Delighted Yarmouth is back!

It was great to finally get back racing at our lucky track Yarmouth yesterday as the course reopened its gates for the first time this year after repair work to the turf was carried out. There was a massive crowd to welcome the horses back but it was a shame the ground was soft as it won't help the grass regrowth in the near future, however, in a year or so time I'm sure it will have one of the best coverings of turf in the country.

I always have a good time at the course and it was great to see all the old faces at our usual gaff - I think we usually over-run the owners and trainers' tent but at least it makes it a bit more lively!

Having a laugh back at Yarmouth

It seems like it hasn't stopped raining all week and we all got a good soaking in the yard this morning as the heavens unleashed for most of it. Things don't stop just because of some rain though and we managed to get all the horses out without too many moans from the staff!

The field boys enjoy their new paddling pool this morning

The soft ground seemed to go against most of our hopes last week but Attain bounced back from a poor run to finish third at Yarmouth yesterday. He has been a real credit to himself this year with three wins already on the board and hopefully there is another one left in him.

With a lot of the horses, you don't actually know if they'll like soft ground until they race on it so I'm all for letting a horse take their chance on testing going. I remember one horse, Sancho Panza, who had shown nothing in a few runs for me before I ran him at Windsor on bottomless ground and he bolted up at 33/1! After all, if you're not in it, you can't win it and you might just learn something about the horse.

This applies to Dakota City who heads off to Epsom today. He did finish second on soft ground in France before I bought him so there is a case to be made for him. He has really woken up since running in a visor and, although it is a step up in class today, I hope he can land a place.

Guising (Mark) & Dakota City (Ross)

Another horse I bought from France is Dissertation. She is a lovely big filly who will improve with time but she is already at a stage where I hope she can do well. She is still quite green but this maiden run will do her good before she qualifies for handicap races.
One striking mare who we are all familiar with is The Ducking Stool. She hasn't got her head in front yet this year but I feel that her turn isn't far away. She heads to Haydock for the same race she was second in last year. She is well handicapped now so should go close but, failing that, her next run will be at her beloved Yarmouth where she seems better than anywhere else.

Dissertation (Adam), The Ducking Stool (Ross) & Sheila's Heart (Mark)

Veeraya has shown glimmers of form this year without really hitting full stride but he is falling down the weights and will find his level again soon. He goes to Kempton on Friday and we will see if he finds things a bit easier down in grade.

Vastly (Tess), Honeymoon Express (Luke) & Veeraya (Caitlin)

Harry Bosch (Sarah)

Duke of Diamonds (Caitlin)

The bunch of fillies who I gave a short summer break to - Meddling, Go On Gal and Serendib's Glory - are all back in now and have just started trotting again. They will build up their routines gradually before getting into faster work in about six weeks time. They will all be aimed for the all-weather and should keep us warm during the winter.



THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE

There is no dramatic change in the standings but Attain's placing means that the gap to the leader closes to just one point and things are beginning to get tight at the top.

TOP 10:

Mark Rimmer	22
Shelley Birkett	21
Adam Beschizza	21
Jim Stevens	21
Ros Cousens	19
Steve Moore	17
Malc Shields	14
Poppy Feilden	14
Eddie Partridge	14
Rita Aspland	14
Julia Feilden	14
Paula Smith	14
Steve Clarke	14

Flat out

We look set fair for a busy week coming up with runners almost everyday and with the horses rattling the till at the moment, hopefully one can get its head in front.
Starting on Monday, Attain goes down to Brighton and I hope he can finally get the soft ground he loves. All his career the ground has never been as deep as he would like it but, with lots of rain forecast, this could finally be the time he does. I do hope so because at home he gallops like a much better horse on it.

Attain (Ross)

I can't thank Moment To Dream's owners enough for their patience with their filly. I bought her last December but she is still yet to see a racecourse after a few small problems which, if rushed, could have turned into major ones. Thankfully she has been given plenty of time to grow into herself and the end product is a quality-looking race mare. She is now ready for a run and goes to Newmarket on Friday to make her debut. As with all maidens, it will be tough going with some decent form coming into the race from other runner, but it will be good to get a run under her belt and get her career going.
Before that, we have a more experienced runner in Dark Diamond heading to Wolverhampton the day before. He has been getting better and better with every run for us and put in a good effort last time to finish second at Pontefract. He is bucking and squealing at home and seems as fresh as paint so he is more than ready for another run and he should hopefully pick up some more prize money. Also entered at Dunstall Park is Limerick Lord. He was a bit below par last time but it may have just been that he didn't face running in a pair of blinkers. I will take them off this time and he should get back to the level of form he was at just before then.

