Lots of rain and so much at Chepstow on Friday night that we made the decision to not run bumper horse Robsam yesterday – for a young horse to struggle in deep ground could well set them back quite a few months and it wasn’t worth the risk.
We worked plenty of horses at home and Warren Marston was in to work Solstice Star first lot. We also worked Capital Force, Big Nasty, Mr Mafia, Chequered View, Cut And Run, Gold Mountain, Dreamsundermyfeet Enforcement and Miss Antipova. All the rest cantered. A rare Saturday with no owners in – very unusual here!
On Friday night Belinda and I were invited out to supper at the Cotswold Hotel & Spa near Chipping Norton with Dan Abraham and his Foxtrot Racing Syndicate Members. Dan was celebrating 10 years of him taking over Foxtrot Racing and what a great job he has done and especially the last 12 months where his strike rate of wins has been enviable. Solstice Star was leased to Foxtrot with owners Richard East & James Gibbs retaining shares and it co-incided with a change of form for Solstice who, with three wins last season he became their winning most horse in the past 12 months – a statistic that would have gained you a point in their after supper Quiz! Fellow trainers Dan Skelton, Olly Murphy, Charlie Longsdon, Ben Pauling, Grahame McPherson, Dr Richard Newland and Jamie Snowdon all joined us and it was a very entertaining evening.
Yesterday afternoon we had a visit from our sponsor FBC Manby Bowdler’s Neil Lloyd and he brought with him F3 Racing Driver Shane Kelly and Louise Wilkes who is a professional football player for Crewe Alexandra. They enjoyed meeting the horses including the yearlings and then we had a fun lunch at The Coach & Horses at Longborough watching some of the racing at Chepstow.
Belinda & Freddie are holding a Bingo Night at The Coach & Horses on Wednesday 30th October at 7.30pm. Do come along and support if you can. They are raising money for The Bob Champion Cancer Trust ahead of Freddie’s debut in the Shetland Pony Grand National at Olympia in December. A great cause but a fun night to be had too – eyes down ‘lucky seven’ ‘one little duck’….and all that jazz!!! Turn up on the night but do let Belinda know you are coming if you can so that she has an idea of numbers. Some great prizes in the raffle and the bingo.