OCTOBER 2016
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Monday
31 October 2016 |
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Today’s
racing was marred by a pile-up at Kempton Park in which jockeys Jim Crowley
and Freddy Tylicki were seriously injured; they
have suspected spinal injuries.
Fortunately colleagues Steve Drowne and Ted Durcan were able to walk away from the accident. No horses were hurt. The IJF
will be keeping everyone up to date with news of the jockeys as it is
released. I wish Jim and Freddy a
speedy recovery and hope that neither suffers any long term damage. Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Hereford: Adrrastos (Jamie Snowden/Richard Johnson) finished 2nd in
the NH Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran). Forecast (Martin Keighley/Conor
Shoemark) won the Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran); Martin’s 9th winner of the season. Kassis (Jamie Snowden/Daryl Jacob) finished last in the
Mares’ Handicap Chase (Qualifier) (4 ran). Viking
Mistress (Martin Keighley/Conor Shoemark)
finished 3rd in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle Div II (10 ran). Plumpton: Queens
Well (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 2nd in the Mares’ Novices’
Hurdle (7 ran); sadly she finished lame. L Kapgarde King (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished a
distant 2nd in the Novices’ Handicap Chase (9 ran); only 3 finished. Due to the
accident at Kempton
Park today,
Sam Missile’s race was one of those abandoned. There are
three runners of interest tomorrow: Kempton
Park: 20:10 Londonia (Graeme McPherson/Rob Hornby/EPDS
Racing) & Buckle Street (Martin Keighley/Tom Marquand) – Handicap [2
miles] Exeter: 13:50
Double Treasure (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Novices’ Hurdle The Haldon Gold Cup is run tomorrow, with Dodging Bullets, Garde La Victoire, Sir
Valentino, Pain Au Chocolat, Presenting Arms,
Dresden, Ultragold and Purple ‘n Gold declared. Today I
have completed eight years of blogs, as my website has been up and running since
the autumn of 2008! |
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Sunday
30 October 2016 |
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There are
two results to report today: Huntingdon: 15:35 Jim
Dandy (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the Juvenile Hurdle (7
ran). Carlisle: Dontminddboys (Robin Dickin/Charlie Poste/EPDS
Racing) stayed on to finish 4th in the Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (15 ran); an
excellent return to action following 564 days on the injury sidelines. His stable name is ‘Casper’, presumably because he’s a ‘ghostly’ grey! Seeyouatmidnight won the feature race,
impressively; it was a match race in which he beat Bristol De Mai, with More
Of That having been withdrawn due to the ground. There are
seven runners of interest tomorrow: Hereford: 13:00 Adrrastos (Jamie Snowden/Richard Johnson) – NH Novices’
Hurdle 14:00
Forecast (Martin Keighley/Conor Shoemark)
– Novices’ Hurdle 14:30 Kassis (Jamie Snowden/Daryl Jacob) – Mares’ Handicap
Chase (Qualifier) 16:00
Viking Mistress (Martin Keighley/Conor Shoemark) – Mares’ Handicap Hurdle Div II Plumpton: 14:10
Queens Well (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 14:40 Kapgarde King (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Novices’
Handicap Chase Kempton
Park: 16:50 Sam
Missile (James Fanshawe/Daniel Muscutt/AppleTree Stud) – Middle Distance Final (Handicap) [1
mile 3 furlongs] I’ve found
two more Flemensfirth offspring I should have
mentioned yesterday – namely Viva Steve and AppleTree
Stud’s broodmare Our Pollyanna! I’ve
discovered Pride of Pemberley’s actual birthday – 07
February 2012 – he has an entry in the valuable DBS bumper race next
spring. The majority of syndicate
horses have a buy-in cost, as well as a monthly training cost; this applies
to Colin so, for the present, I’ll just have to remain satisfied in the knowledge
that I’ve named him. L But, hopefully, we’ll
receive news of Menace’s replacement soon – there was no buy-in, as he cost
£600 to buy ... but he did win nearly £1200.
I feel
very tired today, I guess because I decided not to lose the hour and got up
at 05:30 this morning! I am so not
looking forward to walking home from work in the dark tomorrow evening; it
will now be 4 months until I can head home via the preferred scenic route
once more. I’ve put a
couple of videos and a number of photos onto facebook
from yesterday’s visit to Jamie Snowden’s yard. And have begun to draft my diary too;
nearly 1400 words so far. Channel
4’s Humans returns to the screen for series 2 tonight. I used the
Garnier Micellar water
for sensitive skin again yesterday, to remove my make-up, and now have puffy
skin beneath my left eye. It was itchy
there yesterday evening too. And I
don’t even have sensitive skin!!! |
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Saturday
29 October 2016 |
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EPDS
Racing’s 4-year-old Flemensfirth gelding has a name,
Pride of Pemberley, which was chosen today from a
number of suggested names submitted by his syndicate owners, and members of
the other syndicates too. And, guess
what? It was me who put forward the
name ... so I’ve named a racehorse! J He’ll be starting
off in bumpers. My idea
originated from the fact that his preferred stable name is Colin (not Flem as he’s sometimes referred to), as in Colin
Firth. And the actor played Mr Darcy
in the BBC’s fabulous adaption of Pride and Prejudice, with Pemberley being his family’s country estate. Top of the
list of Flemensfirth progeny is Imperial Commander,
also the one and only Tidal Bay, plus Flemenstar,
Time For Rupert, Joe Lively, The Last Samuri, Invictus, Meister Eckhart, Johnny Og
and Flementime. Anyway,
after that excitement, here are today’s results for my runners of interest: Ascot: Pearls
Legend (John Spearing/Nico de Boinville)
was a non-runner in the Handicap Chase [Listed] (2 miles & 192 yards] Between
The Waters (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 5th in the Standard Open
NH Flat Race (6 ran). Wetherby: Miss Crick
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the Mares’ Hurdle [Listed] (6
ran). Cue Card
(Colin Tizzard/Paddy Brennan) finished 3rd in the
Charlie Hall Chase [Grade 2] (7 ran); Irish Cavalier won the race, with
Menorah completing in 2nd place. Zipple Back (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd
in the Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Stynes (Graeme McPherson/Kielan
Woods/EPDS Racing) finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3 furlongs
& 154 yards] (12 ran). There are
a couple of runners of interest tomorrow: Huntingdon: 15:35 Jim