Moment To Dream (Adam) & Dark Diamond (Nick)

I forgot to add that prior to all this, Harry Bosch makes it three days in a row at Brighton for us on Tuesday as he heads down to the south coast. He probably isn't at his best on the unique track but it is one of the only places that hosts 0-55 handicap races which he finds much to his liking. He is more than capable in this grade and it is just a case of what mood he is in on the day.

I had an unforgettable day on this coming Sunday two years ago when I trained an across-the-card double in the space of ten minutes when Honeymoon Express and Automotive won at Yarmouth and Goodwood respectively. They say lightening doesn't strike twice but you don't know if you don't try and both horses will be bidding to repeat the feat this Sunday. Honeymoon is coming back after a chest infection and she now seems to have recovered from it fine. Her rating has come right down now and she must start to become competitive on her old form. Likewise, Automotive has been given a chance by the handicapper and his last two runs have suggested he is coming to the boil nicely. It's  hard enough to have one winner, never mind two but a girl can dream!

Honeymoon Express (Luke) & Vastly (Tess)

In July we bought a couple of lovely horses and they have now progressed on to doing their first piece of faster work for us.
Dissertation is a huge filly who came from Juddmonte in France and, after getting her back and teeth sorted out, she is now going nicely. She still needs one more run to get a handicap mark but I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do.

Dissertation - front (Ross)

The other newbie is Star of the Stage. He has won already this year but came to us looking a bit over raced so I've freshened him up and got a bit more meat on his bones and he seems a lot happier now. He shouldn't take much time to get fit and he will be a good fun horse for his syndicate of owners.

Star of the Stage (Mark)

THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE

There's no change at the top of the leaderboard but Automotive's third place on Sunday means that everyone bar one person is off the mark. (I couldn't possibly bare to embarrass that one person but I'm sure it won't be long before you score, Kevin).
Top 10:

Mark Rimmer	22
Shelley Birkett	20
Adam Beschizza	20
Jim Stevens	20
Ros Cousens	18
Steve Moore	17
Malc Shields	14
Poppy Feilden	14
Eddie Partridge	14
Rita Aspland	14

On track at Yarmouth

We finally made a return to our lucky course Yarmouth this morning as the track hosted a gallops day to test out the resurfaced turf. Overall, everyone was happy with the condition of the course and it certainly needed the extra time that management have given it. I think it could suffer badly should there be racing held after a deluge of rain but it can only improve with time and will be a top-class surface next season. It was disappointing not to see any of those 'big' names who had been so critical of the old surface show up to approve the improvements, the dozen or so horses who galloped were supplied by trainers, like myself, who were fans of the track before the renovation work. Maybe we will be graced with their presence at the first fixture later this month.
The two who I sent to the track would certainly benefit for an outing away from the Heath and none more so than Moment To Dream who hasn't run yet but is coming along nicely ahead of her debut. A nice experience at the races is just what she needed after a list of set backs and she will improve significantly for the experience. Accompanying her was Honeymoon Express who is on the comeback trail after suffering from a chest infection earlier in the summer. Both her wins came at Yarmouth and she seemed happy to have returned by doing a pleasing piece of work.

Honeymoon Express & Moment To Dream test out Yarmouth's new turf

We just have a couple of runners this week, starting on Monday with Duke Of Diamonds at Kempton. He made a nice debut when finishing fourth at Newmarket last time with the soft ground in his favour. It will be a different ball game on the all-weather this time though and he will improve furthermore for another run.

Duke of Diamonds (Adam) & Attain (Ross)

Then we're not off anywhere until It's A Sheila Thing goes to Chelmsford on Saturday. She didn't do too bad in her three maiden runs and we are very happy with the rating of 55 which the handicapper gave her. She should find things a lot easier now in handicaps and hopefully she can land some prize money.

It's A Sheila Thing (Adam) & Veeraya (Shelley)

Guising and my brother Nick are gearing up for their big day in the historic Newmarket Town Plate in two weeks' time. The race is the oldest still run in Britain and its 3m6f distance provides a real test to the horses and their amateur riders. The horse has been doing plenty of stamina work to prepare him for the trip, I just hope Nick is as fit!

Guising (Nick)

Dark Diamond, Automotive & Dakota City have all come out of their latest runs in top form and are back in routine work. They'll all be out again the week after next and I'm excited to see what they can do.

