JULY 2015
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Tuesday 28 July 2015 |
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Here are
this evening’s results for my runners of interest at Worcester: Midnight
Thomas (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished
6th in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 110 yards] (10 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson [jockey change])
finished 3rd in the Selling Hurdle (5 ran); he was a hard ride and, although
still leading jumping the last, looked like he really didn’t want to win! Benbane Head (Martin Keighley/Sam Twiston-Davies)
was a non-runner and Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) finished 4th
in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs] (8 ran). Jason
Maguire has been given the all clear to begin riding out, which he did
today. He aims to be back in
racecourse action by September. More The sole
National Hunt fixture scheduled for tomorrow has been abandoned; namely day
two of Perth. All being well, there is
a Stratford-On-Avon fixture on Thursday, then Bangor-On-Dee on Friday, Market
Rasen on Sunday, followed by a 9-day break until
Newton Abbot on Wednesday 12 August. It
will give the jockeys with school age children the opportunity to go on
holiday without missing any rides. |
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Monday 27 July 2015 |
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Just one
runner of interest today at Newton Abbot: Theatre
Goer (Noel Williams/James Banks) finished 2nd in the Novices’ Hurdle (6 ran) It came as
no surprise that Menace was withdrawn from the Intermediate Open National
Hunt Flat Race ... he didn’t particularly enjoy the ground at Worcester
earlier in the month so I would expect today’s going was even worse. Noel has
tweeted a photo of Theatre Goer following her race today: https://mobile.twitter.com/noelwilliams03/status/625703229465214981/photo/1 Here is
yesterday’s winner, Champion Court, chilling out in the field before heading
off to Uttoxeter: https://mobile.twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/625219544341172224/photo/1 Tomorrow’s
fixture at Perth has been abandoned, but there is racing at Worcester, it’s
their Pershore Plum Festival fixture, with a number
of runners of interest: 17:35
Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [2 miles 110 yards] 19:35 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Selling Hurdle 20:05 Benbane Head (Martin Keighley/Sam Twiston-Davies)
& Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) – Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 7 furlongs] I ordered my
Aintree tickets today; the Earl of Derby Terrace as usual, for all three
days. The Steeplechase parking has
increased from £15 to £20 per day! I
began by logging onto their website via a special pre-sale link but found
that it was not at all user-friendly, so I phoned up and booked instead! I recall having exactly the same problem
last year! Oh well, it’s sorted for
another year and I can relax now ... |
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Sunday 26 July 2015 |
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There were
runners of interest at Uttoxeter today and this is how
they fared: Champion Court (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) won the Handicap Chase [2
miles 4 furlongs] (6 ran); there were four non-runners due to the soft ground
but you can only beat what’s there and he did it well, especially as he was
giving 19 pounds to the second!
Martin’s 7th winner of the season. Solstice
Star (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) finished 9th in the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 7 furlongs 70 yards] (13 ran). Georgian
King and Kyles Faith were non-runners, and Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was pulled up
in the Handicap Chase [3 miles 2 furlongs] (11 ran). Aidan
Coleman has been appointed officially as trainer John Ferguson’s retained
rider; he’s already ridden over 20 winners for him this season. More I can’t
believe this weather, whatever has happened to our summer? Yesterday was nice though, apart from a
couple of brief showers – one when I was on the outskirts of Reading
mid-morning, and the other close to home when returning yesterday
evening. I went to visit my friend
Den; we went out for lunch but didn’t go out and about. She certainly has a lot of wildlife in and
around her garden – I saw a vole, a heron, a buzzard, a red kite, swifts, a
dragonfly, numerous young blue tits, and also goldfinches. Time has
got away from me today, no surprise there then. I got up early to do my washing, I hung it out
on the line under the carport but then it started to rain, as a result it
didn’t dry and I had to bring it in again a couple of hours later. I’ve also spent time selecting my Worcester
and Barbury photos but, as always, it’s taken far
longer to format them than expected so my job is only half done! And I’ve still not found time to proof my
