Merry Christmas to all

There has been plenty of talk in the press about the old Great Leighs racecourse reopening after closing a few years ago and it seems as if it is a definite thing now after I sent a couple to gallop at the course on Friday.
Now called Chelmsford City, the track quickly became a favourite of ours, despite only being open a few years. It isn't too far to go, the course was very fair and the facilities excellent. The new owners have done a great job to get the all-weather surface in shape and the new facilities look perfectly up to the job. Our two who galloped there loved the surface and jockey Hayley Turner described it as the best all-weather track in the country. The opening fixture is on January 11th and we are likely to have a few runners there in the coming months.

The Feilden pair (right) stretch their legs at Chelmsford City

There isn't too much racing over the next week with a blank in the fixture list until Christmas and then mostly jumps racing afterwards. However, we have one set to run in Previous Acclaim on Monday. She hasn't run in a while through no fault of her own and ran a good race when last seen. She's in good form so another placing wouldn't be out of the question.

The runners last week fared well with Automotive running a cracker to finish second behind an odds-on favourite at Wolverhampton. He can be frustrating at times but has earnt his keep all year and should win again soon. Tight Lipped ran a lot better than we expected on his debut for us but it is arguable that he threw the race away by hanging wide on the final bend. There seemed to be nothing majorly wrong for him to explain the hanging but the following day we got the physio in and she found that he had a few pulled muscles in his chest and hamstrings which could have been the reason. Still, he ran well and there should be a win in him this winter.
Honeymoon Express was the other runner last week and she was again disappointing. After a good second on her return in the spring, she has gone backwards since and hasn't fired on the all-weather either. We will just have to cut our losses now and she is already on a holiday to freshen her up for the turf season in the spring.

It was great to see so many owners at the yard on Saturday and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. We will be working as per usual on Christmas Eve so if you're free and have been meaning to visit, why not make it then. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are treated as a Sunday at ours so all the horses either have an easy day or get turned out in the fields. None of them are ridden as it would be a bit unfair on the staff! It's a bit different in jumping yards as Boxing Day is a big one for them but we can afford to take it a little easier.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope the day goes smoothly for you. Plus I hope Father Christmas brings you everything you asked for...I've asked him for plenty of winners!