Dandy (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Juvenile Hurdle Carlisle: 16:10 Dontminddboys (Robin Dickin/Charlie
Poste/EPDS Racing) – Novices’ Handicap Hurdle There’s a Goffs UK Sale next week, and I notice that three Barbury Castle horses have been entered – Hardington, Inn The Bull, and
Jim Dandy who runs tomorrow. In
addition, Martin Keighley’s Flementime is offered for
sale as a brood mare only. And here
are the bobble hats which I’ve knitted:
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Friday
28 October 2016 |
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Sorry
there was no blog yesterday; I was so tired last evening that all I wanted to
do was doze in the armchair! Anyway, here
is yesterday’s result for my runner of interest at Stratford: Magic
Music Man (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was a non-runner in the Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase Criq Rock (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was a
non-runner in the NH Novices’ Hurdle Johnny Og (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) won the Handicap Chase [2
miles 3 furlongs & 98 yards] (8 ran); it was Martin’s 8th winner of the season. Today’s
results are as follows: Uttoxeter: Cajun
Fiddle (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 2nd and Dalton Glance (Martin
Keighley/Killian Moore) finished 8th in the Mares’ Maiden Hurdle Solstice
Star (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 5th in the Beginners’ Chase
(6 ran); Charbel beat Le Prezien
and Top Notch in this one. Wetherby: Master Blueyes (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th and
Rainbow Dreamer (Alan King/Tom Cannon) finished 3rd; the race was won by
Cliffs Of Dover, his fourth win since 14 October! There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow: Ascot: 14:25
Pearls Legend (John Spearing/Nico de Boinville) – Handicap Chase [Listed] (2 miles & 192
yards] 17:20
Between The Waters (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Standard Open NH Flat
Race Wetherby: 14:10 Miss
Crick (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Hurdle [Listed] 14:20 Cue
Card (Colin Tizzard/Paddy Brennan) – Charlie Hall
Chase [Grade 2]; Menorah also runs in the race. 15:55 Zipple Back (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’
Hurdle 17:05 Stynes (Graeme McPherson/Kielan
Woods/EPDS Racing) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3 furlongs & 154 yards];
Surf And Turf also runs in the race, reverting to hurdles after his mishap at
Kempton Park a couple of weeks ago. I’ve set
my alarm for 06:00 tomorrow, as I’ll need to set off for Lambourn
at around 08:15. I’m not intending to
head to Ascot following my trip to Folly House, as there’s no ‘draw’ like last year when Ned Stark
ran and I saw Choc too! I’m now
trialling a new prescription of contact lenses, having had my eyes tested
again yesterday. As the astigmatism
has reduced in my right eye, I’m now wearing two ordinary lenses once more,
but they aren’t of matching strength.
I’ve now
sewn up the remaining two knitted hats, and made bobbles for them too. However, I’ve also bought balls of wool to
knit seven more of same in further shades!!!
And three of those I’ve already completed will have matching shawl
scarves too – namely plum, berry and pink/grey/white. |
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Wednesday
26 October 2016 |
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There were
two runners of interest today, at Fakenham, and this is how they fared: Giveaway Glance
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 5th in the Fillies’ Juvenile Hurdle (7
ran). Daliance (Noel
Williams/William Featherstone/EPDS Racing) won the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 95 yards] (7
ran); Dali decided it was a going day today! Three
runners of interest tomorrow, at Stratford: 14:50
Magic Music Man (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Limited Handicap
Chase 15:25 Criq Rock (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – NH Novices’
Hurdle 16:30
Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 3 furlongs & 98
yards] There’s no
news yet regarding the Twitterati syndicate’s
replacement horse, but Menace has found a new home. Mrs Prowting’s
Racing Manager, Hannah Bishop, collected him from Noel’s yard yesterday and
he’s gone to live with their horses in Buckinghamshire. Menace will be having a holiday, before
being brought back into work to assess his capabilities as a riding
horse. Hannah oversees Mrs Prowting’s horses at the farm during their holidays away
from racing, and during injury recuperation spells too. Hannah has
competed Rich Buddy in RoR showing classes recently
and is graduating him to show-jumping classes soon too; he was trained by
Richard Phillips. Hannah has two sons,
Toby who is fourteen, and the younger Noah, and they also ride. So I’m sure the boys will enjoy competing
Menace in due course; Toby rides Buddy sometimes too. And, as Hannah is very familiar with
posting photos and news on both Twitter and facebook,
Menace’s large fan club will receive regular updates on his progress. Here is
Menace with Toby: https://mobile.twitter.com/HannahBishop79/status/791193870906363904/photo/1 And Menace
with his nose in the trough too: https://mobile.twitter.com/HannahBishop79/status/791334122195148800/photo/1 |
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Tuesday
25 October 2016 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Bangor-on-Dee: Keep In
Line (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Novices’ Hurdle
(11 ran); Wayne’s 29th
winner of the
season. Wishing
And Hoping (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the Novices’ Chase (4
ran). Royal Plaza
(Alan King/William Featherstone) finished 2nd in the Conditional Jockeys’
Handicap Hurdle (8 ran). Bastien (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 6th in the
Standard Open NH Flat Race (13 ran). Chepstow: Laser Light (Alan King/Daryl Jacob) won the NH Maiden Hurdle
Div I (16 ran). Major Milborne (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished last in
the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 131 yards] (8 ran). Thistlecrack (Colin Tizzard/Tom Scudamore) coasted
to an impressive victory in the
Novices’ Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs & 131 yards] (5 ran); Aqalim finished 2nd. Just two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Fakenham: 15:10
Giveaway Glance (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Fillies’ Juvenile Hurdle 16:10 Daliance (Noel Williams/William Featherstone/EPDS Racing)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 95 yards] ... and I wonder which
kind of mood Dali will be in tomorrow!
