What's a winnerless week?

It's been the first time in a couple of weeks that we haven't had a winner but the horses have still been running consistent as Blackmore showed when coming in 2nd (again!) at Southwell. He has been gradually coming back to his best but keeps bumping into a well handicapped one, he was also our 11th second of the season so far! So with the horses running so well it was disappointing to see Automotive run so poorly. I've been really excited about him for a while but in the back of my mind I had a feeling his breathing would let him down and it showed the second his jockey asked for an effort his head went in the air and stopped as if he'd hit a brick wall. It's back to the drawing board now to decide how we will get him right. The third and final runner of the week came from Spirit of Sharjah over in Dubai, he too ran a stinker however Ryan Moore who rode him said the track was riding like Southwell as they has rolled the surface quite deep which Spirit would not have appreciated.

However life goes on and it was back home to remind myself what prospects we've got in store this season. Sancho Panza (below) did his first long canter after coming back into training from a winter holiday. He seems refreshed and filling out that huge frame every day.

Silver Alliance (grey) worked along Cambridge Road polytrack with Sail Home (near side) and Exopuntia. Silver is entered next week at Kempton on Wednesday and will be going there in good spirits, it will be his first run for us and hopefully he will make a good first impression! Sail Home is entered the next day at Southwell, she likes the track and is a filly in form. Exopuntia is also entered to run the same day and at the same track, she hasn't been running well of late but has been given plenty of time from her last run which she likes.

Angel of Mercy and Lea Valley cantered upsides, the latter is a lovely 3 year old filly I purchased from Plantation Stud last year and has come along way considering she got broken in late as a 2 year old. Mercy has had some problems with her hind quarters and we've had to take it very slowly with her as she can go wrong very easily, but they both seem to be enjoying their training at the minute.

Argante Claudious has finally made a comeback after having a leg operation last year, it was probably a blessing in disguise that we couldn't train him as a 2 year old because now he has come back twice the size and ready to begin his career as a racehorse.

Another horse coming back after injury is Acer Diamonds, he showed alot of promise in two maidens last year and it was a bitter pill to swallow when he picked up the injury, but he is back to his usual boisterous self and starting to do a bit more work.

The two 2 year olds worked upsides on Saturday, Tiger's Home (near side) and Believe In Me have been progressing together well, the latter seems the earlier type to be running next season, but both are showing a keen attitude to learn, shares are still available in both.

We had a couple of new additions to the yard this week, a un-named filly by Halling out of In Luck and Kampai, a twice raced maiden. Here is old timer Baverica (behind) making Kampai feel welcome, hopefully 'Rita' can have a chat with her about how to be a wondermare like she was!