Winter winner warmer

After a few near misses this year the honourable Kampai (below) finally lost her maiden tag at Lingfield on Wednesday at the 11th attempt. She is such a genuine filly and really deserved a win, her owners have been looking to send her to stud so this will really increase her stud value, she won quite easily so will hopefully add to her winnning thread soon. It was also nice just to get a winner full-stop, we have had such an unlucky year with our horses coming home placed 33 times! The filly was ridden by my daughter, Shelley, she has been riding as an amateur and has just applied for her apprentice licence so hopefully she can continue to develop her skills on the track. We could of so easily had a double that day with Exopuntia running on a gallant second, she likes to bowl out infront but she tends to miss the break, it was her first try at Lingfield and with a run like that she should be back in the winners enclosure this winter. No Such Number also ran on Wednesday but at Kempton, he has been a really exciting horse since his debut win for us so we were quite gutted when he ran disappointingly, however the jockey reported that he did not like the all-weather and got hampered in the home straight so I don't think that run could be taken literally. We shall not bother running him again on the all-weather so he is having a break now and will be back in action on the turf next year.

It always tends to be that we have a huge rush of runners on one day and then nothing all week, so we have a little extra time to take a few over to Cambridge Road polytrack for a long canter. When we do this the lot lasts for about one and a half hours so it is a real good exercise for them. Here we have superstar yardstick Spirit of Sharjah leading the way from Silver Alliance, Automotive, Vastly and Lea Valley. We will hopefully be seeing Spirit back on the track just before Christmas, he came back from Dubai last year with a leg injury so he has spent all year recuperating and I can't believe how well he is, bucking and squealing on the heath like he is a yearling again!

Quite a few entries next week, Generous Genella runs at Southwell on Tuesday. She will wear blinkers for the first time to hopefully bring out that ability that she harbours at home, she is drawn quite wide but I think that will suit her so she is not in all the kickback if she misses the break. The next day Sail Home and Entrance head to Kempton Park, the former is really coming to herself now and with a narrow defeat last time she should be in the frame once again. Where as Entrance has been a little hit and miss, she is quite a tricky filly to get right as the race has to run so suit her, she is taking a drop in trip but with a long straight she will be running on. Then on the same day at Lingfield runs Emma's Gift, she has been a real star and has won some nice races for the team and her owners, but she has been a bit disillusioned of late so we have been trying new things with her at home which I hope brings about a revival at the races. On Thursday Exopuntia is out again this time at Kempton, she has form round there and should go close once again. Then Friday night sees the return of Khajaaly at Wolverhampton, he really loves the place, the time of year and runs best fresh.