three diary drafts. Oh well, I’ve no
plans in the pipeline for next weekend, or the weekend after, or the weekend
after that ... There are
two runners of interest tomorrow, at Newton Abbot: 14:15
Theatre Goer (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Novices’ Hurdle 17:25
Menace (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Intermediate Open National Hunt Flat
Race ... although I would have thought the course would have had far too much
rain to be suitable for him to run. |
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Friday 24 July 2015 |
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Just to
prove everything comes in threes ... Jamie Moore will be on the sidelines for
up to 12 weeks after breaking his hip in a fall at Worcester yesterday. He joins brothers Ryan and Joshua who are
already on the injured list. More Meanwhile Ryan is playing down reports that he
will be out of action until the end of the season. More Not
surprisingly, no decision will be made until tomorrow morning as to whether
Golden Horn will run in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
following today’s deluge in the south of England. More RP
Weekender revealed that trainer and columnist Alan King has confirmed that Uxizandre is out for the season; that’s a shame as he is
one of my favourites. L Jack
Lander, the young lad who appeared on The Morning Line last Saturday,
successfully completed his walk from Stratford-on-Avon to Lambourn
to raise money for the IJF. https://mobile.twitter.com/RacingPost/status/624302615099244544/photo/1 Tick tock tick tock ... the
countdown to Aintree Festival tickets going on sale continues ... on Monday
for me. My preferred option would be
to order them online, but I can’t do that at work, although I could phone I
suppose, but not too early as I won’t get through without waiting in a long
queue. Alternatively I could walk home
during my lunch break and do either ... decisions, decisions!!! The
weather is forecasted to improve tomorrow ... mind you, anything is an
improvement on today; it was snorkel weather in the southeast. The rain returns on Sunday evidently, so
I’ll be spending time indoors either proof-reading or uploading photographs
from Worcester and/or Barbury. There are
runners of interest at Uttoxeter on Sunday, as
follows: 16:10
Champion Court (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs] 16:45
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7
furlongs 70 yards] 17:20
Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) & Kyles
Faith (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) & Always Bold (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap Chase [3 miles
2 furlongs]. |
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Thursday 23 July 2015 |
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Here are today’s
results for my runners of interest at Worcester: Pattara (Noel Williams/Gerard Tumelty)
finished 8th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs] (17 ran). Say When
(Alan King/Mr H Teal) fnished 8th in the Amateur
Riders’ Handicap Hurdle Div I (11 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing at Uttoxeter tomorrow but no
runners of interest. There’s to be a new
race on the Cheltenham Festival card, from this season 2016; a 2 miles 1
furlong Grade 2 Hurdle race for mares and fillies. It will be run as the 6th race on Day 3,
Thursday.
More |
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Wednesday 22 July 2015 |
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There’s
National Hunt racing at Worcester tomorrow, and two
runners of interest: 16:55 Pattara (Noel Williams/Gerard Tumelty)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs] 17:25 Say
When (Alan King/Mr H Teal) – Amateur Riders’ Handicap Hurdle Div I ... it’s
that infamous horse again! There are
concerns regarding a shortage of stable staff and this was one of the Racing
Post’s headlines earlier in the week. More Alan
King’s website has been re-designed. I
notice that Denis O’Regan has been added to the
jockeys list ... and Choc’s still listed too. J Valdez and Montbazon
are back in training, but Godsmejudge and Karezak are on the easy list, as is Avispa
amongst others. http://www.alankingracing.co.uk/ The plan
remains for Menace to run in the 17:25 bumper at Newton Abbot next Monday,
provided there aren’t too many entries of course! There was
mention by the commentator of a change of colours for The Kvilleken
when he ran at Stratford on Sunday, which I’d already noticed. He used to be owned by Mark ‘Champion Court’ Boothright
but is now owned by Patrick Spittle who is a member of the groundstaff team at the racecourse. So it was a very fitting victory. |
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Monday 20 July 2015 |
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Wayne
Hutchinson rode a winner at Cartmel today, aboard
the Donald McCain-trained Mr Burgees in a Beginners’ Chase; his 6th
winner of the season. And Choc