Tomorrow
is my ‘Friday’ ... as I’ve two
further days’ holiday booked. J I’ve no
special plans for Thursday and Friday, but need to use up additional days
before year end, with 6 further days’ leave next month too ... and I still
have 4½ days to carry over into the New Year – 27 days in total each year,
plus Bank Holidays. |
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Monday
24 October 2016 |
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There are a
number of runners of interest tomorrow: Bangor-on-Dee: 14:10 Keep
In Line (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Hurdle 14:40
Wishing And Hoping (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Chase 16:15
Royal Plaza (Alan King/William Featherstone) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap
Hurdle 16:45 Bastien (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Standard Open NH
Flat Race Chepstow: 13:30
Laser Light (Alan King/Daryl Jacob) – NH Maiden Hurdle Div I 15:05
Major Milborne (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) –
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 131 yards] 15:35 Thistlecrack (Colin Tizzard/Tom
Scudamore) – Novices’ Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs
& 131 yards]; he has 4 rivals including Aqalim
which is now trained by Tim Vaughan. It’s only
two months until Christmas Eve ... |
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Sunday 23
October 2016 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Aintree: Kerrow (Alan
King/William Featherstone) won the
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (14 ran). Forgotten
Gold (Tom George/Adrian Heskin) finished 8th and Dineur (Sean Bowen/Peter Bowen) finished 7th in the
Veterans’ Handicap Chase (Leg 7 of the series) (10 ran). Ubak (Gary Moore/Joshua Moore) finished 5th in the
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs] (15 ran); the final two flights were
omitted due to low sun. Smad Place (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th
in the Old Roan Chase (Group 2) (7 ran); Colin Tizzard’s
Third Intention won the race. Black Sam
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up in the Mares’ Standard Open NH
Flat Race due to lameness (10 ran). Wincanton: Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 3rd in the
Novices’ Limited Handicap (4 ran). Double
Treasure (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 2nd in the NH Novices’
Hurdle (4 ran). There are
no runners of interest tomorrow. Kincora Fort has suffered another tendon injury, so is
out for a further season. It’s not the
same tendon which has kept him out of action since Spring 2015. Meanwhile Ami Desbois
has a bruised foot, so his seasonal debut will be delayed slightly; he
stepped on a nail having lost a shoe. The Betchworth Kid’s name was mentioned on the ‘Racehorses, where are they now?’ site
today. Evidently he went to the
Northern Racing School as a ‘schoolmaster’
when he retired, but then suffered a tendon injury. He’s now living at a Racehorse Sanctuary in
Godalming, awaiting a new forever home; he can
still be ridden though. It appears
that Franchoek is currently housed at Palace House
in Newmarket, along with Walkon, and takes part in
daily demonstrations for the public, showing them how racehorses are
retrained. Choc
tweeted this photograph yesterday: https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/789927336519036928/photo/1 I can’t
say that I’d hold a snake of any kind.
Mark used to hope that we’d see adders in the wild – we once went to Mersea Island for a ramble along their seawall just in
case they were basking in the warm spring sunshine; we also kept a look out
for them around the Lands End area.
Needless to say we never saw any.
Although I did once see a very cute grass snake in Denise’s compost
heap! |
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Saturday
22 October 2016 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Cheltenham: Any Currency
(Martin Keighley/Aidan Coleman) was a non-runner in the Handicap Chase [3
miles 1 furlong] Three Ways
(Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 5th in the Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). Sceau Royal (Alan
King/Daryl Jacob) won and Gibralfaro (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in
the Hurdle (6 ran); the winner was impressive today, so I don’t think he
showed his true form in the Triumph Hurdle, especially as many of Alan’s
horses weren’t running very well at that time. The Tourard Man (Alan King/Kevin Dowling) finished 12th in
the Handicap Hurdle (Pertemps Qualifier) [2 miles 7
furlongs & 208 yards] (15 ran). Solstice
Star (Martin Keighley/Tom Scudamore) was a
non-runner in the Novices’ Chase City Never
Sleeps (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 11th
and Somewhere To Be (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) dead-heated for 4th and
Brillare Momento (Martin
Keighley/Aidan Coleman) finished 2nd in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (16
ran). I was
hoping that Boondooma would be okay, despite being
pulled up in the feature chase but, very sadly, he’d fractured a knee and
couldn’t be saved. It was his first
race back following almost a year off due to a fractured pelvis. RIP Boondooma. There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow ... and I’ve found more since
yesterday ... Aintree: 14:10 Kerrow (Alan King/William Featherstone) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 14:45
Forgotten Gold (Tom George/Adrian Heskin) & Dineur (Sean Bowen/Peter Bowen) – Veterans’ Handicap
Chase (Leg 7 of the series) 15:15 Ubak (Gary Moore/Joshua Moore) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles
4 furlongs] 15:50 Smad Place (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Old Roan Chase
(Group 2) 17:00
Black Sam (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race Wincanton: 14:55
Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Novices’
Limited Handicap 16:05
Double Treasure (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – NH Novices’ Hurdle Not only
has Menace been retired, but the Noel Williams-trained Hot Whiskey n Ice has
been retired also; the latter has suffered a reoccurrence of a tendon
injury. Hot Whiskey n Ice was Noel’s
first winner as a trainer. Randox Health, who is sponsoring the Grand National
starting in 2017, will sponsor the next renewal of the County Hurdle; it had
been the Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle since 1995. As
expected, the Festival’s National Hunt Chase will be run in honour of JT
McNamara in 2017. I’ve
knitted the plum-coloured hat, and have also begun the berry-coloured
one. I need more wool ... |
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Friday 21
October 2016 |
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Here are
the results for today’s runners of interest: Cheltenham: Altesse De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 5th in the
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 5 furlongs & 26 yards] (16 ran). Cottersrock (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
finished 4th in the Novices’ Chase (6 ran). Wolverhampton: Ardamir (Alan King/Fergus Sweeney/AppleTree
Stud) finished 3rd in the Handicap [1 mile 4 furlongs & 50 yards] (12
ran). Tomorrow
there are a number of runners of interest at Cheltenham: 13:50 Any
Currency (Martin Keighley/Aidan Coleman) – Handicap Chase [3 miles 1 furlong] 14:25
Three Ways (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Novices’ Hurdle 15:00 Sceau Royal (Alan King/Daryl Jacob) & Gibralfaro (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Hurdle 16:05 The Tourard Man (Alan King/Kevin Dowling) – Handicap Hurdle (Pertemps Qualifier) [2 miles 7 furlongs & 208 yards] 16:40
Solstice Star (Martin Keighley/Tom Scudamore) -
Novices’ Chase 17:15 City
Never Sleeps (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) &
Somewhere To Be (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) & Brillare
Momento (Martin Keighley/Aidan Coleman) – Standard
Open NH Flat Race And on Sunday: Aintree: 14:10 Kerrow (Alan King/William Featherstone) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 15:50 Smad Place (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Old Roan Chase
(Group 2); also entered are Sire De Grugy, God’s
Own, Vibrato Valtat, Three Musketeers, Royal
Regatta and Third Intention ... it’s so good to see well-known horses back in
action again! 17:00
Black Sam (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race Wincanton: 14:55
Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase 16:05
Double Treasure (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – NH Novices’ Hurdle Another
old warrior has passed away – Moscow Flyer has died aged 22. RIP. More
naughtiness today ... I realised I have a 20% off M & S clothing, beauty
and homeware voucher to use until 24 October, so
I’ve ordered a pair of brown Footglove boots
identical in style to the black pair I bought last month; I couldn’t wait
until I go to M & S tomorrow, because they are also now registering on
the website as low stock in my size.
They are wide fit and very comfy!