Dark Diamond (Luke), Automotive (Ross) & Dakota City (Mark)

Sheila's Heart has returned to us after a spell with another trainer and he has settled back into his old surroundings very well. He has grown a lot and really filled out his big frame and I think he should be winning some staying handicaps over the winter. He was promising in his early career for us and hopefully we can get him back on track.

Sheila's Heart (Peter)

Silver Alliance (Tess), Harry Bosch (Sarah) & Candesta (Sam)

Little Orchid (Caitlin)

As you know, most of our horses get to chill out in the fields on a Sunday and it does them a world of good not just to get their heads down and eat some grass but also to have some social interaction with other horses and chill out for a while. The boys have a big 10 acre field to themselves but seem to find the field shelter more interesting!

Ross says thank you for all the replies to the golf day he is organising on Sunday 3rd September. It is open to all abilities with the option of a 9 or 18-hole round, so if you'd like to come - let us know. I know some of you can't make it which is a shame but trying to organise these things will never suit everyone - the weekend before we are racing and then it is the Newmarket Open weekend soon after. Hopefully the event is a success and we can do it again in the future.

Back to business

We arrived back from Ireland today, hence the late blog, and had a lovely time seeing friends and checking out foals and yearlings before they go to the sales next year. It is an annual thing and the only time in the year John and I can both get away together. 

It has been quite a busy week with runners kicking off on Tuesday at Chelmsford with It's A Sheila Thing. She has now had 3 runs and it will just be a waiting game now to see where the handicapper puts her, all 3 runs were promising but without really threatening so I am hoping for an easy opening mark because she is definitely ready to win a nursery. 

Wednesday saw Dark Diamond run another solid race at Pontefract, the early fractions were fast which meant he ended up a little further back than ideal and so could not peg back the leaders when they kicked but managed to run on into a gallant second. Also there that day was Automotive, he was trying a mile for the first time in a while and he also ran great into 4th, I think a stiff mile suits him and this opens up more options for the future with him.

The next day at Sandown Silver Alliance ran in a hot race but did well to finish 4th, he is such a solid horse and is hopefully on the way back to another win soon.

Yesterday saw Limerick Lord run disappointingly at Leicester, his high head carriage is a bit suspicious and the first time blinkers seemed to have the opposite affect.

We didn't have any horses galloping this week so I was able to take some pictures of the horses in their routine canters. All of which will be heading to the race track very soon.

Attain (Luke)

Candesta (Sam)

The Ducking Stool (Tessa)

The Ducking Stool runs on Saturday at Newbury in a lady amateurs race, she has run well in the race in the past so I am hopeful of a nice run as she ran well at the track on her previous outing.

Guising (Nick)

Vastly (Adam)

Vastly runs tomorrow at Nottingham in an apprentice race. He is probably better on the all-weather but he is rated a lot lower on the turf and I think his last run can be ignored as it was his first run in after injury and he is quite a gross horse who takes a while to get 100% fit.

Veeraya (Caitlin)

I also managed to get a few pictures of the boys having a run about!

Handheld (left) and Mungo Madness

Archipenko two-year old

Mount Nelson yearling

Sabre Rock

Limerick Lord greeting owners!

Ross shouting orders while I was away!

Dakota, Diamond and Dingle

Unfortunately Dakota City couldn't quite make it three winning Saturdays in a row yesterday but his second-place finish was another great run and it proved that wearing a visor really is the key to him. I do think he'll be better served at a track with a longer straight as Lingfield has one of the shortest and his come from behind style isn't best suited there. The fact he won at the track though shows that he has a great turn of foot and hopefully there will be more to come at other tracks.

He, along with Attain, were our only two runners last week but the next seven days look set to be a lot busier with runners most days.
Starting on Tuesday, It's A Sheila Thing makes a short trip to Chelmsford for her third career run. She has shown promise this year and will definitely win before the season is out but she will qualify for handicap races after this time and that will make life a lot easier for her.

Then on Wednesday we head up north to Pontefract with a brace of raiders.
Dark Diamond is another horse who has improved for wearing a visor and his last two runs were great. I don't think he's quite been seeing out 1m4f so the drop back two furlongs should be fine and I can see him going very close. Along with him goes Automotive. He's been a bit quiet so far on the turf this season but his homework is now a lot better and he looks great. He has plenty of speed so the drop to a stiff mile shouldn't catch him out and, if he can cope with the rise in class, he could bounce back to form.