has arrived back home from a brief vacation with Jennie and William; they
travelled to Mazarrón
in Spain. There’s
now no National Hunt racing until Worcester on Thursday. |
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Sunday 19 July 2015 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Stratford-On-Avon: The Kvilleken (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) won the Novices’ Handicap
Hurdle (8 ran); it was another excellent ride from Andrew Tinkler,
having looked booked for third at best heading to the last! Martin’s 6th
winner of the
season. Solstice
Star was a non-runner in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6 furlongs 7 yards]. Midnight
Thomas was a non-runner in the Novices’ Handicap Chase. I watched
The Morning Line from Newbury yesterday and the progress of the racecourse
re-development was mentioned, with plans for the Parade Ring area having now
been approved; evidently the new road bridge and car parks will be in
operation in time for November’s Hennessy fixture ... Yippee! I thought
the name Gran Maestro rang a bell yesterday, he finished 2nd at Sandown Park
in AP’s final race back in April. The
horse has benefitted from a breathing operation, hence the improved form this
year. I read a
tweet suggesting that Al Ferof has moved yards but,
until watching ATR’s Racing Forum today, couldn’t discover his new yard. However it came as no surprise to learn
he’s now at Dan Skelton’s establishment! Robbie
McNamara visited the Moyglare Stud on Friday and
has tweeted a photograph: https://mobile.twitter.com/RobbiepMcN/status/622805390774935552/photo/1 And here
is a photo of Menace schooling over jumps yesterday: https://mobile.twitter.com/EPDS_Racing/status/622439650339258368/photo/1 There’s
National Hunt racing at solely Cartmel tomorrow, so
no runners of interest. However, Wayne
Hutchinson is travelling to the Cumbrian course to ride a number of horses
for Donald McCain. |
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Saturday 18 July 2015 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Market Rasen: Champion
Court (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was withdrawn,
Hollow Penny (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 5th and Pantxoa (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) was pulled up in the
Summer Plate (Listed Handicap Chase) (14 ran). The race was won by Brave Spartacus,
trained by Keith Reveley and ridden by son James. EPDS
Racing’s Londonia finished 3rd of 4 in the juvenile
hurdle; the favourite having been withdrawn after injuring himself ahead of
racing. The Summer
Hurdle was won by Gran Maestro, trained by Dr Richard Newland and ridden by Will
Kennedy; he beat off the persistent challenge of the Nicky Henderson-trained Hammersly Lake, ridden by Barry Geraghty. Dr Newland’s other runner in the race, Gioia Di Vita, which won at Worcester when I was there,
finished 5th. Meanwhile,
Midnight Appeal ran at Cartmel, finishing a close
4th in a 7-runner handicap chase having taken the lead but been headed after
the last. And just a
reminder of the runners of interest at Stratford-On-Avon tomorrow: 15:50 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 16:20
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6 furlongs 7 yards] 16:55
Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Novices’ Handicap Chase There’s
bad news ... for my wallet ... Hotter has a sale and the style of shoes that
I’ve had an eye on since their Spring collection was released have now been
reduced from £72 to £49 a pair. Oh
well, in for a penny, in for a pound – I’ve ordered a black pair and a light
taupe pair, which I will collect from the local shop to save on delivery
costs. Since
discovering Hotter, I’ve not paid full price for any of their shoes or
boots. I received £25 off when buying
my first two pairs, then three for the price of two, £99 boots reduced to
£59, half priced taupe-coloured court shoes, half priced purple-coloured
casual shoes, and now these two pairs of soft leather wedges. As the shoes appeal mainly to older ladies,
although that doesn’t apply to me of course (LOL), it seems to be the smaller
sizes which go first rather than the larger sizes, so I’m ‘quids in’ by the time their sales arrive,
unlike in other shoe shops when styles I might like have already sold out in
my size! My
favourite shoe and boot retailer used to be M & S because it was so easy
just to pick the items off the shelf to try them on having already discovered
whether or not they had my size in stock; I have big feet, size 8. I still love their casual moccasin style
boat shoes, but Hotter is now my shoe shop of choice whenever possible. I’ve been
doing a bit of shrub lopping late afternoon; my favourite garden task, as I
don’t like creepy crawlies! I’ve also
transferred the Worcester racing coverage to DVD, and more or less completed
my Barbury International diary draft, having
written over 3000 words. The Worcester
diary draft just needs a few additions now.
