams/James
Banks) & Cearys (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Maiden Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlongs & 121
yards] The comment regarding Menace ahead of the race is
“improved effort in bumpers when third
of 7 at Fontwell recently but would still be a bit
of a surprise winner on hurdling bow”. As things
currently stand, I’m of the opinion that the weather has thrown a rather
large spanner in the works as regards a trip to Huntingdon – heavy rain is
due to arrive at midnight and last until 14:00 or 15:00 tomorrow afternoon. In fact a typical Bank Holiday!!! I don’t mind standing in the rain as it is
all part and parcel of being a fan of National Hunt racing – but it’s the
possibility of my poor little fiesta getting stuck in a muddy field and
needing to be pulled out by a tractor that worries me! Poodles ... John Powell of EPDS Racing has tweeted a couple
of photos of Shilpa and her filly foal: https://twitter.com/EPDS_Racing/status/637684044675813376/photo/1 https://twitter.com/EPDS_Racing/status/637613438638927872/photo/1 Alan King, Oliver Sherwood and Jack Lander
accompanied Richard Farquhar who is ‘Walking the Courses’ to raise money for
research into Pancreatic Cancer and also for Racing Welfare. Yesterday’s leg of the journey took them to
Cartmel. I cleared
most of the self-set wild strawberries from the wildflower plot yesterday
morning, and then revamped a number of necklaces during the afternoon. It was really warm and sunny a.m. but
rained late p.m. Today has been overcast
and gloomy ... very depressing but no rain as yet. I went with mum to visit the graveyard this
afternoon, followed by a visit to Argos and then Dunelms;
she wanted a new set of kitchen scales, the last one having sustained damage
when she dropped them on the floor, also new bath towel and an ironing board
cover ... exciting stuff!!! |
|
|
Friday 28 August 2015 |
|
|
Happy Retirement Benbane Head “Benny” Martin
Keighley has announced that Benbane Head (Benny)
has been retired, following consultation with his vet. Benny will return to live with his owners,
where a family friend will also hunt him from time to time. So I’m sure he will be very happy and
hopefully have many years to enjoy his retirement. Noel
Williams has tweeted a photo of Menace and stable companion Theatre Goer
schooling: https://mobile.twitter.com/noelwilliams03/status/637346399592521728/photo/1 There’s
National Hunt racing at Cartmel tomorrow, so no
runners of interest, and no jumps fixtures on Sunday. However, there are two meetings on Bank
Holiday Monday – Cartmel again, and Huntingdon. I still
have some gardening to do this weekend ... wild strawberries have been
colonising the wild flower plot and need to be culled severely! And I have two packets of new wild flower
seeds – one to be sown in September/October, the other around May time. But I’m sure the former won’t mind being
sown in late August! And they will
make a welcome addition to the Pink Mallow, Red Campion and Viper’s Bugloss
which dominate during late spring and early summer. The seeds having fallen, I cut back the
stems to ground level last weekend. I have two
or three necklaces to revamp and some knitting to do too. And, come to think of it, I also have a
cross stitching project to finish and ‘Larry
the Laidback Sloth’ to knit too!
|
|
|
Thursday 27 August 2015 |
|
|
There are
a couple of results today, from Stratford-Upon-Avon: The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6 furlongs 7 yards] (8 ran);
Andrew was able to ride the horse after all, because his intended mount at
Sedgefield was a non-runner. Jeans Lady
(Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 3rd in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
(12 ran). Menace has
a couple of new stable-mates, Liz Prowting’s
Midnight Merlot and Midnight Jitterbug: https://mobile.twitter.com/noelwilliams03/status/636955109088468992/photo/1#tweet_636955109088468992 And Jack
Lander, the young lad who recently raised over £12,000 for the IJF by
undertaking a sponsored walk from Stratford Racecourse to Oaksey
House in Lambourn, paid a visit to the Keighley’s
yard and is pictured riding along the gallops on his new pony Splash: https://mobile.twitter.com/JacksIJFwalk/status/636937207371157504/photo/1 And here
is Jack again, along with Freddie Keighley and Dinky: There are
a couple of new trainer websites – Fergal O’Brien, who recently moved back to
Naunton, where he shares the facilities with Nigel Twiston-Davies: http://fergalobrienracing.co.uk/ And
Richard Hughes, who retired recently: http://richardhughesracing.co.uk/ There’s no
National Hunt racing tomorrow. |
|
|
Wednesday 26 August 2015 |
|
|
It’s still
very quiet on the racing front, hence the intermittent blogs ... There was
excellent news for the Apple Tree Stud at the DBS Premier Yearling Sales
today, with their Camacho colt being sold for £70,000 to trainer Brian
Ellison! Choc has been in Doncaster
since the weekend, overseeing the team and showing his charge to interested
buyers. https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/635833956848508928/photo/1 A total of
416 horses were sold during the past two days of the sale; with a one-day
Silver Sale taking place tomorrow. The top
price paid was £220,000. The average
was £42,731 and a median of £30,000.
