New box at last!

Last week finally saw the arrival of our greatly anticipated brand new horsebox. With the authorities now clamping down on weight restrictions on horseboxes our old one would of been overweight when it carried two horses, so the investment was needed and although we had to wait a little while longer the new one arrived and what a relief it was when it did after weeks of catching lifts and hiring boxes for the races.

All the racing gear is now located at the back so it can all be locked away securely




Only breast bars at the front now so they can't bang their legs

It was a quiet week on the runners front this week, but what we did have was some what of a disaster. I don't really like travelling up north for runners at the best of times as when they run bad it is a horribly long, dark journey home. But we thought we'd found the perfect race for little Entrance at Beverley on Tuesday, but then the rain came. The ground turned to 'good' before we left which she wouldn't of minded and with a load of non-runners and not much more rain forecast we thought we would take our chance. Although finishing down the field she did run creditably in ground which was the extreme opposite of her ideal.


 It was a busy Sunday last week when it was finally the day for the 2012 Newmarket Open Day. We tried our best to put on a show with cakes and tea and coffee on the go and I hope everyone that visited enjoyed their look around the yard. We pride ourselves on letting 'horses be horses' and turning as many out as we can and it was a beautiful sight seeing all the fillies and geldings enjoying themselves infront of people that would otherwise not have the opportunity to see behind the scenes.

It was also a busy Saturday this week when we had a strong force of owners and horses out on the Summer gallop.

Khajaaly, you can just about make out the white hairs on his near fore leg after a successful operation

After making his comeback after his operation Khajaaly was out again yesterday with grey boy Silver Alliance, both worked well. 'Silver' has got a couple of entries lined up next week, if he gets in he will run at Wolverhampton on Friday, if not then there is a Fegentri race at Nottingham which would be ideal if a suitable rider is chosen (as you cannot pick your own).

Stable star No Such Number did a good piece of work with the consistent The Ducking Stool (chestnut), the latter will probably be the one running in the Nottingham race, she has had a very fruitful year but with a few poor efforts of late you can't help but think the handicapper may of finished her off for a while. Whereas 'Number' would of looked to run on Wednesday at Salisbury, however with alot of rain around at the minute which he would not appreciate we shall continue to look elsewhere.

We had jockey Jimmy Quinn in to ride work on Sheila's Heart, a cold who was doing his first piece. Although quite unsure and expectantly green he went encouragingly with other more experienced two year olds in Didn't I Do Well (left) and Believe In Me, the former is entered on Friday at Yarmouth where he bids to build on his debut.

Jimmy de-briefing owner Peter Foster after the gallop



We chartered in my sister Poppy to help out with proceedings, there's nothing like an experienced hand to show how it's done




After exercise in Didn't I Do Well's stable

For us in Newmarket we were lucky enough to have the amazing Frankel work before racing on Saturday, for many people it was the last chance to see him before his retirement, so for the occasion Ross took the camera up and took a few snaps of the superstar, as impressive in the flesh as he is on the screen.