For walking any distance you need soft pliable soles, not rigid ones,
as the latter are dangerous in wet or icy weather. I’ve no
particular plans for the weekend; I have two more Fab
Big hats to knit (berry and plum), and an additional two to sew up (cream and
pink/grey/white). I’ve four more
colours on my wish list too – violet, strawberry, delphinium and shocking
pink. I’ve also got Fab Big wool to knit two matching fringed scarves in plum
and in pink/grey/white. |
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Thursday
20 October 2016 |
|
Ludlow: Jazzy
(Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 2nd and Inn The Bull (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Juvenile
Hurdle (6 ran); Wayne’s 28th
winner of the
season. McCabe
Creek (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 5th and Authorised Too (Noel
Williams/Leighton Aspell) finished last in the
Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (7 ran). Newton
Abbot: Brave Encounter (Jamie
Snowden/Jonathan Moore) won the
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (6 ran). Racing
returns to Cheltenham tomorrow and there are two runners of interest there
and one at Wolverhampton; the Irish send a strong contingent to
Gloucestershire too. Cheltenham: 15:20 Altesse De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles
5 furlongs & 26 yards] 15:55 Cottersrock (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Chase; in fact the Irish provide two-thirds of the 6-runner field
for this one, with two representing Henry de Bromhead,
one for Gordon Elliott and one for Jessica Harrington. Colin Tizzard
provides the other runner. Wolverhampton: 19:20 Ardamir (Alan King/Fergus Sweeney/AppleTree
Stud) – Handicap [1 mile 4 furlongs & 50 yards] RIP Rough Quest
It was
reported today that the 1996 Grand National winner Rough Quest has been put
to sleep, aged 30; he had been suffering from an infection which he was
unable to beat. RIP. I actually
read the news on the ‘Racehorses, where
are they now?’ facebook page yesterday evening
but couldn’t find an official report, so decided not to mention it until
today. Oh dear,
I’ve been naughty again. I like to
check my favourite websites just in case there are any special offers or to
see if items on my ‘wish list’ are
running down to low stock. Firstly I
checked the M & S website to see if the brown ankle boots are still in
stock in my size; fortunately the wider fit 7½ are okay currently, so no need
to buy yet, although I might take a look in M & S in London Colney on Saturday to see if they have this size ... they
did last Saturday! Then I checked the
Kipling site to see if they had a sale ... and found the Art S style in the
waterfall design is now 40% off; it’s one of four I have on my list (3 from
Kipling and one through QVC). So I’ve
ordered one!!! And I’ve
confirmed to EPDS Racing that I’ll be attending the yard visit they’ve
arranged to Jamie Snowden’s on Saturday 29 October. J |
|
Wednesday
19 October 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest ... with Alan King appearing to
have a very bad case of ‘seconditis’! Fontwell Park: Azzerti (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the
Novices’ Hurdle (10 ran). Board Of
Trade (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd and Billy No Name (Colin Tizzard/Paddy Brennan) finished 6th in the Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 5 furlongs & 139 yards] (9 ran). Peggies Venture (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished
2nd in the Mares’ Intermediate Open NH Flat Race (9 ran). Worcester: Kaspian Tern (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 8th
and Passmore (Alan King/Tom Cannon) finished 2nd in
the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). With the
proper National Hunt season getting underway, there are a number of runners
of interest tomorrow too: Ludlow: 14:00
Jazzy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) & Inn
The Bull (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Juvenile Hurdle 15:05
McCabe Creek (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Authorised Too ... aka Arthur
... (Noel Williams/Leighton Aspell) – Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase Newton
Abbot: 14:55
Brave Encounter (Jamie Snowden/Jonathan Moore) – Conditional Jockeys’
Handicap Chase There’s
good news regarding Sam Twiston-Davies; he was
released from hospital today. But sad
news regarding one of Graeme McPherson’s horses, Kamool; the Let’s Live Racing’s horse was killed in a
fall at Plumpton on Monday. RIP. L |
|
Tuesday
18 October 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Exeter: Fact Of The Matter (Jamie
Snowden/Brendan Powell) won the
Handicap Chase [3 miles & 54 yards] (8 ran). Orchard
Park (Jamie Snowden/Micheal Nolan) finished 2nd in
the Novices’ Hurdle (5 ran). Yarmouth: Denver
Spirit (Luca Cumani/Shane Kelly/AppleTree
Stud) finished 6th in the Fillies Maiden Stakes for 2-year-olds [6 furlongs
& 3 yards] (11 ran). There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow: Fontwell Park: 13:40 Azzerti (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Hurdle 14:45 Board
Of Trade (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Billy No Name (Colin Tizzard/Paddy Brennan) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 5
furlongs & 139 yards] 16:30 Peggies Venture (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’
Intermediate Open NH Flat Race Worcester - it’s their season
finale: 16:40 Kaspian Tern (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) & Passmore (Alan King/Tom Cannon) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle I picked
up a copy of the Racing Post on my way to work this morning, although I was
so early that next week’s Radio Times hadn’t been placed on the shelf yet so
I had to buy one at lunchtime instead. Anyway,
just a brief round-up regarding Alan King’s plans for the remainder of the
season – Annacotty will head back to the BetVictor Gold Cup which he won last season when it was
sponsored by Paddy Power; he was hobdayed during
the summer. Big Chief Benny may stay
hurdling this season, depending on his handicap. Carraig Mor is due to return to action around December time
having spent last season on the sidelines through injury. Criq Rock is ready to go novice hurdling as soon as
the ground becomes suitable. Dusky
Legend is still a novice so will be aimed at the same Cheltenham Festival
mares’ novices’ race as last season.
Katie Too has had a minor setback but will be return for the second
part of the season and will be aimed at the Grade 1 David Nicholson mares’
race at the Festival. Alan King
was pleased with Gibralfaro’s seasonal debut at
Chepstow the weekend before last and he expects him to step up in trip with
time. Label Des Obeaux
is due to go novice chasing, and the trainer thinks Lord Huntingdon will
benefit from a bigger field than he encountered when unseating at Kempton
last Sunday. McCabe Creek is due to go
novice chasing. Messire
Des Obeaux remains a novice, so will continue as a
hurdler this season before going chasing next. Midnight
Prayer is still in training and may go to Sandown Park in December for a
valuable veterans’ chase, followed by Warwick in January. Miss Crick has won four races this summer
and is due to run again at Cheltenham this weekend. Ordo Ab Chao is back in training following pneumonia and
pleurisy but, although he was schooled over fences last year, they are going
to take their time with him. Sego
Success doesn’t like Cheltenham so Alan will run him on flat courses at
distances of 3 miles plus. Smad Place will return to action in either the Old Roan
Chase at Aintree or the Charlie Hall at Wetherby;
the former being the preference. He
will then have another shot at the Hennessy Gold Cup which he won last year,
before maybe going back to Cheltenham on Trials Day for the Cotswold Chase
which he also won last season. Alan
believes The Tourard Man is better suited to
hurdles, so will continue down that route following his disappointing run over
fences at Hereford; the trainer aims to qualify him for the Pertemps Final before taking the winter off because he
prefers good ground. Having
already been given the inside knowledge by Choc, I can confirm that Tyrell
will go hurdling and Alan states he is schooling well. Alan thinks he will leave the blinkers off
for the moment and he doesn’t think the horse will like really deep ground. Uxizandre has only been back in the yard for a couple of
weeks and is cantering away at the moment.
