Rain….much needed rain! The Team were drenched yesterday morning before the sun came out (so they were rewarded with bacon & chocolate!) and it rained hard last night and is raining this afternoon too. As I say, much needed but thanks to the team for working through it – it’s not nice at times.
On Saturday we were at Cheltenham Racecourse to celebrate the life of Paul Townend. A fitting celebration that was unsurprisingly very well supported. Lovely to catch up with Paul’s wife Geraldine and so many friends albeit under such sad circumstances. An afternoon/evening that Paul would have loved.
We were thrilled for Kitty King and the Great British Evening Team who won Gold at the FEI European Eventing Championships in Switzerland on Sunday – a superb performance with GB also securing Individual Gold, Silver and Bronze – what a performance. Kitty and her family and team at home work so hard and she absolutely deserves every success she gets. Well done Kitty.
Yesterday we welcomed back Anna McDonagh, who left us for a career in Hospitality a month or so ago. Sadly it was only for the morning but with the weather that greeted her as she woke she deserved plenty of credit for coming in! Big Nasty and Black Panther no doubt a huge draw – two horses she adores and who she was riding out!
Good to see Jon Hughes, back from holidaying in the Canary Islands, last night. We had a meeting at the yard about our soon to be launched Fun Ride and Jon brought Champagne with him to celebrate the winner he missed whilst he was away – Sarasota Star. We toasted his success before the meeting! I’ll share more details of our Fun Ride soon – we hope it will be a huge success.
A busier week than we have been having with runners at Bangor tomorrow, Brorson, then Warwick on Thursday – Found On and also Back On The Lash in the Charity Race – this recent rain a godsend for them all. More on them in the next few days.