No runners yesterday but the vet was in and it was great to get good news on a couple of horses who have been on the easy list and always a relief when the vet allays any concerns we have! Farriers Nick Partridge and Amy Clarke in today and physio Hannah Ashton was in yesterday afternoon massaging and treating a few.
Last night we all went out for drinks after evening stables at the Coach & Horses Pub in Longborough to say farewell to Beth Norrish who has been working for us for about six weeks covering Kieran who has been off injured. Sadly for us she is now off to do a Ski Season in Val D’isere and we will miss her smiley face but hope she comes back to see us in the Spring. She immediately fitted into our team and has worked very hard so the skiing families in Val D’isere will definitely love having Beth around! We know she’ll miss Raving Bonkers who she has ridden most days she’s been here and are sure she’ll be following his progress. However we very much look forward to Kieran re-joining the Team on Monday.
Lerichi Belle runs for us today at Ludlow with Harry Stock taking 7lbs off her back. She’s a buzzy type at home and takes a lot of switching off as she’s always trying to do a bit too much but Harry gets on well with her and will need to do all he can to try and conserve her energy in the race. It’s her first run back from her summer holiday and although she will come on for the run she should be fit enough to do herself justice as long as she doesn’t fight Harry too much! Nearly all of her enthusiastic owners, The Transporters, are at Ludlow to support her so we hope she runs well for them.
I’m calling in to pre-trainer Martin Jones en route to look at a few horses that our owners have with him. Martin does a great job and horses always arrive from his yard knowing their job.
We’ve had a few visitors here this week. Neil Lloyd brought son Jack in to see us on Tuesday afternoon and have a catch up. Neil is in our Racing Club and works for Law Firm Manby Bowdler. We wish them luck tonight as they are up for Employer of the Year Award at the Client Care Champion Awards and Neil is up for Sales Director of the Year. It was good to pick his brains on how they look after their employees as the National Trainers Federation and Lycetts Insurers have launched “Lycetts Team Champion” in a bid to help us recruit and retain staff. Shelley Perham from the NTF, who Belinda met when Shelley organised the training day Belinda and Jamie went on last Thursday agreed to come and meet Belinda here earlier in the week to discuss ways we can retain the fantastic team we have here. Jamie & Belinda thoroughly enjoyed last week’s course and Belinda enjoyed picking Shelley’s brains on a one to one basis on Tuesday to help us as a company look after our Team in the best possible way.
David Robinson called in for a coffee and a catch up yesterday too – it’s always great to see David but disappointing to hear from him that his mare Jean’s Lady, who injured her tendon over a year ago, will not be able to race again. Hopefully with our help we’ll find a suitable home for her where she won’t be put under as much strain as racing. It’s always important to find the right home and we have quite a lot of contacts but do always get in touch if you are looking for a retired racehorse and know you can provide a first class home for them.