Uttoxeter got it wrong yesterday with the ground; it had dried up and the heavy patches had gone as had most of the soft.

Silver Missile, who found the ground at Cheltenham far too fast for her, resented the ground yesterday; she has had sore shins and it was obvious very early on that she was not enjoying it.

Talking of enjoyment there was a great deal of merriment at the thought of Oliver Sherwood spending a whole weekend enjoying the thrills and spills of a family weekend at Alton Towers.

Oliver, who is (apparently) not good at heights was bemoaning the thought of all those scary rides, so much so that Alan King was suggesting that we should organise a whip round to see if we could buy him some extra large nappies for today's activities.

Nappies for horses was something that The Thin Farmer started using many years ago. It all looked a good idea at the time but by the time the horses had stood in over night their nappies, like those of Oliver's, just became heavier and heavier; so much so that the horses backs were being affected.

They are most probably now buried somewhere at Grange Hill Farm or perhaps shortly appearing on eBay?

Heartofmidlothian, Even Flo, Double Mead and Oshkosh all went up the gallops while the whole yard had a turn on the horse walker.

A good showing from both our runners last night. Willing Weasel who was taking on fences for the first time at Bangor jumped well and although he found two miles on the short side for him he still found enough to run through to take 3rd place; an encouraging start, although it was a major shame that the ground was not suitable for him at Towcester earlier in the week as he would surely have won!

Twenti Twenti again showed improved form to finish 4th, not beaten that far. He found the tight track of Fontwell difficult to handle and kept coming on and off the bridle. TT will surely put his head in front in the very near future.

Our new gallop format was put under pressure this morning as it was a proper work morning for the horses. We had jockeys Tristan Bailey and Richard Killoran in for first lot (young and Old!). We worked  All About Trigger, Bay Ketch, Braybrooke Lady, Double Mead, Even Flo, Galaxia, Good Old Days, Heartofmidlothian, Katy's Classic, Oshkosh, The Good Guy, Max Bygraves, The Alflora Gelding, and Red Granite. It all went very well indeed

Nothing like the thought of a good old British Bank Holiday to make people realise that roads are for using. Families will be heading to Fontwell and Bangor in droves, so we should have some pleasant journeys ahead when we set off to go racing.

Hereford was bad enough yesterday it took twice as long as it should; nearly as long as Paul Vogt took from London. Regal Approach finished third which was slightly disappointing and all the other runners, Ptibaby, Ruby Crown and Lord Of The Bridge were certainly that.

I found this rather amazing looking tractor for my gallop while down at T.H Whites our local agriculture agents this morning. It will do a fine job when harrowing the surface of the all-weather; Higgs is very much looking forward to driving it.

May 1st has many memories for me, none more so than for being my fathers birthday; he would have been in his 90s if he was still with us but like all things in life time moves on and another generation appears. My son Harry who is somewhere in Vietnam would agree that fathers are usually old and difficult, so god help Archie!

James Davies and Willie McCarthy were in for a couple of lots although nothing too much was happening this morning they did school Oshkosh and Silver Missile over hurdles.

This time of year it is time to start cleaning stables, repair tack and rugs (certainly not by Abbey Rugs Co who have still failed to return rugs and coats they took away 4 months ago; there are words for companies like that) and general maintenance. The gallop is one very important part of that and the sides have to be raked in by hand, laborious yes but important and the depth checked to see if it needs topping up in places.

We had a great deal of rain last night and with a bit warmer weather forecasted at long last the grass will start to really take off.

Jason Maguire, Alan O'Keeffe and Ben Way were in for a couple of lots; we worked several horses but in a slightly different format than usual.

Mat Nicholls, my new assistant and head lad, who has only been here a couple of days is already putting his stamp on Thorndale Farm. Like all new brooms they sweep clean and Mat is keen to change a few things, which is always good.

Mat has loads of experience and has his way of doing things, the first thing that he has changed is that we now pull out first lot aat 7.15am instead of 8m, which is something I always used to do in my Lambourn days. The team here are delighted to have him and there is a real bounce in every bodies step.

Worcester was certainly different; it was bottomless, bleak, wet and hardly a racecourse.

Paddy's Tern ran a great race over the brush hurdles, his first attempt at 3 miles so to finish a clear second was not too bad, especially when the Racing Post said he would certainly not get the trip ( they are not always right!).

