End of an era in the Feilden family

It was a sad day on Sunday when I received the news that my father, Peter, had passed away in his nursing home at the age of 77. He had been ill with dementia for some time so it's probably a release for him from the suffering, he's had a huge influence on where I am today as I took over the trainers licence when he retired and he was always on hand to help with feeding and other jobs as he loved racing and never wanted to slow down from his busy life in racing. We did manage to keep him occupied though with the tours we do around Newmarket, here he is below left, showing a tour round the British Racing School, before the illness took full grip. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the kind messages and cards I have received over the past few days, we have been touched by the support and it's reminded us of how much dad was respected and loved by the community.

However a trainers life never subsides as the horses still need training, we had a few runners at the beginning of the week. On Monday Kampai ran at Southwell, we thought she could be in the frame again after her brilliant comeback 2nd but she missed the break and it is so hard to get into a race at Southwell when that happens. The same day Acer Diamonds ran, but it was more of a non-event as he stumbled coming out of the gates and was hacked round by his jockey who reported that the horse was not sound after the start. So all hopes were pinned on Exopuntia the next day at Yarmouth and she just missed out on the top spot by finishing 3rd only beaten a neck by the winner, it's great to see her come back to form after a few poor runs, a win is surely just around the corner for her.

With the sudden change in fortunes in terms of the weather the horses have been enjoying a bit of sun on their backs. Here's a few pictures from the field from today...



Kampai checks out the camera 




Sancho Panza makes two new friends in the form of magpies!




Faraway Land and Entrance (right) having a relaxing pick of grass




Spirit of Sharjah managed to sneak a headcollar into his field and had hours of fun playing with it, he even kept tripping himself up!




Who knew a headcollar could provide so much fun?!



Khajaaly's near fore leg has healed well and you can just see a few white hairs above the knee where he was operated on




Silver Alliance checks out the camera too!

Quite a few runners next week, kicking off tomorrow at Yarmouth with Believe In Me. She ran a great race there last time and it is not a too strong a race this time either, she has her own ideas about things so hopefully she can keep concentrating. Then on Wednesday is Emma's Gift at Goodwood, she hasn't run in a while but has been flying at home and should be in with a shout if retaining her old ability. On Thursday we have Omega Omega at Nottingham, it is an ideal race but they've had alot of entries, she will need all the trip on handicap debut. Then The Ducking Stool and Entrance are in the same race at Newbury on Sunday, they're both in the form of their loves so hopefully we can get a nice winner or two this week! 



Crazy cats

Quite a few runners this week meant the box was kept busy but none of the journeys were shortened by a winner. Omega Omega travelled to Southwell on here own after Exopuntia was declared a non-runner, she was only having her 3rd run and so now qualifies for handicaps, the longer the better for her and will improve with time. Then on Thursday Attain and The Ducking Stool ran at Epsom, we had a Derby runner in Ducky who was taking her chances in the Ladies Derby, ridden by my daughter Shelley, but although the mare has been in cracking form she just was not able to act at the testing track and was finding it difficult to keep balanced, as for the gelding the 1m trip seemed to take him off his feet a little and was running on at the end. The final runner of the week was Sail Home last night at Lingfield, she loves the track and was able to dictate from the front but is too high in the handicap and could not quicken further.

A few were sent up the Cambridge Road polytrack this week, fillies Canning Vale (chestnut) and Believe In Me went along together, the latter has had a few behavioural problems and doesn't always put in 100% but we're gradually getting it out of her and she has been showing plenty of ability.

Next were a couple of unraced 2-year-olds, Honeymoon Express (infront) has been working superbly and is fit and ready to run when the ground dries out, Didn't I Do Well has recovered fine from his gelding operation and is also working well.

Old Khajaaly was back on his favourite hunting ground when he went for his first good canter since his leg operation, as you can tell his is still full of enthusiasm for the game and will hopefully be making a come back later in the year.

Exopuntia is my usual ride and to help sweeten her up I used her as a hack to watch the other horses the other day, she loved hacking across the heath infront of the Rowley Mile grandstand. She runs on Tuesday at Yarmouth so hopefully this did her some good.

We took Silver Alliance (grey) and Verona Bay over to the schooling grounds again this week and this time they tried the proper hurdles on the grass. They both went well again and makes a nice change to their usual routine.

It was a surprise not long ago when I was given 3 feral kittens to look after who's mum had been killed, they've settled in so well infact that one of them managed to get pregnant from one of the cats down the road, however she went off to have the kittens so we didn't know what had happened to them. It was another surprise then when I found one under the desk in the office, so we moved it and mum into the kennel, only to discover 4 more in a nearby tree! She'd had them in the tree and they look about 4 weeks old. We've managed to find homes for 3 of them, so if anyone is interested there are two more, free to a good home...