Automotive (Nick), Dark Diamond (Mark) & Silver Alliance (Tess)

We actually won Dark Diamond's race last year with Silver Alliance but, after his emphatic win at Brighton a month ago, he is now rated too high for the repeat attempt. So instead he heads to Sandown the following day. He is a hard one to predict and may be a bit too high in the weights at the moment so we'll just let him decide what he wants to do and see if he feels in the mood on the day!

Rounding off the runners is Limerick Lord at Leicester on Sunday. He has been so consistent for us this year and certainly deserves to get his head in front. The step up to six furlongs is ideal for him and, once again, he should be in the money.

I am very grateful to the owners of Moment To Dream who have been very patient with me whilst I get their filly into full health. She was doing fast work over the winter but went lame and needed time to recover. Hopefully their patience will be rewarded soon as she has now started galloping and impressed our jockey Adam when going up the summer gallop yesterday. She has really strengthened up for the lay off and is now a strong, powerful filly so, fingers crossed, we can see what she is capable of on the track in a month or so time.

Moment To Dream (Adam) & Guising (Luke)

The Ducking Stool is showing signs she is coming back to form now and she continues to look a picture of health. She has been missing Yarmouth since its redevelopment but she has good form at other tracks and could win somewhere else before her favourite course is back in action.
Big Bang has come out of his castration operation really well and now seems to have his mind much more firmly on the job. He is bred to be a late developer so there isn't much rush with him but I'm sure he'll be hitting the track by the end of this month.

The Ducking Stool (Sarah) & Big Bang (Sam)

Candesta is a pure all-weather horse so he had a good break over the summer and is now beginning his comeback for another season on the sand. He seems to have grown even more and is probably the biggest horse we have in the yard. Plus he is a quiet ride so I choose to ride him every day...you've got to look after the boss!

Candesta (JF)

Honeymoon Express suffered from a chest infection last month so we treated her with a course of antibiotics and put her on the easy list for a few weeks. She is now back in full health and should be out again soon. It was a shame to miss the dry period as she loves firm ground but no doubt there is still a bit left of the good weather yet.

Honeymoon Express (Caitlin)

John and I are heading off for a few days in Ireland on Thursday to meet up with some old friends in the Emerald Isle. We're visiting Donal Commins' stud on the first day to inspect his youngsters before stopping over at The K Club for the night. I know nothing about golf but John assures me it's a prestigious place so I'll take his word for it - as long as there's a bar I'll be happy! Then we'll be driving over to the west coast of Dingle for the weekend to watch the Dingle Derby pony race. It's a huge event and you get to see some of the riding stars of tomorrow strut their stuff. It is also a lot of fun and everyone is very friendly so I'm very much looking forward to having a few days off.
I've got a great team of staff at home so everything will run pretty smoothly and hopefully they can get a winner in my absence to reward their hard work.



THREE TO FOLLOW UPDATE

Mark Rimmer	22
Shelley Birkett	20
Adam Beschizza	20
Jim Stevens	20
Ros Cousens	18
Steve Moore	17
Malc Shields	14
Poppy Feilden	14
Eddie Partridge	14
Rita Aspland	14
Julia Feilden	14
Paula Smith	14
Steve Clarke	14
Megan Digby Baker	12
John Birkett	12
Geoff Roberts	12
Barbara Walton	12
Gordon Hill	12
Linda Wright	11
Stephen Broadley	11
Martyn Clark	11
Dominic Lisle	11
Julie Feilden	9
Lee Cousens	9
Tina	9
Kel Mansfield	9
Sarah Macdonald	9
Tessa Stone	9
Harry Hurst	9
Ged Turley	9
Bill Aspland	9
Geoffrey Walton	8
Nick Feilden	8
Martin Godfrey	8
Wayne Moore	8
Michael Buckley	8
Sheila Collington	8
Matt Bisgono	8
Robert Wright	8
Adi Tuddenham	8
Jason Coote	7
Sophie Collington	7
Chris Shirran	7
Dave Barnett	7
Brian Reilly	6
Jonathan Kinge	6
Sam Feilden	6
Steve Springford	6
Ryan Moore	6
Liz Moore	6
Dave Morris	6
Phil Collington	6
Rachael Shucksmith	6
Rob Weston	6
Bill Burgess	4
Allan Forster	3
Trevor Fuller	3
Barry Hine	3
Carol Bushnell	1
Chris Shelley	1
Sophie Feilden	1
Maureen Case	1
James Collington	1
Jane Shirran	1
Tony Birkett	1
Anthea Telford	1
Lewis Richards	1

PLUS SIX OTHERS ON ZERO POINTS