Happy Days! |
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Friday 17 July 2015 |
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It’s
Summer Plate Day at Market Rasen tomorrow, and there
are three runners of interest in the big race: 15:30 Champion
Court (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) & Hollow
Penny (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Pantxoa
(Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Summer Plate (Listed Handicap Chase); Champ carries
top weight. There’s
interest in the first race too, with the grey Londonia
representing EPDS Racing and Graeme Mcpherson. Barry Geraghty is riding in the feature race, aboard last
year’s winner It’s A Gimme for JP McManus and Jonjo O’Neill. More And I note
with interest that I wasn’t wrong about Pantxoa
having a warm-up hurdle race at the track a couple of weeks ago! Richard
Hughes has decided to call it a day slightly sooner than expected, in order
to prepare for his new career as a trainer. More I forgot
to mention that Menace’s next run is likely to be at Newton Abbot on Monday
27 July. I
understand that Restless Harry has been transferred to Henry Oliver’s yard,
from Robin Dickin; Robin is understandably gutted,
as he adores the horse. There’s
National Hunt racing at Newton Abbot and Stratford-On-Avon on Sunday, with
runners of interest at the latter: 15:50 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 16:20
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 6 furlongs 7 yards] 16:55
Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Novices’ Handicap Chase We had
wicked storms last night, lasting for around two hours. My TV viewing schedule on a Thursday
evening consists mainly of Really channel programmes; it’s their paranormal
evening! Most Haunted is back, along with American-based
shows. So it was a bit spooky with the
thunder and lightning, especially when the lights flickered! But I was more fortunate than work
colleague Steph, who lives around a mile away; she
had a power cut for around an hour whilst in the middle of baking and
decorating a cake. And I was
wondering if one of the roads on my route to work had flooded last night, as
there was dirt and grit on the pavement and a few unexpected household items
placed outside people’s front doors.
After a thunderstorm last year, a number of houses in the same street
flooded; the fire brigade were just departing when I walked by. It doesn’t help that the road is at the
bottom of a hill, with an ancient watercourse running along the base of that
hill marked on old maps. I’ve no
plans for the weekend ... apart from completing a long list of chores! And I know it’s a long list as I’ve written
them down!!! |
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Wednesday 15 July 2015 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Uttoxeter: Solstice
Star (Martin Keighley/Conor Smith) was a non-runner
in the Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden Hurdle. Mortlestown (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) won the Handicap Chase [2
miles 4 furlongs] (8 ran); Martin’s 5th
winner of the
season. Worcester: Cearys (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
was pulled up in the Mares’ Maiden Hurdle (10 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 4th in the Selling Handicap Hurdle (13
ran). It’s not
surprising that the fixture list is under scrutiny ... no National Hunt
fixtures on Monday or Tuesday, two today, then none tomorrow or Friday but
two on Saturday and two on Sunday!
Crazy. I’d really
love to have the opportunity to spend an hour working on my diaries at
lunchtime but, so far this week, it just hasn’t happened. Having worked 1.75 hours unpaid overtime
yesterday I’d finally got the Marketing requests up to date by 09:15 this
morning. So I spent three hours
completing a number of ad hoc tasks left over from Monday and Tuesday and
thought I’d just check back to see if any more had been submitted before I
continued, and expecting just a handful, only to be shocked to discover that
a further 76 requests had arrived.