So, with a sale of £70,000, Apple Tree Stud did very well. Menace is
due to make his jumping debut in a Maiden Hurdle at Huntingdon on Bank
Holiday Monday; his first right-handed outing. I won’t put my name forward for the owners’
badges ballot, having already had the honour at Worcester, but I think
there’s a possibility that I may make the trip anyway! I noted
with interest that Martin Keighley had a 2-year-old debutante runner on the
flat at Carlisle on Monday, Jazzy; Martin reported that he ran well, although
he was green and needs a longer trip – he finished 11th of 12 but wasn’t very
far adrift of the winner. There’s
another ‘painted’ racehorse,
skewbald Angrove Fatrascal
but, as usual, the experiment was not a success with the horse trailing in
last at Catterick: https://twitter.com/RacingPost/status/636530862528557056/photo/1 RIP Swing Bill
There’s
very sad news that popular grey Swing Bill has passed away in retirement aged
just 14, due to colic. He first came
to my attention when winning at Newton Abbott on 05 July 2010; the race in
which Hell’s Bay ran out through the wing and tore Choc’s
right knee asunder. His final race
under rules was the 2014 Grand National, in which he finished an honourable
9th, although he had been point-to-pointing since then; it’s such a shame he
was not able to enjoy a lengthy retirement after many years of good
service. It’s such
a dreary old week ... I just managed to get to work before it tipped down
with rain this morning; well almost! I
jogged the final few metres, to keep as dry as possible! My colleague Sue made a mistake today, when
she took a number of large empty cardboard boxes down to a skip which is
located in the underground car park.
She couldn’t see where she was going because the boxes she was
carrying obscured her vision and she walked into several inches of water
which had accumulated in that area because it’s at the bottom of a
slope! Whoops; and she didn’t have a
change of shoes in the office either.
However,
there are two runners of interest tomorrow, at Stratford-Upon-Avon: 16:10 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 6 furlongs 7 yards] 16:40
Jeans Lady (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) – Mares’ Handicap Hurdle The
National Hunt fixture list at this time of the year makes little sense ... a
number of fixtures on the same day, followed by any number of days with
none. Tomorrow being a point in
question, as there are also meetings at Sedgefield and Southwell. |
|
|
Sunday 23 August 2015 |
|
|
There were
two runners of interest yesterday and this is how they fared: Perth: Kumbeshwar (Lucinda Russell/Ross Chapman) finished 3rd in
the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs 35 yards] (5 ran). Newton Abbot: Darnitnev (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
finished 7th in the Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (10 ran). Make that
three, with the ex-Alan King-trained Midnight Appeal finishing 8th in the
Listed Lord Mildmay Memorial Handicap Chase at the
Devon track too (12 ran). Meanwhile,
today at Worcester: Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Danny Hiskett)
finished 4th but Primo Capitano (Martin
Keighley/Tom Bellamy) was a non-runner in the Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden
Hurdle (6 ran). There’s no
National Hunt racing tomorrow. I’ve been
researching further into Menace’s pedigree and have found even more
well-known horses in his bloodline ... I think I may upload a ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ type family
tree for him, once I’ve sorted out the formatting! Choc has
re-tweeted a photo of The Apple Tree Stud’s Camacho colt ready for this
week’s Goffs/DBS yearling sale: https://mobile.twitter.com/Kirsty_Durham/status/635349765274923008/photo/1 I went to a
local bead fair this morning and, as expected, I failed miserably to remain
within my budget! It happens every
time, as I love buying beads!!!
