Well we needed the rain and rain it certainly has done! A busy Saturday morning with lots of owners in to watch the horses in the gallops and brave the weather. David Parry, Paul Davis and Jack & Amy Rogers in to watch the horses work which included Borderline, Herecomeshogan, Witness Protection, Pay The Woman, Mozzaro, City Never Sleeps, Mr Mafia and Duke of Luckley. All the rest cantered. Warren Marston, Harry Stock, Patrick Cowley and Miranda Theobald all in to ride out.
Afterwards David, Paul, Belinda and myself went to Martin Jones’ Redmarley base to watch some youngsters in action and have a catch up with Martin. He does a super job and is continually upgrading his facilities. Despite the rain we had a good visit and it’s always an entertaining one too!
Ten Past Midnight heads to Uttoxeter today after his summer break and runs in a 2 mile Handicap Hurdle. He seems in good form at home and we’d love nothing more than for him to put in a career best performance today for his owners. He’s our only runner today. No support from my boys today though as Harry’s team play local team Bourton on the Water and Freddie’s team head into Wiltshire to play against Calne. Good luck boys.
We do have claims to a London Marathon Runner though – Neil Lloyd, MD for our Yard Sponsor FBC Manby Bowdler, is running in aid of St Mary’s Hospice in Birmingham of which he is an Ambassador. Good luck Neil – we know you will smash it. You can sponsor Neil HERE.
Our hearts were broken on Friday night when George, the youngest of our two Labradors and Windsor’s son, was hit by a van blinded by the sun outside our house, and although we took him straight to the vets, the kindest thing was to have him put to sleep. So cruel especially as our dogs are such well behaved dogs and despite living a very free-range life, never go out on the road on their own. We were all just about to leave for a rare family evening to watch the James Bond film and thank god we were still here so that Belinda & I could rush him straight to Stow Vets. It’s hit our team too as we are all such animal lovers and George was such a friendly dog. The poor driver came to see us yesterday and is also devastated. We all love all of our animals so much it’s always tough.

On a lighter note, Beth is still on cloud nine following her win on Back On The Lash at Warwick. She’s described it as the ‘best day of her life’. Brilliant.