Ducky off on her holidays

Unfortunately there was to be no repeat of the magnificent double that we had at Lingfield last week but there were still some good performances and plenty of new information gleaned with our last few runners.
The Ducking Stool and Handheld have both had successful seasons on the turf this year and we wanted to see if they could perform on the all-weather too so gave them a spin this week. The Ducking Stool seemed to go on it fine but the lay-out of the tracks doesn't really suit her as she's a big, galloping mare so we've decided to give her a winter holiday. After 13 runs this year and only finishing out of the prize money twice, she certainly deserves it and she will spend some time out in the field during the day until the new year.
Shelley Birkett knows Handheld well and said he wasn't the same horse on Wolverhampton's tapeta surface as he is on grass so he too is off on a break and will wait until the new campaign.

Despite these two heading off on holiday, we still have plenty of others in the yard to keep us busy and some of them were put through their paces up the Cambridge Road polytrack gallop on Saturday morning.
Meddling ran a great race to finish third on her comeback last time and seems in even better form now. She is maturing mentally and physically which seems to be resulting in her running a lot faster!

Meddling (Shelley) leads Previous Acclaim (Ryan)

 

Previous Acclaim and Tolly McGuinness are entered in the same race on Wednesday but it is unlikely both will run. The distance is six furlongs which should suit Previous Acclaim and I hope I can finally get a win out of her.
Also at Lingfield that day is Automotive. He won over the course and distance just over a week ago and the handicapper only put him up 2lbs in the weights which I think was modest. The key to him winning is a fast pace so if he gets that, he should run well again.

Candesta was another who ran well on his comeback and, after a few little setbacks, he is ready to hit the track again. He too has matured into his frame a bit and goes like a nice horse.
We bought Tight Lipped last month and he was ready for his first gallop. He is a wise old sod and only does what he has to but he seems to still retain plenty of ability.

Candesta (Tina) in front of Tight Lipped (Ross)

 

Bushy Glade (Mark) shades Avidly (Ricky)

 

Skye High was an unraced three year old filly who came to us in the summer and we have been gradually upping her work load. She is only small but is bred to be a jumper so we are hoping to start her off in a bumper soon. The main reason for this is that she seems to go a lot better on the grass than on the all-weather so it should help her out.

Skye High (Chester)

THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE

Not many people included Automotive in their lists so the standings haven't changed much but with a month left of the competition to run, here is a list of those with at least 20 points:
31 points - Harry Hurst, Sophie Feilden
30 points - Mark Henry
29 points - Sophie Collington
27 points - Steve Freemantle
24 points - Ross Birkett, Angus Forshaw
23 points - Chris Shirran, Malcolm Roper
22 points - John Wardle, Anthea, Jean Allen, Tony Birkett, Ged Turley
21 points - Len Cousens, Ray Treacy
20 points - Linda Wright, Julie Feilden, R Shucksmith, Bill Aspland, Jim Stevens