Bit of a panic on this morning as after two lots, i've got to wizz to Newmarket for the first race before hurtling back to Stratford to saddle three runners!
Novae Bloodstock Insurance are sponsoring the Listed race at Newmarket today and many of their team are involved in ownership with us with CARBON PRINT and FIRM ORDER. They have a very efficient and expanding bloodstock department and we wish them every success with their first sponsorship at Newmarket today. Novae also sponsor the Owners and Trainers Bar at Newmarket and that will cost them a few quid as we all know what a thirsty bunch frequent that building.
Also at Newmarket we wish all the luck in the world to a great new friend of ours, Carlo Nebroni who is one of nine people trying to win the Scoop Six Bonus today.
We hope that not too much rain falls today at Stratford as AUSTRALIA DAY makes his seasonal re-appearance and loves very fast ground. His hurdle form figures read 1F, so anything can happen! JUST VICTOR and MERCHANT RED also have bona fide decent chances, so a little each-way treble is advised?

HAPPY SUMMER AT "CLIPPERTY CLOPPERTY LAWN."

TRIBE being led by Sophie Webber.

The ultimate accolade given to a horse at Cropredy Lawn is to be allowed into the garden! During a 'light lunch' to celebrate his win with his owners, Iain and Linda Watters, TRIBE is brought in to join the party!

TRIBE, winning at Bangor on 17th April 2010, our last winner of 2009/10 N.H. Season.

Unlike Nature, National Hunt seasons appear to merge seamlessly into each other, whereas Nature has trouble changing at all nowadays!!

Out with the old and we're straight into the New the following day, no time to reflect or dwell on the good bits, just time to crack on and improve on the less good.

I was thinking of writing a long and detailed end of term school report, but with the exception of my framed Maths reports of the Lent and Summer terms of 1974, which were epic (!), every single one has quickly ended up in the bin. I'm sure you'd do the same to mine, so we will look forwards and not backwards. Jim Steinman wrote, "Objects in the rearview mirror may appear closer than they are", so the relevance of looking back can be questionable!

We will have learned plenty from the disappointments of the season and endeavour to improve our performance. We would particularily like more and longer periods of horses performing consistently well, rather than purple patches that just last a month or so. We have had an inordinate number of seconds and thirds, with less winners than we'd like, so the aim has to be to transform the former into more of the latter.

Placing the horses is a balance between opportunity of winning and convenience for the owner; I wonder if sometimes I get this balance wrong and don't insist enough that the horse must be given preference over the quality of lunch!!

APPLEADAY, ridden by Alistair Stewart leads first lot through 'The Waterwalk'.

Thank Goodness for TRIBE !

After seconds with COIS FARRAIG, ALASI and DE SOTO, it was good to watch TRIBE 'hack up' at Bangor on saturday. At last all conditions were in his favour and he won well, much to the delight of his loyal owners, Iain and Linda Watters. Iain knows a thing or two about wine, so a bottle of 1985 Krug, given to me after Ulundi won at Royal Ascot all those years ago, had to be opened when they dropped in on their way home to check on their victorious warrior! Wow that tasted good!

AN 'ATMOSPHERIC MORNING' FOR WORKING THE HORSES ON THE GRASS GALLOPS AT EDGCOTE.

ROCKSTOWN, OSCAR 4G., SOMEWHAT INEVITABLE, MRS. TRELLIS, SUSSEX SUNSET and ALASI, all doing good work.

Our 'tricky' week moves onto Kempton this afternoon, where i admit to feelings of uncertainty after the reverses in fortune with APPLEADAY and TIME FOR RUPERT.

COIS FARRAIG deserves to win a race more than any other horse in training in Britain! Having been second to Oscar Whiskey and Lush Life, he must be about the highest rated maiden in the country and hope he is no longer that by tonight! DANCES WITH WAVES has another attempt to show us if she is going to co-operate and 'jump off' properly today otherwise she'll be on the boat back to Ireland. I so hope she repays her owner, Michael Lee's patience and loyalty to her. MERCHANT RED makes his comeback after 524 days and has done as much work at home, at Peter Cundell's beautiful grass gallop and at Bangor Racecourse, that he should be fit enough to go close. TRIBE and FIRM ORDER will both love the drying ground and have good each-way chances at generous odds.

Me, I just hope for one winner to get us back on the roll we were on, two weeks ago!

ANALYSIS OF A 'NON-RUNNER'.

Sorry to make you all splutter over your coffee and Racing Post this morning. Yes, our big day has disappeared and TIME FOR RUPERT is a non-runner at Aintree this afternoon. You will all be aware how deeply we have deliberated over the decision to have a re-match (however one-sided) with Big Bucks and the overwhelming reason for doing so was T.F.R.'s apparent great health. 'RUPERT' has been in terrific form ever since twenty minutes after his Cheltenham race. Because of 48 hour declarations, he was 'tracheal-washed' after exercise on tuesday morning before the 10am deadline. His throat and larynx looked crystal clear, no sign of our three enemies, mucus, blood or inflamation, however the liquid extracted from his lung was very slightly cloudy, or at least 'not quite water', as we love to see. Tuesday evening revealed a total white cell count of 400, well within our contented range of 1000, but the percentage of neutrophils was 24%, higher than normal. Why, was the question that left little chance of sleep on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, 'RUPERT' was mad fresh and his devoted lad, Danny Hannig, who could not know this horse any better, volunteed that his horse was 'stronger and fresher than before Cheltenham'. Everthing looked set for Aintree. When our vet arrived we discussed the 'cell count' and i felt that considering the task ahead, we should not just trust our 'eye' and re-scope the horse. I promise it was a borderline decision, because we do not wish to scope horses one more time than neccessary, as it is invasive and always seems unkind to do so.
This time, instead of a crystal-clean, pink wind-pipe there are large lumps of greeny-grey mucus and porridge instead of liquid. We contact his owners and ruin their day and then announce him as a non-runner. His cell count last night had rocketed up to 3000.
There is enormous sadness around the yard at being denied a crack at the 'Big Horse' and a big prize, but also a huge sense of relief at what might have been. Imagine the disappointment of our treasured 'RUPERT' trailing in a beleaguered fifth and everybody saying that we were too greedy and had mis-judged the horse; let alone what internal damage we might have done to the horse himself? His poor run would have been put down to 'having a hard race at Cheltenham etc.....' but it would have been so much more than that.
I hope this explains how hard everybody tries to make sure that every horse CAN do its best when it goes to the races, though by no means guaranteeing that that they WILL! In this case,48 hour declarations have cost the owner all his entry money but have saved the punters all their money.
I hope the punters will have the grace to thank the owners one day!