Festive feelings

Well that's Christmas over and done with for another 12 months. I don't want to sound like a Scrooge but the festive period really does put extra strain on us as the staff enjoy two days off with their families. Unfortunately the horses haven't learnt how to muck themselves out yet so it is up to us to do the dirty work plus riding out the horses who are running in the next few days. Once all the hard work was done, Christmas day was a lovely one with my brother's family hosting us for some turkey in the evening. I hope your celebrations were great too.


No rest for the wicked!

Hopefully all the hard work will be rewarded as we have some nice horses hitting the track this week.

Tomorrow at Lingfield we will have three runners, headlined by Avidly who will be making her debut for us after being bought from Juddmonte France in October. She has shown ability in her two previous runs and on the gallops in the mornings plus her maiden certainly looks winnable. She will improve mentally and physically for the run but I hope she can get her UK career off to a great start.

Attain is another with a great chance. He has been so unlucky not to win a race yet but his attitude is faultless and one day everything will pan right. He is taking his racing well and will be thereabouts at the business end.

Completing the trio is Veeraya. He came to us from William Haggas in the autumn and it has taken us a while to get to grips with him but he has really come good in the last couple of weeks. I have a feeling his handicap mark might be a bit too high and we will learn plenty about him from the race.

 

The horsebox will be next hitting the motorway on Wednesday when Bethan heads to Southwell. As always, the surface is a big unknown but she is by a sire (Nayef) who gets plenty of winners there and she strikes me as the type to handle the track's unique demands. She didn't stay the two mile distance last time so the drop in trip isn't a worry.

No Such Number (Ross), Bethan (Adam) & Shelia's Heart (Shelley)

 

We bought Luhaif in October and it became apparent that he would benefit from a castration as his testicles had matured to be larger than normal and it was restricting his movement in behind. Since the operation just over a week ago, the change in him has been unbelievable and he is already moving a lot better and seems happier. He has some very smart past form in the book so it is exciting to think that he could be our flag bearer for 2014. All being well, he should be running in three weeks time.

Luhaif (Graham)

 

Candesta is another we bought in the autumn and he hasn't put a foot wrong since joining us. He is a lovely laid-back colt and moves very nicely up the gallops. He only had one run in France and will probably need a long distance to be seen at his best.

Candesta (Emma)

 

Vastly lost his way when last seen in the summer but he was also suffering with an abscess on his back which must have hurt him when being ridden. It took a good couple of months to heal up and as he is such a stuffy horse, he is needing plenty of graft to get back into shape. When he first started cantering again, he sounded like an asthmatic 50-year old man but now he's fitter, his wind is a lot cleaner and will improve furthermore as the weeks go by.

Amelia George (Reno) & Vastly (Danny)

Wednesday sees the start of a new year and along with it comes the worrying thought that the winners tally goes back to zero. We have had a resurgent 2013 with an increase in the number of winners and horses. My highlight of the year came in August when I saddled a double - Honeymoon Express won at Yarmouth and just ten minutes later Automotive bolted up at Goodwood,
Hopefully this success can be built upon in the new year and we can really notch up the winners plus get noticed on the bigger stages. Of course, none of this is achievable without the support of all my fantastic owners and I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to you all. Here's to a record-breaking 2014 and I hope it is lucky for you too!