Autumnal here today but won’t complain as we need the rain and it does save us from watering our carpet gallop when it has rained overnight. We are so fortunate to have a private reservoir and are therefore able to water – it can’t be healthy for horses to breathe in dust on gallops and so many gallops I see kick up dust when the horses are trotting or cantering on them. Their lungs are so sensitive so, although it is a lot of extra work, I ensure either my yardman Lucjan or I water the gallops all summer as anything that can help the horses is surely worth doing.
David Maughan was in this morning to see recent Warwick winner Redbridge Rambler on the gallops along with Continuance, who runs at Worcester on Saturday and also Better Off Alone who has just come back into work after a decent holiday. Great to see David as always and he was here whilst I decided whether we headed north to Hexham on Saturday with our three runners or stayed local at Worcester. Lots of discussions since entries came out a few days ago on the pros and cons of each race with each horse but eventually Worcester was the course we’ve decided upon so let’s hope for a bit of luck there.
We head to Uttoxeter this afternoon with Stephen & Helen Sugden’s stunning big horse Yes Indeed and he has the assistance of the Champion Jockey, Sean Bowen today. He ran a belter at Bangor recently but found himself out of his comfort zone over 2 miles 1f on quick ground. He’s so genuine though and still ran well to finish 3rd. It’s competitive again but he should appreciate the step up in trip and he should go pretty close as he seems to have come out of his Bangor run in top form.
Happy Birthday to our Yard Amateur, Harry Hoyles, who celebrates his 19th Birthday today! Caterpillar cake and a birthday rosette were the order of the day!