Naughty me ... I suppose the only solution is not to attend any bead
fairs! |
|
|
Friday 21 August 2015 |
|
|
Two
runners of interest tomorrow: Newton Abbot: 15:40 Darnitnev (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Perth: 17:00 Kumbeshwar (Lucinda Russell/Ross Chapman) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs 35 yards] And a
couple at Worcester on Sunday too: 17:00
Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Danny Hiskett) & Primo Capitano
(Martin Keighley/Tom Bellamy) – Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden Hurdle I’m
actually looking forward to working in the garden tomorrow – I’m going to
tidy the wild flower garden, the plants having just about finished flowering
now. I even did some lopping on
Wednesday evening; the victim on this occasion was the larger of the
Deutzias! On Sunday I
will be attending a local bead fair where, hopefully, one of my favourite
suppliers will have a stand, namely Totally Beads. I’ve set myself a budget but, as usual,
will probably get carried away regardless!
I was going to walk there and back, like I did last year, but the
weather forecast for Sunday is not looking promising ... |
|
|
Thursday 20 August 2015 |
|
|
There were
three runners of interest at Stratford-Upon-Avon this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Laughingalltheway (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 5th in the
Novices’ Hurdle (6 ran). Fred Le
Macon (Alan King/Jamie Insole) finished 2nd in the Novices’ Handicap Hurdle
(13 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 5th in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 6 furlongs 125 yards] (11 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing at Bangor-On-Dee tomorrow, but no runners of
interest. |
|
|
Wednesday 19 August 2015 |
|
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Worcester: Georgian King
(Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) finished 5th in the Handicap Chase [2 miles
7 furlongs] (7 ran). Marley Joe
(Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 6th in
the Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (9 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
was a non-runner in the Claiming Hurdle Bobble
Emerald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished
7th in the Class 3 Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs] (8 ran). Monty’s
Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 12th
in the Class 5 Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs] (15 ran). There are
three runners of interest at Stratford-Upon-Avon tomorrow: 14:55 Laughingalltheway (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Novices’ Hurdle 16:05 Fred
Le Macon (Alan King/Jamie Insole) – Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 16:40 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Chase [2 miles 6 furlongs 125 yards] Arabian
Queen, a 50-1 outsider trained by David ‘Desert
Orchid’ Elsworth, caused a shock when winning
the Juddmonte International. Golden Horn finished second on unsuitable
ground, with Gleneagles a non-runner because of it. More |
|
|
Tuesday 18 August 2015 |
|
|
Guess who
I saw in the Parade Ring whilst watching RUK’s TV coverage of the Newbury
fixture last Friday? Choc of course
(above)! The presenters mentioned that
the Apple Tree Stud’s Teofilo colt, Tyrell, was
purchased from the Gigginstown Stud for 70,000
guineas. Although his first run was
very disappointing, I’m sure he’ll improve with better ground ... and a
quicker start from the stalls too! I also
viewed Menace’s Fontwell race on ATR – Luke Harvey
said the one horse to ‘take out’ of
the bumper was our little pony, who had put up his best performance yet;
evidently ‘Leglock’
thinks we should have some fun with Menace when he goes hurdling over 2½ or
even 3 miles! Menace’s
sire is Papal Bull, his grand-sire Montjeu, and
great-grand-sire Saddler’s Wells! No
wonder our boy has personality! His
dam is named Wishfully Tropical and she has Green Desert and Bustino in her bloodline!