After Paddy's race I drove to Hereford to walk their course for tomorrow. I am afraid I was a non believer when they said that they had not had any rain. It was true, which really surprised me, even more so when everywhere within a mile of the course was flooded. It just goes to show you should believe a clerk of the course occasionally, so apologies to Tim Lon. His course was credit to him as the ground was in great shape.

Today was spent driving around the county of my birth, Essex. Sadly I have yet to persuade Clare that Essex is the place to be and although it is not somewhere I go too often I was there today at the request of Sarde's owner Bill Ives.

Bill has been developing a farm that he purchased about 6 years ago and wanted my advice on what to do with it as far as expanding his new enterprise.

It all looks incredibly smart but one or two of the current incumbents need new homes. If you are looking for an 18.2 hand charger Bill has one that is looking for a good home. Thunderer would make someone look pretty small although he well up to carrying plenty of weight; so if you are in need of a charger please get in touch with me. He would of course make an ideal trainers hack, you would certainly be seen and no doubt heard charging across the heath.

However much we give the county a hard time, it is always the brunt of jokes, but racing has been pretty well represented by Essex boys, although most have left. Oliver and Simon Sherwood and At The Races cult hero Robert Cooper are just few who were born there; some of course, like Mr Grumpy have struggled to acclimatise to their new surroundings!

With all the worries of the fast ground at Towcester yesterday I am pleased to say that both of yesterday runners seem ok this morning. The rain came a day late for Towcester, they were unlucky as it has not stopped today. They might have come in for  some criticism, unfairly I feel as they had been pretty honest with all who rang. On the whole Keith Bower and Robert Bellamy have got it right far more times than most courses. Not an easy call as I only know too well!

The 2007-2008 season finished Saturday and the new 2008-2009  season started yesterday.

Clare Archie and I actually spent a quiet family day out at Cotswold Farm Park watching ponies perform and then Archie took Bear into a dog show, which unfortunately resulted in them being knocked out in round one. Not really my format, even I would have failed with the dog most like its owner class..too much hair (on the dog)

The new season starts for us today; putting behind the last 12 months of looking after youngsters of which most are now ready to go out to grass, but the ones we run over the next few weeks should run well.

It is all change here this morning as I have a new head lad and right hand man in Mat Nicholls.

Mat, who has loads of experience, was Tom George's head lad for about 8 years; he has spent the last 12 months with Carl Llewellyn as number 2.

Mat started life off with the Thin Farmer at Naunton, where he still keeps a close contact with the yard, Ox, as he was known there is a godfather to Fergal O'Brien (N.T-D's head lad) latest addition.

Jason Maguire, who is one of Mats best mates was in for a couple of lots as was Alan O'Keeffe and Richard Killoran, both were in to see how the new regime will start!

Ollie Garner was also in; Ollie who has done so well in his first season point to pointing is about to go and work for Jamie Osborne for the summer before returning here, hopefully to be my amateur for the coming winter.

With three jockeys in this morning we schooled Katys Classic, Lord Of The Bridge, Regal Approach, Bay Ketch, All About Trigger, Russian Lad, Kay For Karbia, Twenti Twenti, Heartofmidlothian over hurdles or fence.

The senior chase handicapper Phil Smith has closed a loop hole which currently allows horses to come back using favourable handicap rating over fences or hurdles; it will not be popular with many trainers. Phil sites several horses that have, as he believes abused the system, namely Jack The Giant, who won at Cheltenham when 30lbs better in over hurdles than fences; he then carried a penalty for the Ladbroke Hurdle at Ascot  before being reassessed.

What a way to start the season! Ya I Know ran by far the best race of the year for him to finish 2nd, which was hugely encouraging and although we did not run Willing Weasel as Jason was not happy that the ground was right for him, we did though finish off with our first winner of the new season with Lucky Luk.

Jason Maguire nearly blew it by missing the break, but after a great deal of perseverance and a 6 day ban for excessive use of the whip Lucky Luk got up to win by a sheepskin nose band!

I was delighted for Paul and Elizabeth Kellar who have and are one of my biggest supporters. A richly deserved win.

Now Jason will be made to muck out for a week by his mate Mat while he suffers the indignity of a weeks forced holiday.