Damn. So I had to spend another
five hours, including my lunch-break, in order to get on top of it
again. |
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Tuesday 14 July 2015 |
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Happy Birthday to Choc He’s 37 today
There are
four runners of interest tomorrow: Uttoxeter: 14:20
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Conor Smith) –
Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden Hurdle 17:20 Mortlestown (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Handicap Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs] Worcester: 19:30 Cearys (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Mares’ Maiden Hurdle 20:05 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Selling Handicap Hurdle Philip
Kirby has tweeted a photo of Kings Grey to let everyone know the horse is
okay, although a bit sore, having been pulled up by the miraculous come-back
jockey Brian Toomey at Southwell on Sunday: https://mobile.twitter.com/PKirbyRacing/status/620644011762675717/photo/1 Tickets
for the Aintree Festival 2016 go on sale on Monday 27 July, to those who have
already expressed an interest. This is
a one week preferential booking period ahead of general ticket sales; I think
I will book mine at lunchtime on the first sales day! I’ve been
slaving over a hot laptop today; nine hours non-stop at work, followed by
over three hours working on my website this evening. I hate weeks like this; yesterday wasn’t
much better as I didn’t have time for a lunch-break either and also included
diary writing in the evening. |
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Sunday 12 July 2015 |
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Barbury
International Horse Trials |
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CIC**
Cross Country phase 318:
Celtic Connection IV ridden by
Sarah Stretton |
CIC**
Cross Country phase 330: Cuarento ridden by Tom McEwan |
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CIC**
Cross Country phase 425 is not the horse listed in the programme ... but I love the spotty Appaloosa regardless! |
JCB
Champions Challenge The Eventers – post semi-final; Harry
Meade, Andrew Nicholson, Tina Cook and
Sir Mark Todd |
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JCB Champions Challenge The Jockeys – post semi-final: Wayne Hutchinson and Richard Johnson – both changed their mounts for speedier models ahead of the final! |
JCB Champions
Challenge: The
Jockeys – post final: Sam Twiston-Davies, Richard Johnson and AP
McCoy |
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As you can
see from the photos, I attended the Barbury
International Horse Trials yesterday ... and I will write a proper diary
entry and upload further photos in due course. But, for the record, the Jockeys won the
JCB Champions Challenge ... although they didn’t actually win their
semi-final because Richard’s mount preferred to crash through the fences
rather than jump over them, thus accumulating too many time penalty
points! They were put through because
it was advertised as an Eventers vs Jockeys competition not an Inter-Hunt relay team vs Eventers or Jockeys team!!! There were
three runners of interest at Stratford today and this is how
they fared: Laser
Blazer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 8th in the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 70 furlongs] (10 ran); although only 8 actually finished! Paddys Runner (Alan King/Noel Fehily)
finished 2nd in the Juvenile Hurdle (7 ran). Fred Le
Macon (Alan King/Jamie Insole) finished 4th in the Conditional Jockeys’
Handicap Hurdle (13 ran). It was not
quite the dream return for jockey Brian Toomey at Southwell,
but he survived the race as did his partner despite pulling up: More The next
National Hunt racing fixtures take place at Uttoxeter
and Worcester on Wednesday. Avebury and Andrew Nicholson won Barbury’s
CIC 3-star for the fourth time; this is the partnership jumping the Avebury fence today, re-named after the horse: https://mobile.twitter.com/BarburyCastle/status/620255036476628992/photo/1 And
another one: https://mobile.twitter.com/BarburyCastle/status/620256580035084288/photo/1 This is AP
McCoy galloping through the water feature during yesterday’s JCB Champions
Challenge in support of the IJF: https://mobile.twitter.com/IJF_official/status/620165460395429888/photo/1 One of the
prizes in each JCB goodie bag following yesterday’s Barbury
International JCB Challenge was a toy digger; Sam Twiston-Davies
donated his to the Johnson family so that Richard’s sons (Casper and Percy)
had one each: https://mobile.twitter.com/fijohnson82/status/620148008018149376/photo/1 Nigel
Bunter, owner of the Barbury Estate, now owns an
event horse along with two other partners but, as the mare’s name was not
mentioned in the programme, I had to do some research ... knowing only that
she was a failed racehorse who used to be trained by Alan King when owned by
Nigel and Tim Leadbetter of JCB! My quest for information tells me that it’s
Counterparty; evidently having raced on the flat and once over hurdles (when
pulled up by Choc) she was given away to be a riding horse. So, having given her away, Nigel and Co
eventually bought her back! Being an
ex-racehorse she qualifies for RoR events and is in
the care of Paul Tapner. Nigel and Tim co-owned the ill-fated Reddy Tobouggie. Having
completed my research, I then found a photograph of her on my twitter feed
today: https://mobile.twitter.com/RoRlatest/status/620182352866725888/photo/1 Talking of
retired racehorses, Havingotoscoobydo took part in
an event at the Inkberrow Show yesterday; he’s
looking good: https://mobile.twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/619981056909922304/photo/1 I don’t
seem to have got a lot done this weekend ... in fact I’ve created an
additional website backlog this past week following visits to Worcester and Barbury! Although
I have begun drafting the former. This
afternoon I’ve been watching the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final ... I hate it
when the person I want to win loses; I’ve mellowed to Federer
over the years, so it’s a shame. It
was a double celebration for Novak Djokovic today –
as it’s his first wedding anniversary too!