It’s a
busy day at Worcester tomorrow, with five
runners of interest: 17:30
Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 7
furlongs] 18:00
Marley Joe (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race 19:00 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Claiming Hurdle 19:30
Bobble Emerald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs] 20:00
Monty’s Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs] There are
a number of National Hunt fixtures coming up; Stratford-Upon-Avon on
Thursday, Bangor-on-Dee on Friday, Perth and Newton Abbot on Saturday and
Worcester again on Sunday. The flat
racing highlight this week is the 4-day York Ebor fixture - tomorrow features
the Juddmonte International with Golden Horn and
Gleneagles amongst others. More |
|
|
Saturday 15 August 2015 |
|
|
Johnny Og and Bobble Emerald hold entries for Southwell tomorrow ... but are listed as doubtful due to
the lack of rain. That’s unlike Worcester,
where Martin Keighley reports that water needed to be pumped off part of the
racecourse due to 45mm of rain arriving Thursday evening/Friday morning! There was
one runner of interest yesterday, at Newbury: Tyrell
(Alan King/Tom Queally and owned by Apple Tree
Stud) finished 9th in the Maiden Stakes Div I (2 year-olds) [7 furlongs] (10
ran); he dwelt in the stalls and, despite catching up with the others, it
could not have done his eventual chances any good whatsoever! And the going may not have been suitable
too. For the
record, Alan also had two other runners at the track, with Precision Five
finishing 8th of 12, and Phantom River finishing 5th of 11, in their
respective races. I’ve saved
four recent twitter links: Andrew McNamara signs off with a win at Tramore: https://twitter.com/IrishRacing365/status/632260388978036736/photo/1 This one is cute ... sheltering from the rain: https://twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/632079303455440897/photo/1 Belinda and Freddie Keighley riding back from the
gallops: https://twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/632091064837533696/photo/1 Fontwell Park has tweeted a photo of Nicely Indeed
winning the last race on Thursday ... also pictured is our little pony,
Menace: https://mobile.twitter.com/FontwellPark/status/632598887446933504/photo/1 And
further photos of Menace from Thursday: http://www.racehorsephotos.co.uk/photo25222003.html#photo http://www.racehorsephotos.co.uk/menace#photo http://www.racehorsephotos.co.uk/photo25222010.html#photo Many happy
returns of the day to my friend Lesley, who is 21 again today! Also happy birthday wishes for tomorrow to Belinda
Keighley. I’ve no
special plans this weekend; I did some work in the garden this morning, and
this afternoon I revamped a couple of items of jewellery whilst watching the
racing on RUK. Tom Jones
is appearing at Market Rasen this evening, after racing,
so they have a bumper crowd in attendance.
It is reported that he has been dumped from The Voice, to be replaced
by Boy George! And, if that wasn’t bad
enough, the ghastly Paloma Faith is taking over
from Rita Ora ... I can’t stand that woman! Five of
the celebrities taking part in this season’s Strictly Come Dancing have been
announced – Jeremy Vine, Ainsley Harriott, Katie Derham, Kellie
Bright (never heard of her) and Georgia May Foote (also never heard of her)
... so I guess that’s ‘celebrity’
in the loosest sense of the word!!! |
|
|
Thursday 13 August 2015 |
|
|
Menace finishes 3rd at Fontwell Park! There was
one runner of interest today, at Fontwell Park: Menace
(Noel Williams/James Banks) finished 3rd in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (7
ran); it was 2 miles 1 furlong and 145 yards. And he won £228.96 in prize money! The race
comments were; Behind, outpaced 5f out, ridden to go 10 lengths 3rd home
turn, no impression until stayed on strongly final 100 yards. Menace’s
starting price was 40-1 today; so that would have been a good return for
those taking an each-way punt on him had there been 8 runners! Here is
the freeze-frame of the placed horses at the end of the bumper – the
distances three lengths, and two and a half lengths: https://twitter.com/SimarinerGY/status/631901086991937536/photo/1 Seamus Durack trained the winner, John Ferguson the second and
Nicky Henderson the fourth; the latter finished 24 lengths behind
Menace. Andrew
McNamara, older brother of Robbie and cousin of JT, has announced his
retirement from race-riding; he states weight and back problems as the cause. More The 2016
fixture list has been released today. More And here