And the other two cats uncle Jimmy (tabby) and auntie Cathy are not so feral anymore!



As for runners this week with Exopuntia at Yarmouth on Tuesday, the day before we have Kampai at Southwell, I don't really like running them there due to all the kick back but it looks a winnable race so hopefully she can run another cracker like last time. The same day we have Acer Diamonds in at Windsor, he has ran well there before and hopefully he can put a couple of bad runs behind him.

Out with the old (almost) and in with the new

It was the July Sales this week up at Tattersalls Sales and we had one entry this year with Blackmore, he's been a great old servant for us winning 4 times and only out of the placings 3 or 4 times in his 14 or so runs. It was a disappointment then when he only fetched 9,000 gns, we decided to sell him at the top of his game as that's when they're most valuable but he was in towards the end of the sale when most people had gone home. However, a replacement was found in the same sale with a 4 year old gelding called No Such Number, he's only had 3 runs (2nd last time out) and came from Juddmonte Farms, the type of horse we generally so well with (Blackmore was a Juddmonte cast off himself).

Too much rain this week meant the grass gallops were pretty soft so up the Cambridge Road they went. Below is the big horse Acer Diamonds just nudging his head infront of Omega Omega, a lightly raced filly who's only had two runs and will be one to watch over a distance when she's strengthened up, and Attain didn't do too much in 3rd, he's been a tough little horse but hasn't managed to get his head infront yet.

Sail Home and Emma's Gift (barely visible) matched strides over 1m, the latter has had some time off after a busy winter campaign and is ready to go when the ground dries out a little. Sail Home is also in great form after her recent 3rd last week.

New boy No Such Number

Just the three runners went racing this week all on the same day at Yarmouth. Verona Bay kicked things off trying headgear for the first time, but he still didn't seem too enthusiastic and perhaps a change of codes will see him concentrate a bit more. Then Lea Valley made a promising debut finishing 5th, I've always liked her and being so green would not of helped her cause. Then finally Exopuntia made her seasonal re-appearance and seemed to just need the run for fitness.

Quite a few runners this week, kicking off at Southwell on Tuesday night with Exopuntia returning to her favourite track and Omega Omega going for her third run. Then Thursday we have a Derby runner at Epsom! But only the ladies Derby which Sail Home and the in form The Ducking Stool are entered in, the going is quite soft at the moment so I doubt Sail Home will run in ground like that, however Attain ran a cracking race at the track before in testing ground and should go well in the last race. Finally Acer Diamonds runs at Pontefract on Friday, he has been quite an exciting prospect but has just failed to live up to expectations of late.



Recovering old servants Sancho Panza (foreground) and Spirit of Sharjah enjoy their dinner



A week to remember

Weeks don't get much better than the last one we've just had as all the horses hit the target and The Ducking Stool provided me with a memorable birthday present.

Entrance kicked it all off on Monday with a great run to finish second at Pontefract (below).

We were taking a bit of a risk going all that way with her as she's never run on ground that soft but because it looks like we won't get firm going for a while yet, we thought we'd take our chance.
She seemed to handle the testing conditions fine so that gives us a lot more options for the future.

Then the following day, Kampai almost pulled off one of the shocks of the season at Brighton. Having her third run in a maiden, she was sent off as a 50/1 no-hoper but surprised many (including us) by narrowly finishing second, losing by just a head.
Although some of the fancied horses ran below par, this was still a highly promising run and hopefully the handicapper isn't too harsh on her as she had never beaten another rival in her two previous runs for another trainer, before coming to us.

Buoyed by the decent results, we went to Yarmouth on Thursday full of confidence.
Silver Alliance ran another solid race to finish third. He is becoming quite tricky to win with as he can't hit the front too soon but still gives a lot of enjoyment to his syndicate of owners and he pays his way. He'll definitely win soon when things fall right for him.

That same day we had The Ducking Stool looking to gain some compensation for the wasted trip to Newcastle the week before.
Before the race, my son Ross got his first British TV interview and luckily he didn't jinx us as the filly never looked in danger of losing and won the race pretty comfortably.
She is five years old now and has needed a lot of time to mature but this season has seen her flourish and we hope she can make it three wins for the year next week as she'll probably run at Newbury, before her handicap rating is reassessed.