As I can’t stand either of the Williams sisters, yesterday wasn’t
great, with Jamie Murray losing too.
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza
won the Ladies Doubles – that was an entertaining match; and Martina
partnered Leander Paes to win the Mixed Doubles
too. Leander is now 42 years old,
Martina a mere 34 ... golden oldies! It’s Choc’s birthday on Tuesday; he will be 37. |
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Friday 10 July 2015 |
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There are
three runners of interest at Stratford on Sunday: 15:25
Laser Blazer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 70
furlongs] 16:30 Paddys Runner (Alan King/Noel Fehily)
– Juvenile Hurdle; the horse is owned by Masterson Holdings. 17:40 Fred
Le Macon (Alan King/Jamie Insole) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle There’s
also jump racing at Southwell and Perth that day. Silviniaco Conti has arrived back from his summer break: https://mobile.twitter.com/Harry05Derham/status/618802536439521280/photo/1 Steve
Ayres #teambalderforever has suffered a mishap;
today he tweeted a photo of himself on crutches: https://mobile.twitter.com/orse_racing_lad/status/619549570662535168/photo/1 I’m not
sure whether I have plans for this weekend or not ... the later this evening
it becomes, the more doubts about going out and about seem to be creeping
in! I’ll see if I’m in a more positive
frame of mind in the morning ... |
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Tuesday 07 July 2015 |
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Here is
today’s result from Uttoxeter: Solstice
Star (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) was a non-runner in the Novices’
Handicap Hurdle Georgian
King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) finished 3rd in the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 7 furlongs 70 yards] (11 ran). There’s
now no National Hunt racing until Sunday. Laura Collett has been speaking to the BBC about the accident
which ended Kauto Star’s life and the distress
caused by a number of social media outbursts which have been aimed at
her. It transpires that his injuries
were caused when he jumped out of his field and probably fell in the process. More It is
reported that some of Kauto’s ashes will be buried
at Kempton Park: I’ve now
got a diary to write, and photos to upload from yesterday. But I’m not going to do one of my detailed
race comment ones (apart from Menace’s race), as I only watched four of the
races ... the remainder of the time was spent in the Owners, Trainers and
Annual Members Bar! |
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Monday 06 July 2015 |
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Trainer
Noel Williams leads up Menace today! There were
two runners of interest at Worcester today is this is how
they fared: Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 7th
in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs] (13 ran). Menace
(Noel Williams/James Banks) finished 6th in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (8
ran). And we
even have our own Stewards’ Enquiry!
And I’m pleased to report that Menace is fine today following his
close encounter with the winner. J Race 3 - 3:20pm THE WORCESTERSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF CARERS STANDARD OPEN
NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 6) I also noticed that Phil Haywood has joined
to the Dan Skelton yard – he was leading up Lovefromabove
in the same race as Menace; he used to assist Matt Howells with travelling
duties at the Alan King yard. Does
that mean that Steve Ayres gets a promotion? Matt helped out the stable lass who was leading up a Ben Pauling runner, Baths Well,
at Market Rasen on Sunday. The horse was misbehaving and refused to go
to the start with a jockey aboard, so Matt took charge and trotted the
rider-less Baths Well down the home straight to the enclosure where the other
horses were circling ahead of the race; once there, the jockey was legged
aboard successfully. The horse
finished 2nd; the Alan King runner only 6th! Two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Uttoxeter: 19:15
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) – Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 21:15
Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7
furlongs 70 yards] |
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Sunday 05 July 2015 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Market Rasen: Daydreamer
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). Pantxoa (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 7th in the
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs 16 yards] (10 ran). Kings
Bayonet (Alan King/W Featherstone) finished 6th and Kyles
Faith (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) finished 4th in the Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (8 ran). Midnight
Thomas (Martin Keighley/Miss Claire Hart) was pulled up after two out and
dismounted in the Lady Amateur Riders’ Handicap Hurdle (10 ran); I understand