is the link to the fixture list in the format of your choice: http://www.britishhorseracing.com/resource-centre/fixture-list/ There is a
runner of interest tomorrow, on the flat at Newbury ... the horse is
owned by the Apple Tree Stud: 13:45
Tyrell (Alan King/Tom Queally) – Maiden Stakes Div
I (2 year-olds) [7 furlongs] |
|
|
Wednesday 12 August 2015 |
|
|
There’s
one runner of interest tomorrow, at Fontwell Park: 16:45
Menace (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Standard Open NH Flat Race Mind you, if
the weather forecasted for tomorrow is correct, he will probably need a
snorkel if he runs ... as will the Ladies Day attendees! Mad Moose
recently had his feet trimmed: https://mobile.twitter.com/SophieBurkin/status/631167946912612352/photo/1 |
|
|
Tuesday 11 August 2015 |
|
|
National
Hunt racing returns tomorrow, with a fixture at Newton Abbot, but no runners
of interest. Menace is
due to run at Fontwell Park on Thursday but, with
the weather forecasted to be pretty dire in the south on that day, I wonder
if he will. Agent
Gibbs made it three in a row when winning at Lingfield
Park today for one of the EPDS syndicates. https://mobile.twitter.com/AliStrongRacing/status/631158849202954240/photo/1 Kiwi Three
Day Eventer, Andrew Nicholson, is currently in
hospital having suffered a neck injury in a fall at Gatcombe
Park Horse Trials. More It dawned
on me as I was walking to work this morning that I promised to buy myself a
new camera if Choc was able to return to race-riding ... so I’d better put
some money aside for a possible Autumn purchase. I also need to buy my Cheltenham Festival
tickets, a Hennessy Gold Cup ticket, and a King George VI Chase Day
ticket. I must arrange for the ‘stoppers’ under my car bonnet to be
replaced ... I’ve noticed a rattle has developed since they were removed by
the RAC at Aintree. Plus a new supply
of contact lenses although, at present, I’ve still got a few issues with my
right eye despite the vision having settled down now. |
|
|
Monday 10 August 2015 |
|
|
Choccie News! Each day I
search for news of Choc and, finally, today there is some!!! ATR’s
Simon Mapletoft was presenting from Wolverhampton
today and spoke to Choc who was at the racetrack representing the Apple Tree Stud
who had a runner trained by Jamie Osborne in the first race of the day. Choc
revealed that his case is currently under management review with the medical
team and the BHA and, although he’s not permitted to ride out at present, he
hopes he will be able to continue his riding career. So, he has his fingers crossed for an
Autumn return. More The Racing
Post has also picked up on the story, and added further detail too: So, going
forward for the moment, it appears that I need to keep track of the Apple
Tree Stud horses too. With this in
mind, the Alan King-trained Tyrell has an entry for Newbury on Friday; I’ve
added three of their horses to my ATR Tracker! Double
Chocolate has joined the Martin Keighley yard; Choc rode the now 12-year-old
to victory at Fontwell Park in 2012. Ruby Walsh
had a successful trip to Australia at the weekend, where he won their Grand
National aboard Bashboy. More Both Racing UK and ATR
showed a recording of the race during their broadcasts yesterday. And the
girls did brilliantly at the Shergar Cup on
Saturday, with their team beating all three of the boys’ teams and Sammy Jo
Bell winning the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle too as the top jockey! More The Noel
Williams-trained EPDS syndicate horse, Kincora Fort
(aka Brian), has picked up an injury to his off-fore superficial digital
flexor tendon, probably sustained when winning at Kempton Park just prior to
his summer break and only now apparent having returned to work. He will now undergo rehabilitation under
the care of Noel’s partner Clare, and they hope he can make a return to the
racecourse in November 2016. I
completed all my gardening tasks on Saturday, namely pruning a Deutzia, an Escallonia, a Japanese Quince and trimming three conical
box trees. Yesterday I went for a
three mile walk, had my haircut and ironed almost my entire collection of
summer ‘work’ skirts; it’s a very
big collection, but a number must be at least 15 years old! Surprisingly having avoided even one
scratch from the shrubs especially the very prickly quince, although I do
wear gardening gloves, I managed to burn the inside of my elbow on the iron
when untangling the lead! Numpty! |
|
|
Friday 07 August 2015 |
|
|
|
|
|
The lovely
Menace is enjoying his jumping, above.