Alan is in no rush to get him to the racecourse, so the aim is for a
Christmas return, on a left-handed track of course. Winner Massagot
has fully recovered from a cracked pelvis and Alan is going to begin him on a
2-mile novice chasing campaign. Valdez is
currently in pre-training following two years off the track due to a tendon
problem. Alan writes that he looks
tremendous and he’s still hopeful that he has retained his ability. Yanworth will
remain over hurdles and Alan is going to start him off over 2 miles 4
furlongs at Ascot in November before deciding if a World Hurdle entry is on
the cards. Finally, Ziga Boy will begin his campaign in November, followed by
a run in the Becher Chase with the aim of
discovering if he’s a National horse! There are
others on Alan’s stable tour list, but I’ve limited the details to the better
known ones. |
|
Monday
17 October 2016 |
|
There is
no result to report today, as Ardamir was a
non-runner at Windsor. Three
runners of interest tomorrow: Exeter: 15:10 Fact
Of The Matter (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Handicap Chase [3 miles &
54 yards] 15:40
Orchard Park (Jamie Snowden/Micheal Nolan) –
Novices’ Hurdle Yarmouth: 13:50
Denver Spirit (Luca Cumani/Shane Kelly/AppleTree Stud) – Fillies Maiden Stakes for 2-year-olds
[6 furlongs & 3 yards] Jockey
Wilson Renwick has announced his retirement due to injury ... but he hopes to
become a professional cyclist! Talking of
cyclists ... Victoria Pendleton has been recruitment by ITV Racing ... oh
dear. I wish the ghastly publicity
seeker would do everyone a favour and fade into obscurity. Alan King
will feature in tomorrow’s Racing Post, outlining the plans for his horses
this season. I had more
expense today ... I needed to purchase a new epilator, and the Braun Silk Epil 7 is not cheap.
However, Argos was selling it for £129.99, whereas Boots had the same
model on offer for around £86.00, so I saved nearly £45.00! And, as it was a replacement like for like,
all of the attachments from the old one fit the new one too ... so I already
have spares for it! |
|
Sunday
16 October 2016 |
|
There are
a number of results to report from yesterday: Ffos Las: Daliance (Noel Williams/William Featherstone) finished
9th in the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). Market Rasen: Paddys Runner (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th
in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs & 139 yards] (5 ran); he
actually finished last of those which completed. Pemba, now
trained by Fergal O’Brien, finished 5th in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle (7
ran). Stratford: Dalton
Glance (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) finished last in the NH Maiden Hurdle
(9 ran). The Kvilleken (Marting
Keighley/Claire Hardwick) finished 3rd in the Lady Riders’ Handicap Hurdle
(11 ran). There was one
runner of interest today, at Kempton
Park: Lord
Huntingdon (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) unseated two out in the Juvenile
Hurdle (5 ran). For the
record, Wayne rode his 27th winner of the season aboard Thyne
For Gold at Uttoxeter on Thursday. One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Windsor: 15:50 Ardamir (Alan King/Fergus Sweeney/AppleTree
Stud) – Handicap Div I [1 mile 2 furlongs & 7 yards] Alain Cawley took a crashing fall at Kempton this afternoon in
which he dislocated both of his shoulders.
Hopefully his mount, Surf And Turf, is okay as there’s nothing in the
race notes to suggest the horse was injured too. The horse he brought down galloped back
uninjured. I’ve not
done much this weekend, just food shopping, clothes washing, and I also spent
too much time yesterday surfing the internet.
Today I had my hair cut and have also knitted two woollen hats using
Big Fab yarn on size 10mm needles, so they don’t
take long to do. However, I’ve not
sewn up the back seams or made and attached a pom pom yet. |
|
Friday
14 October 2016 |
|
There was
one runner of interest today, at Wincanton: Kapgarde King (Jamie
Snowden/Brendan Powell) won the
Novices’ Handicap Chase (6 ran); price 7-2. Kapgarde King is on my ATR Tracker, because he was one of
my favourites when I visited Jamie’s yard. There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow: Ffos Las: 13:50 Daliance (Noel Williams/William Featherstone) –
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle Market Rasen: 14:45 Paddys Runner (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs & 139 yards] Pemba, who
was sold out of Alan’s yard in the spring, runs for trainer Fergal O’Brien in
the 14:10 Mares’ Handicap Hurdle. Stratford: 16:55
Dalton Glance (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) – NH Maiden Hurdle 17:30 The Kvilleken (Marting
Keighley/Claire Hardwick) – Lady Riders’ Handicap Hurdle The Kvilleken is a half-brother to Blazing Bailey! There’s
one runner of interest at Kempton
Park on
Sunday: 14:00 Lord
Huntingdon (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Juvenile Hurdle As was
expected earlier in the week, it has been decided to retire Menace from
racing; in the opinion of the vet, he has an issue with his cruciate ligaments which will only get worse if he
continues in his current career.
That’s good news from my point of view, as I really didn’t want him to
get hurt. But, very sadly, the last
opportunity to see him appears to be at Noel’s yard on Hennessy Gold Cup day
and visits always start at around 10:00, which is gate opening time at
Newbury. L EPDS
Racing promises to find a replacement to serve the syndicate until the end of
the year.
I’ve no plans
for the weekend, although I’m going to be unsettled for the present because
I’m now torn between arriving at my usual time ahead of the Hennessy Gold
Cup, or visiting Menace for one last time and then rushing down to Newbury in
the hope of making it in time for the first race at 12:20. Noel’s yard is around 35 minutes from
Newbury but, no doubt, it won’t take 35 minutes on their busiest day of the
year ... and I hate traffic jams with a vengeance! To avoid worry, I need to arrive just
before gate opening time, which is 10:00, which should permit me to park in
the new tarmac car park too, like last year.
Oh god ...
