Open all hours!

Thank you to everyone who came to our yard this morning as part of the Newmarket Open Day. We never expect a great number of people as we are open to the public all year round and a bit off the beaten track in Exning but this year certainly saw more people than ever before making the trip out of town to see what we offer. By far the most heard comment is how great it is that our horses get to chill out in the fields on a Sunday and get back to what they really are - horses. There were also plenty of people asking about syndicate opportunities and, although we are currently sold out of available shares, sales season is just around the corner and I will be looking to buy a couple of nice horses at the Autumn horses in training sale in October so don't spend that money on a holiday!

Open day guests enjoy some refreshments

The three-day September festival at Yarmouth is usually a great time for us with success on the track and plenty of fun off it. However, this year's meeting ended on a very damp whim as racing was abandoned halfway through day two with the final day being called off. It is very frustrating, not just because I had three runners lined up for the third day, but because all this wouldn't have happened had the course management not taken what I think was the unnecessary step of relaying the home straight to flatten it out. The old course would have handled the rain fine and there would never have been this problem. I can't see any point in racing at the track again this year, they might as well let it settle down properly to ensure it is at least raceable for the 2016 season and this embarrassment won't happen anytime soon.

Thankfully waterlogging shouldn't be too much of a problem this week as all bar one of our runners are racing on the all-weather.
Starting on Tuesday, Automotive heads to his happy hunting ground of Lingfield. He has been a bit disappointing this year but has had his excuses and is now fully fit and well handicapped. The course suits his style of racing and he usually runs well there so I hope he can return to some kind of form.

Candesta (Adam) & Automotive (Ross)

Also on Tuesday is It's A Sheila Thing at Kempton. I expected better from her on handicap debut last time but she could never get involved after a slow start. She drops into selling company this time and she looks to have a good chance at the weights, although there is a Richard Fahey horse which looks very hard to beat. She is certainly capable of winning and I hope it will be soon.

It's A Sheila Thing (Mark) & Little Orchid (Adam)

We're back to Kempton the following day as Moment To Dream makes her second visit to a racecourse. She will come into her own when qualified for handicap races after three runs so this will be another step on the education ladder for her and she will come on a bit more for the experience.

Star of the Stage (Nick) & Moment To Dream (Caitlin)

Another filly who is improving all the time is Dissertation. She is a big, rangy Juddmonte cast-off and she has really impressed me with her work. She is in a handicap for the first time at Chelmsford on Thursday and I certainly think the handicapper has given us a real chance off her new mark. She may still be a bit green and we are always learning more about her but I hope she can get her career off to a good start now.
Accompanying her will be Vastly. He has needed all of his comeback runs to get into top shape but last time showed us that he is nearly 100% again. He is still lightly raced and won't be long waiting to get in the winner's enclosure again.

Dissertation (Adam), Vastly (Mark) & The Ducking Stool (Ross)

Completing the week is good old The Ducking Stool. Her Yarmouth engagement was rained off last week so we've had to reroute her to Haydock on Friday but it is over the course and distance which she ran a gallant second over last time. She is in good order and another great run should be on the cards.

Big Bang (Sam)