Hopefully Noel Williams won’t mind me copying and pasting his twitter
photos … as I couldn’t copy the link! The
current plan is to either run Menace in a bumper at Fontwell
Park next Thursday, 13 August, or go straight to hurdling at Bangor-On-Dee on
21 August. Evidently
there will be EPDS yard visits in the offing soon ... once all the horses are
back in training again following their summer breaks. Also, starting in October, Robin Dickin will be holding a public Open Morning on the first
Saturday of every month, between 09:00 and 11:00. EPDS had a
double this week, with Agent Gibbs winning on the flat at both Nottingham on
Monday and at Brighton today. Ruby Walsh
has travelled down under to ride in Australia’s Grand National. More Charity
walker Jack Lander met Frankie Dettori today, at
Newmarket: https://mobile.twitter.com/JacksIJFwalk/status/629718921478807552/photo/1 Following
The Kvilleken’s win at Market Rasen
on Sunday, there were a number of photos to be found on twitter; the horse’s
pet name is Kevin: https://twitter.com/tiamilodolly/status/628310303151947776/photo/1 https://twitter.com/Riosrider2/status/627932780895293440/photo/1 https://twitter.com/Riosrider2/status/627931736954040320/photo/1 The Cheltenham redevelopment is progressing well;
I hope to see the finished result during a planned visit to the Showcase
Meeting in October: https://twitter.com/CheltenhamRaces/status/628594218760577025/photo/1 You just
have to love this photograph: https://mobile.twitter.com/planetepics/status/629399841961938946/photo/1 And this
one too: https://mobile.twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/629413585761005568/photo/1 Choc and
Jennie went to see Alexandra Burke in The Body Guard at the Birmingham
Hippodrome on Wednesday evening. I
thought about going to see Oklahoma at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe this
week ... but, in the end, just couldn’t be asked, so
didn’t buy a ticket! Although I love
the film Oklahoma ... I wish I’d seen the stage version a few years ago
starring Hugh Jackman ... Hugh’s rather nice! Lee Mead will be appearing in Aladdin at
the Birmingham Hippodrome this Christmas. Thursday
evenings are ‘Paranormal Evenings’
on the Really Channel and they are currently showing a new series of Most Haunted. Last evening’s episode is the best I’ve
seen, and I’ve watched the majority of them over the years. They visited Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire and
Stuart, who is Yvette Fielding’s cousin, went upstairs to the attics
alone. The first strange thing that
happened was when he discovered a cot in the corridor was rocking all by
itself. He then found a tennis ball and
threw it along the same corridor, asking if a spirit might throw it for him. Stuart
then took a look in one of the rooms leading off to the side, only to hear
what he thought were footsteps outside.
But, when he went to look, he saw the tennis ball bounce down a
staircase which led from the roof. He
checked the top of said staircase, but the door was bolted shut. Upon exploring further, he heard a few
notes being played on a piano but, when he entered the room and searched
around, there was no-one there.
Finally, he returned to the main corridor, only to find the tennis ball
had moved from one end of the corridor to the other! The camera then drained of power. Karl, who
is the programme’s producer and Yvette’s husband, then visited the antic
rooms, again alone. He also heard a
few notes being played on the piano and went to discover if anyone was in the
room; again no-one could be found and, to his great surprise, he then heard a
couple of notes played when he was actually in the room itself and just feet
away from the instrument. Spooky! I’m
open-minded about these things ... my colleague Sue has seen a ghost. Her parents live in a bungalow which was
built close to an old farmyard; the spirit is thought to be that of a young
lady who they believe lost her life on the farm. She’s not a clearly defined ghost, but a
misty figure which has been seen passing close to the side of the
building. A previous colleague, Tina,
also claimed she’d seen a couple of ghosts in one of the houses she’d lived
in; evidently they were children who had died in a fire and she saw them at
the top of the staircase. Boo! I temped
for Strutt and Parker a few years ago; at the time
they were housed in an old building formerly a pub. A member of the team claimed to have seen a
ghost in one of the offices; this particular office was located at the end of
a corridor and I had to spend time there alone, doing some filing. Needless to say, I did not look over my
shoulder ... just in case! Anyway,
again no specific plans for the weekend ... except for a bit of gardening and
a haircut! |
|
|
Sunday 02 August 2015 |
|
|
There were
two runners of interest this afternoon, at Market Rasen, and this is how they fared: Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 5th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs 16 yards] (12 ran). The Kvilleken (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) won the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 148 yards] (11 ran); it was another amazing ride from Tinks, who came with a very late run to claim the
prize. The horse puts his best hoof
forward when encountering trouble in running ... and he certainly got that
again today! It was Martin’s 8th winner of the season. Today’s
fixture consisted of solely hurdle races, the fences having been removed to
facilitate access for drainage works.