I don’t know what to do ... and I just hate being unsettled! |
|
Thursday
13 October 2016 |
|
There was
one runner of interest today, at Carlisle: Asuncion
(Rebecca Menzies/Ross Turner) finished 9th in the
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). There’s
one runner of interest tomorrow, at Wincanton: 15:35 Kapgarde King (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Novices’
Handicap Chase AppleTree Stud’s Champs Elysees yearling filly was sold to
(Lucy) Wadham Racing for £20,000 at Tattersalls today.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Kirsty_Durham/status/785835804396494848/photo/1 I noticed
the lot above her was a Canford Cliffs filly out of
Reyamour – the dam was trained by Alan King and
ridden by Choc and Wayne when she was competing over jumps; the yearling
filly sold for only £4,000. Former
jumps jockey Jim Crowley has secured the Flat Jockeys’ Championship. Jonjo O’Neill trained his 2000th winner today – it was
a lucky one too, as the jockey aboard the main rival fell off before the line
due to a slipped saddle! Al Ferof has been retired; he recently suffered a very small
tear in a tendon and, as he is already a veteran, it was decided to call it a
day. He will now live with owner John
Hales’ daughter Lisa, joining their Grand National winner Neptune Collonges. I had an enjoyable
day yesterday, showing my friend Sandra and her friend Katherine around my
home City of St Albans. It’s half term
in Scotland, so they’d flown down to spend the week based with another friend
in Bedford and to see Jimmy Osmond in concert at three different venues
too! That’s dedication for you! https://mobile.twitter.com/jimmyosmond/status/785992225213775872/photo/1 |
|
Tuesday
11 October 2016 |
|
There were
three runners of interest today, all in the same race at Huntingdon! Adrrastos (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 2nd and
Alexander The Grey (Graeme McPherson/Kielan Woods)
finished 4th but Keep In
Line (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Maiden Hurdle (6
ran); Wayne’s 26th
winner of the
season. Keep In Line is another Paul
and Clare Rooney horse. There
appear to be no runners of interest tomorrow. The AppleTree Stud’s Champs Elysees filly is due to be sold
at Tattersalls on Thursday; Lot 1469. EPDS
Racing has a new recruit – a 2-year-old filly by Delegator; she will be
trained by Noel Williams and syndicate shares are now on offer – there’s a
lot of interest too. There’s
talk that Sam Twiston-Davies may be out of action until
Cheltenham’s November fixture. The big
Strictly Come Dancing news today is that Will Young has left the show,
stating personal reasons. That will
mess up the BBC’s scheduling, as the show will now finish a week earlier than
expected. |
|
Monday 10
October 2016 |
|
There was
one runner of interest today, at Windsor: Tyrell
(Alan King/Fergus Sweeney/AppleTree Stud) finished
a nose 2nd in the Handicap [1 mile 3 furlongs & 135 yards] (9 ran);
unlucky. There are
three runners of interest tomorrow, all in the same race at Huntingdon! 16:05 Adrrastos (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) & Alexander
The Grey (Graeme McPherson/Kielan Woods) & Keep
In Line (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Maiden Hurdle Sam Twiston-Davies has been admitted to Gloucester Hospital following
the fall at Chepstow yesterday in which his mount One More Go died. He has a damaged spleen, but the
specialists don’t think it will need to be removed. Reports suggest Sam will be under
observation for a week. Get well soon
Sam. The spleen
plays an important role in fighting bacterial infections so, if it’s removed,
low-dose antibiotics would then need to be taken every day. Ruby Walsh ruptured his spleen and had to
have it removed following a fall at Cheltenham in November 2008. EPDS is
awaiting the detailed vet’s report regarding Menace. He’s been stiffer following his latest run
than previously, so there are concerns the issue may be progressive; the
initial thought is a stifle problem.
However, as you know, I do think he’d make a nice RoR
horse for someone, if a lesser workload in a different job would suit. The next
visit to Noel’s yard is planned for 26 November, which is Hennessy Gold Cup
Day. His yard is fewer than 20 miles
away from Newbury racecourse but, as I always arrive early on that particular
day, it’s unlikely that I will be able to attend both because the gates open
at 10:00, with the first race at 12:20. L |
|
Sunday
09 October 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest at Chepstow today: Rainbow
Dreamer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the Juvenile Hurdle (4
ran). Three Ways
(Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 4th in the Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Sire De Grugy was a non-runner in the Handicap Chase at 16:00;
the ground didn’t suit. Art Mauresque won the race. The
Veterans’ Chase was won by Double Ross; it was his first race since taking
part in the Grand National. There is
one runner of interest tomorrow, at Windsor: 17:00
Tyrell (Alan King/Fergus Sweeney/AppleTree Stud) –
Handicap [1 mile 3 furlongs & 135 yards] Meanwhile,
Jan Faltejsek rode the winner of the Velka Pardubicka ... for the
fourth time! There is
positive news regarding Henry Brooke, he’s regained consciousness having been
placed in an induced coma following his fall at Hexham yesterday. But it’s been confirmed that Bryan Cooper
has definitely broken his arm. I was even
interested in the discussion on ATR’s Sunday Forum this morning – about
Galileo being the sire of 17 of Aidan O’Brien’s 20 Group One winners this
season and the problem this may cause moving forward as regards
bloodlines. Logic dictates that the
gene pool will need to be widened by importing from either America or from
Australia or the Far East – Northern Dancer came from North America (bred in
Canada) to start the dynasty; followed by his son Sadler’s Wells, and his son
Galileo; Frankel is a son of Galileo. And to
think that I wouldn’t be the slightest bit interested if it wasn’t for AppleTree Stud ... or for the fact that I’ve traced humble
little Menace’s line back too! In
human terms, Menace’s dad is Papal Bull, one of his granddads is Montjeu and thus one of his great-granddads is Sadler’s
Wells, and one great-great-granddad is Northern Dancer! Northern Dancer also appears in his dam’s
bloodline. Martin
Keighley will be launching the Martin Keighley Racing Club very shortly, so
keep checking his blog for further details.
I’d love to join, but I think I ought to keep a close check on my
short-term expenditure because I’ve paid out so much money this past month
... Today I
bought my Cheltenham Festival tickets, for all four days; on Friday I bought
a Grandstand ticket for Hennessy Gold Cup Day; last month I purchased my
Kempton Park ticket for Boxing Day; also a ticket to see Gleb
and Kristina at the Adelphi Theatre in December, a ticket to see Pasha in
Dunstable next April and two tickets for Lesley and me to see Aljaz and Janette at St Albans next May – for the
uninitiated, they are former or current professional dancers on Strictly Come
Dancing! I’ve also had to buy two new
pairs of prescription glasses. And I
currently have a wish list as long as my arm ... which includes a ticket to
see Strictly’s Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe next
April, three Kipling handbags, items from Bravissimo/Pepperberry, a couple of scarves (featuring swans and
penguins), two books (one about Sprinter Sacre by Brough Scott and one by Mick Channon
Jnr), a number of DVDs including War and Peace and
Doctor Foster, and there’s always yarn on my wish list too! Plus new contact lenses including a
check-up, not to mention Christmas presents, and I’d love to take an alpaca
for a walk and fly birds of prey too!!!