from twitter that the horse is okay. Phew. There are
two runners of interest tomorrow, at Worcester: 14:20
Always Bold (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs] 15:20
Menace (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Standard Open NH Flat Race I’ve
booked tomorrow as a day’s leave from work and will be heading to Worcester
to see Menace. The recommended route
is M25 / M40 / M42 / M5, which would actually mean all motorways apart from
around 10 miles of the journey! But I
prefer to avoid the motorways as much as possible, so it will probably take
ages to get there! My 2011 cross-country
trip via Stratford-On-Avon took me 2¾ hours to reach the outskirts of the
city with a further 35 minutes was spent in traffic jams within it. I’d
planned my wardrobe and have now discovered that it is due to rain all
afternoon in Worcestershire ... back to the drawing board then! Damn. |
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Friday 03 July 2015 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Newton Abbot today: Gone Too
Far (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th and Mortlestown (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
won the Novices’ Handicap Chase (6 ran); well done Team Keighley, their 4th winner of the season. Primo Capitano (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
finished 7th in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles 2 furlongs 105 yards] (9 ran). Richard
Johnson has now ridden 50 winners this season, which is more than twice the
number of his nearest pursuers – Sam Twiston-Davies,
Aidan Coleman and Brian Hughes. Being
summer, there are no National Hunt fixtures tomorrow but there are a number
of runners of interest at Market Rasen on Sunday: 14:15
Daydreamer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Hurdle 16:25 Pantxoa (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 7 furlongs 16 yards]; is this a prep race ahead of the Summer Plate? 17:00
Kings Bayonet (Alan King/W Featherstone) & Kyles
Faith (Martin Keighley/Archie Bellamy) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 17:30
Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Miss Claire Hart) – Lady Amateur Riders’
Handicap Hurdle There was
news yesterday that popular sprinter Borderlescott
has been retired once more: And Mark Boylan’s Kauto Star tribute
which I recall hearing him sing at Cheltenham a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zaAMM_xn9k I’ve no
specific plans for the weekend ... although I may have plans for Monday! I need to clean my car and proof-read three
Aintree diaries too. |
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Thursday 02 July 2015 |
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Choc has tweeted a video of one of his yearling charges being
prepared by Kirsty Durham and Sarah Welford for the
Goffs/DBS Premier Yearling Sale which takes place
on 25/26 August. I notice
that the Dunkley and Reilly Partnership have a new horse with Alan King – Ardamir, a 2012 bay gelding. I think I will have to become a horse ‘stalker’ in order to see more of Choc! There’s
surprise news that Annacotty will be sent to Alan
King after this summer break, rather than returning to Martin Keighley’s
yard: Here is a
link to news of Victoria Pendleton’s racecourse debut today. More There are
three runners of interest at Newton Abbot tomorrow: 15:45 Gone
Too Far (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Mortlestown
(Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Novices’
Handicap Chase 17:30
Primo Capitano (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap Hurdle [3 miles 2 furlongs 105 yards] |
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Wednesday 01 July 2015 |
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There are
no results to report today and no runners of interest tomorrow either. Olympian
Victoria Pendleton makes her race-riding debut at Newbury tomorrow, in a
charity race. Racing
UK’s Lydia Hislop spoke with Ruby Walsh following
yesterday’s sad news regarding Kauto Star: http://www.racinguk.com/news/article/36244/walsh-leads-kauto-star-tributes And Paul
Nicholls too: http://www.racinguk.com/news/article/36245/nicholls-leads-kauto-tributes And Derek
Thompson on ATR speaks with Kauto Star’s owner Clive Smith too; poor Kauto became paralysed due to the injury he’d suffered to
his neck. https://www.facebook.com/#!/AtTheRaces/videos/vb.47793375378/10153259519870379/?type=2&theater There’s
further news tonight regarding Kauto’s injuries (I
hope this link works): It’s a
shame the horse wasn’t left with Paul Nicholls to enjoy his retirement,
rather than be packed off to live with Laura Collett
and taught dressage. But I guess
everyone can be wise in hindsight. I’ve
survived today’s heat quite well. I
don’t work in an air-conditioned office and avoided leaving the building at
lunchtime ... but I did walk a mile home just before 18:00 when it was still
pretty hot and I was certainly glowing by the time I arrived! But my begonias looked a little scorched
this evening when I watered them! |
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