The reason Ross got to be interviewed was because he'd packed me off with John to London with a pair of tickets to see the play 'War Horse' at the New London Theatre.
It was a fantastic production and a rare treat for us to go to the Westend of London. The theatre was absolutely packed and if I could have one complaint, it would be that the place was far too hot but overall, it was a great experience.
Of course the night was made extra special with a winner (which we watched in a nearby bookies) and Ross had really pushed the boat out by putting us up in a four-star hotel - I must be paying him too much!


It's pretty hard to plan things at the minute with the changable weather but we should have a few other runners in the coming seven days.
On Saturday morning, we tried some (bright yellow) blinkers on Verona Bay with jockey Adam Beschizza riding and they seemed to do the trick as he won a gallop for the first time in his life!
Hopefully this is the key to him as he does have ability but can be quite lazy. He runs at Yarmouth on Wednesday, all being well.

Also in the gallop was Attain (middle) who wasn't doing anything too serious as he recovers from his cuts received during his last race.
Omega Omega was the third of the party and she has just been a bit flat since her last race so will be given some time to recover.

Two-year old Honeymoon Express (below left) has been coming along nicely but still hasn't made her debut yet as we wait for some firm ground with her. There's no point in running her on soft going as we know from her homework that she will hate it and we want her first racecourse experience to be as pleasant as possible.
Believe In Me was her work companion and she has been going really well since her latest promising fourth at Yarmouth. She is a pretty bubbly character now and can prove a handful for her rider Sam in the mornings!

Another filly waiting to make her debut is Lea Valley (below left). She was coughing at the start of the season but is now tearing up the gallops. She'll probably run at Yarmouth on Wednesday and will likely be quite green but she's one to remember for the future as I like her.
Her workmate was Exopuntia who was meant to run at Nottingham that day but the meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging...in July!
Luckily, we also had her in at Yarmouth so she'll go there and will appreciate the soft ground.



All smiles after a successful work morning!

Swimming at Newcastle

 It was a busy day on Thursday with 5 runners at two different meetings. Two of them were at Newcastle, we stayed overnight so to make the journey a bit easier for the horses, Tiger's Home ran first and after passing an inspection the meeting went ahead, but unfortunately the filly could not get her feet out of the ground and trailed in last. The other filly taken up north was The Ducking Stool, she'd been in great form and had another solid chance. It was slightly unfortunate then when the most fiercest storm I have ever witnessed hit the course as the horses were going down to the start. It was an absolutely extraudinary experience to be part of, the horses came back when they decided they couldn't race in the conditions. I think when the storm first hit there were quite comical scenes as people rushed inside, but the mood soon turned quite the opposite when they realised how bad it was and people actually started to question their safety. It was even worse for the stable staff and horses who had to lead back to the stables with literally a river running back at them, fortunately though I think all the horses were none the worse for the experience. It was a bit of an anti-climax to what we thought would be a good day, so thoughts turned to Yarmouth where the ground was good to firm!

Canning Vale was the first flag bearer over at the seaside and put in another poor performance, she tries her heart out but she is only a small filly and is struggling against bigger, improving types. Then in form mare Sail Home did another good job coming home in 3rd place, she loves galloping tracks like this one and hopefully she can stay sweet for some more good runs. The last hope for the day was Omega Omega having only her second run, she travelled on and off the bridle and was quite green, she was with the leading pack until the last furlong until they quickend away from her. She seems quite one paced and will want further in time. 

The last runner of the week was Acer Diamonds at Windsor today, he finished mid-field and looks quite one paced, however he would of appreciated more juice in the ground and the horse infront of him turning into the straight that un-seated it's rider would not of helped his cause either.

  



Newcastle parade ring, an inch of rain fell in 15 mins!

We had four new arrivals this week from Plantation Stud in Snailwell. They come in the form of yearling colts and are all by the newly deceased Araafa, they were only cheap purchases as Araafa was not a popular sire, however they're all different shapes and sizes even at this stage. They will be turned out until October when we will think about breaking them in.

By Araafa out of Air Maze



By Araafa out of Angel Kate




By Araafa out of Saga River




By Araafa out of Golden Flyer

Runners wise next week we have Entrance running tomorrow at Pontefract, she was third in the race last year but the ground looks on the easy side for her, however she has been flying at home and deserves another win. Then on Thursday we have Acer Diamonds entered up again at Yarmouth, hopefully the rain will come for him. Then at the same course on the same day is Silver Alliance, who is in great nick he just needs a good pace so he can settle and The Ducking Stool bids to actually get a run this time and carry on in her purple patch.



Left to right: Sail Home, Emma's Gift and Kampai all shining in the sun today.