I’d also like a second pair of Footglove
boots, like the ones I purchased ahead of my Cirencester walk; the brown
version – they cost £59! And I’m
susceptible to buying beads or dichroic glass
jewellery at any point in time! I’ve
also now added the book ‘Mr Darley’s
Arabian’ by racing journalist Christopher McGrath to the growing list! The weather
was so nice early this morning that I went for a walk; it took me 90 minutes,
so I presume it was around 4.5 miles in distance. This
afternoon I’ve been proof reading my Cirencester diary, whilst also watching
the racing from Chepstow. |
|
Saturday
08 October 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Chepstow: Dalton
Glance (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) unseated
and Queens Well (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 2nd in the Mares’
Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Gibralfaro (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the
Limited Handicap Hurdle (8 ran). Who Dares
Wins (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th and Taquin
Du Seuil (Aidan Coleman/Jonjo
O’Neill) finished 6th in the Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) [2 miles
3 furlongs & 100 yards] (14 ran); Ballyoptic
won the race. Thady Quil (Martin Keighley/Conor Shoemark) was pulled up
in the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (13 ran). There was
a better result for the Keighley’s in the charity race, as Jamie Goldstein
won the race aboard Viking Mistress.
They won the race last year too, with My Lad Percy ridden by Conor O’Dwyer. Hexham: Wildehearted Woman (Jamie Snowden/Micheal
Nolan/EPDS Racing) finished 3rd in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran); it was
her first outing over hurdles. Between
The Waters (Jamie Snowden/Mr H Hunt) finished 2nd in the Intermediate NH Flat
Race (Conditional Jockeys’ and Amateur Riders) (8 ran). Newmarket: First
Mohican (Alan King/Hollie Doyle) finished 2nd and
last year’s winner Grumeti (Alan King/Martin Lane)
finished 9th in the Cesarewitch (33 ran); sadly there
was a fatality - Leah Freya having been pulled up during the race. RIP. Newcastle: Zabeel Star (Graeme McPherson/Rob Hornby)
finished 7th in the Handicap [1 mile 5 furlongs] (14 ran). There is
National Hunt racing at Chepstow again tomorrow: 14:45
Rainbow Dreamer (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Juvenile Hurdle 16:30
Three Ways (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Novices’ Hurdle Sire De Grugy also makes his seasonal debut in the Handicap Chase
at 16:00, over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs & 98 yards. And
there’s a Veterans’ Chase too, featuring Saint Are, Double Ross, Rocky Creek,
Loose Chips, Dineur, Theatrical Star, Court By
Surprise and Your Busy. The off time
is 17:00. It wasn’t
a good day for jockeys, with Bryan Cooper suffering a suspected broken arm
when he came to grief at Fairyhouse and Henry
Brooke being taken to hospital with a suspected collapsed lung when Old Storm
fell at Hexham. The damage was
actually done by a horse following Henry’s mount which struck him whilst he
was on the ground. The incident
initially delayed the racing by an hour and 45 minutes! Smad Place is due to return to action in Aintree’s
Old Roan Chase, Yanworth in the Coral Hurdle and
Winter Escape in the Greatwood Hurdle. Also, Uxizandre
is expected to return to action around Christmas time. J I’ve found
another AppleTree Stud horse, or should I say I’ve
discovered the name of their Invincible Spirit filly from the Highclere Stud which they purchased last year at the
October yearling sales – Denver Spirit.
She’s trained by Luca Cumani and is due to
run shortly. I’ve
finished my first complete draft of the Cirencester diary so, hopefully, I’ll
be able to proof and upload it tomorrow. |
|
Friday
07 October 2016 |
|
There were
three runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Newton
Abbot: Tengri (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 11th and Ballymountain Boy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 5th in the Standard Open NH Flat Race
(13 ran). York: Her Terms
(William Haggas/Willie Twiston-Davies/AppleTree Stud) finished 4th in the Maiden Stakes for
2-year-olds [5 furlongs & 89 yards] (13 ran). The
National Hunt season cranks up a gear tomorrow, with racing at Chepstow: 14:40
Dalton Glance (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
& Queens Well (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 15:50 Gibralfaro (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Limited
Handicap Hurdle 16:25 Who
Dares Wins (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) and Taquin
Du Seuil (Jonjo O’Neill/Aidan
Coleman) – Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) [2 miles 3 furlongs &
100 yards] 17:35 Thady Quil (Martin Keighley/Conor Shoemark) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Chase Hexham: 15:00 Wildehearted Woman (Jamie Snowden/Micheal
Nolan/EPDS Racing) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 17:10
Between The Waters (Jamie Snowden/Mr H Hunt) – Intermediate NH Flat Race
(Conditional Jockeys’ and Amateur Riders) Newmarket: 16:10
First Mohican (Alan King/Hollie Doyle) & Grumeti (Alan King/Martin Lane) – the Cesarewitch Newcastle: 19:15 Zabeel Star (Graeme McPherson/Rob Hornby)
– Handicap [1 mile 5 furlongs] Martin
Keighley’s Assistant Trainer Jamie Goldstein takes part in the Bob Champion
Cancer Trust charity race ahead of Chepstow’s main card. Donations can be made via Just Giving; but,
once again, the donation page doesn’t work if you are using Microsoft Edge as
your browser ... it’s driving me mental!
I emailed Just Giving about this issue three weeks ago and they replied
to say it was a known problem and they were trying to fix it ... but,
considering the timescale, they’re evidently not trying very hard!!! Sam Thomas
has moved his training operation from Northleach in
Gloucestershire to Lambourn. Today I
bought my Hennessy Gold Cup Day ticket.
I’ve nothing
exciting planned for this weekend, but hopefully will finish my Cirencester
diary. |
|
Thursday
06 October 2016 |
|
There were
two runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Hereford: The Tourard Man (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 5th in
the Handicap Chase [3 miles 1 furlong & 44 yards] (7 ran). Exeter: Stynes (Graeme McPherson/Kielan Woods) won
the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 2 furlongs & 111 yards] (4 ran). There are three
runners of interest tomorrow: Newton
Abbot: 17:15 Tengri (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Ballymountain Boy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Standard Open NH Flat Race York: 14:50 Her
Terms (William Haggas/Willie Twiston-Davies/AppleTree Stud) – Maiden Stakes for 2-year-olds [5
furlongs & 89 yards] Veteran
jockey Andrew Thornton will be on the sidelines for a few weeks; he broke his
collarbone at Towcester yesterday. |
|
Wednesday
05 October 2016 |
|
There were
three runners of interest today, at Ludlow: Jim Dandy
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the Juvenile Maiden Hurdle (11
ran). Morning
Herald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished
2nd in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle (4 ran). Bobble Emerald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
won the Handicap Hurdle
[1 mile 7 furlongs & 169 yards] (10 ran); Martin’s 7th winner of the season. There are
two runners of interest tomorrow, with racing returning to Hereford: 16:15 The Tourard Man (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase
[3 miles 1 furlong & 44 yards] Bobble
Emerald is declared for the 15:40 but, as he ran today, I presume his
participation is doubtful. Exeter: 14:55 Stynes (Graeme McPherson/Kielan
Woods) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 2 furlongs & 111 yards] There’s no
news to report from today’s Tattersalls Yearling
Sale, as the AppleTree Stud’s Tapit
colt was withdrawn from the sale.