The next meeting will also be hurdles only. So that’s
it for National Hunt racing until Wednesday 12 August ... which means there
will be a delay before Menace has his third career outing. I love
this photo which Belinda Keighley has re-tweeted showing four of their horses
in the field opposite the yard; they are certainly anticipating something ...
Creepy, Primo Capitano, Bobble Emerald and Kyles Faith: https://mobile.twitter.com/jules_h60/status/627563468728729600/photo/1#tweet_627563468728729600 Incredibly,
I received a delivery from Amazon this morning; just 24 hours after ordering
a couple of books, despite me selecting the free delivery option ... and it’s
Sunday! Mind you, they delivered a DVD
last Sunday which I’d ordered just a couple of days previously too. Although I did pay for first class delivery
on that occasion. They actually
deliver by courier in my area. I’ve now
completed and uploaded my Barbury International
diary, and the remaining photographs, plus corrected a number of formatting
issues I’d spotted with recent diaries.
So, apart from compiling a Balder Succes
tribute page and a Kauto Star tribute page,
everything is now up-to-date once more.
Hooray! |
|
|
Saturday 01 August 2015 |
|
|
There are
two runners of interest tomorrow, at Market Rasen, and it marks the return of Ian Popham who
has been on the injury sidelines since Boxing Day. 16:35 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs 16 yards] 17:05 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 148 yards] Ian Poulter visited Choc’s yard
this week; Choc posted a photo on facebook of
himself, William and the golfer. Choc
also recently took delivery of a mare and foal from Kentucky; presumably the
Apple Tree Stud-owned pair he visited in May. There’s
news that at least three new inmates have joined Noel Williams’ yard – EPDS
Racing’s Daliance has transferred from Simon Earle’s
stable, and two home-bred Midnight Legend 3-year olds – Midnight Merlot and
Midnight Jitterbug – owned by Liz Prowting will
arrive shortly, having completed their pre-training schedule. I didn’t enjoy
my walk home from work yesterday ... as it was ‘flying ant day’! The ants
hadn’t begun to fly by lunch-time but, by home time, they were
everywhere. As soon as I got home I
took off my jacket and cardigan and shook them out the door but, having then
laid my cardigan over the newel post, another large ant crawled out of
it! As I was now feeling all creepy
crawly, I decided to have a shower, only for another large ant to fall out of
my top as I took it off ... shortly afterwards I discovered two smaller ants
inside by bra! Yuck! Earlier in the week I’d been thinking that
I’d simply overlooked ‘flying ant day’;
I should have known from experience that it would occur as soon as the
weather turned warmer again. Having
finished reading Pasha Kovalev’s autobiography,
I’ve decided to order a copy of Brough Scott’s
Henry Cecil – Trainer of Genius; also, topically, A Weight Off My Mind –
Richard Hughes’ autobiography; and pre-ordered the paperback version of
Calling The Horses: A Racing Autobiography by Sir Peter O’Sullevan. Richard
Hughes retired from race-riding today, having signed off at Goodwood. More I’ve spent
timing slaving over my laptop today and, as a result, have finally managed to
proof-read and upload my Grand National Day diary and also my Worcester
diary. Yippee! That leaves just my Barbury
International Horse Trials diary to proof and also a number of photos from
the event to upload ... plus my Balder Succes
tribute page to compile and probably a Kauto Star
one too. |
|