However, yesterday, they purchased a Dubawi
filly out of Flawly, bred by Newsells
Park Stud, for £275,000. Big
Buck’s, Quevega and JP McManus were inducted into
the Cheltenham Hall of Fame today. I’m
feeling tired this evening, as I worked 9¼ hours non-stop today. I’m going to turn in earlier too, although
I’ve still added to my Cirencester diary draft despite this. |
|
Tuesday
04 October 2016 |
|
One result
to report from Southwell yesterday: Dark Lover
(Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 6th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4
furlongs & 62 yards] (7 ran). And,
of course, it was Dark Lover which won the Cheltenham Novices’ Chase in which
Balder Succes fell due to low sun during the
Showcase fixture in 2013; he was trained by Paul Nicholls at the time. There are
three runners of interest tomorrow, at Ludlow: 14:10 Jim
Dandy (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Juvenile Maiden Hurdle 15:40
Morning Herald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Mares’ Handicap Hurdle 16:40
Bobble Emerald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlongs & 169 yards] I’ve
equalled my target of £50 following last Sunday’s charity walk in Cirencester
Park. J Fellow
Choc fan, Sally, kindly sent me a photo of a photograph which has appeared in
the Gloucestershire Echo ... I managed to photo-bomb Choc and can be seen
over his left shoulder!
Choc has
raised an amazing £442.00, which included a £100 donation from Sam Twiston-Davies and another £100 from his brother Willie! I’ve
learnt that Meally Thornton’s black Labrador, Puppy
Princess, passed away last April. There are
two possible yard visits in the offing – Jamie Snowden on 29 October and
Graeme McPherson on 05 November. The Tattersalls Book 1 Yearling Sale is under way in
Newmarket. Lots 1 to 183 entered the ring
today, with the highest value sale so far being the obscene amount of
£2,600,000 paid by John Ferguson Bloodstock (Godolphin) for a Dubawi colt. AppleTree Stud’s grey/roan colt
is lot number 196, so will be one of the first yearlings sold tomorrow; he’s
the only youngster in the sale by star American stallion Tapit. |
|
Sunday
02 October 2016 |
|
Choc and Moose ahead of their Charity Walk in Cirencester Park aka “Team Chocolate Mousse” I just
love it when a plan comes together ... it was a beautiful day and I visited
my favourite area of the country – the Cotswolds – and I saw and chatted to
Choc too ... what’s not to like? And,
he’s given up smoking – he’s been using e-cigarettes for nearly six months
now, which is excellent news. Choc and
his partner Jennie walked the 3k route, along with their dog Moose; sadly it
was not Choc’s turn to have son William this
weekend. They did the short route, as
Choc was due to travel to Newmarket for the Tattersalls
sale this week; however, I was able to chat with Choc for much of the time
his route coincided with my 10k route!
I asked
about the AppleTree Stud’s interests in National
Hunt racing – Tyrell will have one more run before going hurdling, and plans
are up in the air as regards Ardamir – he will
either return to hurdling or will be kept going through the winter on the
all-weather; they are not a fan of mixing both codes. The Pirate Queen’s filly foal may also have
a career over jumps. The Stud’s
association with Jamie Osborne has been ended – “it didn’t work out”. Choc also
said that they sometimes use Graeme McPherson’s
gallops, because he’s based just around the corner! And, when I asked if I
could visit the Stud at a future date, Choc said yes! J Building works have only just been
completed, and Choc confessed to being out until 21:00 yesterday evening
trimming the hedges – they weren’t satisfied with the standard of workmanship
by the company which was employed to do this last year! Choc says he loves every aspect of working
at the Stud. Moose is
very well behaved when on a lead but just crazy off it. He loves to be in the company of people
and, if left at home alone, he can wreck the place – he recently trashed
William’s bedroom in fact! Choc said
that they went to visit his family last weekend and went down to one of the
local pubs for lunch. As dogs were not
permitted inside the pub, it provides a run so that their patrons’ canines
are in a safe environment whilst inside.
However, although the sides of this run were high, Moose managed to
jump out and he’d disappeared by the time Choc and his family returned. Jennie was beside herself, wondering if
they’d ever see their dog again.
However, Choc’s dad set off down the road
and discovered Moose at another pub close by – he was sitting under an outside
table whilst people were having their lunch thereon! https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/782630498820554752/photo/1 Anyway, I
shall be writing a full diary in due course ... which probably means this
week! And look
who is currently based at Palace House in Newmarket, the National Heritage
Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art; sadly Walkon
is only a ‘temporary exhibit’ so I
wonder how long he will be residing there as part of the RoR
section. https://mobile.twitter.com/ogradie/status/782116000603013120/photo/1 There was
one runner of interest yesterday, at Redcar: Jamacho (Brian Ellison/Kevin Stott/raised by AppleTree Stud) finished 16th in the Stakes for
2-year-olds (Listed) [6 furlongs] (20 ran). And
numerous runners today: Huntingdon: Martha McCandles (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the
Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran). Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 4th and Fact Of
The Matter (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) finished 2nd in the Handicap Chase
[2 miles 3 furlongs & 189 yards] (5 ran). Lord
Huntingdon (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Juvenile Hurdle
(8 ran); Wayne’s 24th
winner of the
season. Presenting
Lisa (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won and Quantum Of Solace
(Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 4th in
the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (6 ran); Wayne’s 25th winner of the season. The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3 furlongs & 137 yards] (14
ran). Uttoxeter: Royal
Plaza (Alan King/William Featherstone) finished 2nd in the Conditional
Jockeys’ Maiden Hurdle (8 ran). Cottersrock (Martin
Keighley/Aidan Coleman) won the Beginners’ Chase (6 ran); the Keighley’s 6th winner of the season. Souriyan (Jamie Snowden/William Featherstone) finished
6th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 70 yards] (8 ran). Tomorrow
just one runner of interest, at Southwell: 16:10 Dark
Lover (Jamie Snowden/Brendan Powell) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4 furlongs
& 62 yards] |
