With no runners today it meant a family day. Archie went to Stow Rugby Club for his first Sunday practice in a month (ground related) followed by riding his pony Rachael.

Ex trainer and top cricketer Martin  Fetherston-Godley appeared in today's Racing Post under the banner of ''Where are they now?''. A good read on an old mate who now works as a financial Director to Standard Financial Ltd just down the road in Andoversford. He is quoted that he lunches with me on a regular basis as we are both lovers of good food and wine; sadly Martin only drinks water when I have lunch with him and he 'clock watches' to make matters worse! We do though go to The Wheatsheaf in Northleach where only last night I bumped into Charlie White who must have the ultimate dream job, unlike his poor brother Johnson who runs Philip Hobbs's operation.

If you are a salmon fishing nut then just click here to make you jealous!

After yesterdays rain it was a relief not to get wet this morning.

Basoda, Buffalo Bob, Midnight Haze, Paddys Tern, Pugilist, Regal Approach, Supreme Plan, Valento, Ruby Crown, Constantius, Admiral Dundas, Blazing Sun, Brave dealer, Golden Button, Oshkosh, Even Flo, Witty Banter, Cinderella Rose, Eastern Supreme, Islamouth, Sarde, Real Treasure and Smokey George. All the rest cantered.

Cheery Jones, John and Penny Perriss came over second lot to watch their horses perform. in owner order they were Cinderella Rose, Even Flo, Allformary, and Smokey George..

Very wet over night and first thing this morning.

The snow really has gone now but what a mess it leaves; somehow we are going to have to sort out our straw ring and remove it.

We schooled Mallusk over hurdles in preparation for his return to the racecourse tomorrow at Wincanton; this fine big horse who stands at well over 17 hands won well when he last ran at Uttoxeter but he will struggle with a penalty. His future is over fences next season.

Looking to get away and looking for somewhere really comfortable to stay for a weekend? There is no better place to drop into the comfort of a proper family home than The Old Farmhouse in Sulgrave; it offers the ultimate in weekend relaxation. You will be waited on hand and foot by my brother in law Peter Mordaunt; he guarantees special attention. Book now.

Yesterdays snow has now gone down in the valley although we are still covered up here; driving in this morning the roads were like glass after a mild frost.

We are now very much back to normal which is a huge relief; it was interesting to see yesterday how much work some of the horses will need after their enforced break and how some hardly blew at all.

Jason Maguire who might have been here this morning was poached by Fergal the boss of TFFFN's to go over for there first lot to ride and school one. There was a problem as Jason got lost and arrived late hence holding up their first lot.

Jason unbelievably blamed Mat for giving him duff directions when it really was his fault, especially as he has been there several times before!

Elisabeth Parker-Jervis was here third lot to see Buffalo Bob canter; Elisabeth owns recent Uttoxeter winner Bob along with Chris Guy and Glen and Caroline Swire. Buffalo Bob is due to run next week at Uttoxeter but with this weather he could well be entered at Ffos Las and Warwick

Ludlow off today as is Chepstow tomorrow which means that their new clerk of the course Keith Ottesen has failed to get me there!

Anthony Eden's father once hurled a barometer out of the window into the pouring rain, yelling 'See for yourself, you bloody thing!' Sometimes that is how I feel especially when all the weather stations I use seem to be permanently wrong!

Supper last night with two top farmers in Peter Sidgwick and Michael Abbatt who forecasted snow by 7 am this morning and how right they were!

We were dumped a couple of inches in a hurry at 7.05am which meant that I stayed on the tractor all morning going up and down the gallop while we worked the horses for the first time in 3 weeks.

No Liam Higgins (Higgs), he is enjoying a well earned ''break'' and his replacement who was due to start this morning was snowed in

Jockeys Sean Quinlan and Tom Siddall were in for 3 lots to help out.

We worked Basoda, Bentota, Buffalo Bob, Midnight Haze, Paddys Tern, Regal Approach, Supreme Plan, Ruby Crown, Valento, Even Flo, Admiral Dundas, Blazing Sun, Brave Dealer, Golden Button, Mallusk, Oshkosh, Witty Banter, Cinderella Rose, Eastern Supreme, Islamouth, Real Treasure and Smokey George; all the rest cantered.

Lady Samantha ran like a proverbial hairy goat yesterday at Folkestone; I know it was 2 miles and she wants further but she never went a yard. The only prize she won yesterday was another best turned out and Kayleigh pocketed £100, which was hugely appreciated.

On 5th February 2009, leading bloodstock agent Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock is going to shave his head (Grade 1) in aid of the ''Friends of Camilla Millbank Appeal'' and Tom was wondering if you might be kind enough to sponsor him and / or make a donation.

''Camilla is a very good friend to many of us in Newmarket. She had a very bad fall while riding out in Newmarket last year. As a result of this tragic accident, Camilla suffered a broken neck and damaged her C5 vertebra and spinal cord. After treatment at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Camilla is making progress. However, she has limited sensation but no movement of her legs and body below the chest. As I am sure you are aware, the costs in ensuring Camilla has access to the highest levels of care and rehabilitation are considerable and anything you can do support me raising a few quid for this very worthy cause would be fantastically appreciated by Camilla, her friends and family.

The head shaving idea has come about because another great friend of ours has recently been diagnosed with cancer. He has subsequently lost all of his hair because of the chemotherapy so quite a few of us have decided to shave our heads in sympathy and support!

Perhaps you could let me know how much you might like to give and, in return, you will receive a colour photo of a “shaven Goff” on the e-mail on 8th February which you can do with what you will. Some have suggested a dart board could be the best use for the picture…….

I am sure you get many letters asking for donations but this is a very worthy cause and I hope you will give generously. ''

Please email Tom if you would like to support him.

Picture of a shaven skin headed Tom Goff will be posted here on February 8th.

Fakenham is a bloody long way at the best of times but to try and do the journey in 3 hours leaves the brain and nerves addled.

To be driven by Jason Maguire is not an experience for the feint hearted as I reported to Richard Wilson on arriving.

Richard was driven by me to Haydock a couple of years ago and is still talking about how ''enjoyable'' that experience was, so when I related yesterdays journey I know that all he wanted to say was, 'now you know how I felt!' Is it just jockeys or is it all in racing that drive like lunatics?

A great article in today's Racing Post on ''Racings Great Eccentrics''; yesterday it was Dorothy Paget and today's is all about my ex boss Captain Tim Fortser.

The Captain just loved disasters and was the greatest pessimist ever born but he also had a wonderful sense of humour; one of his passions was sending the old proper seaside post cards to all.

The Captains record as a trainer stands to be counted, he was a genius with chasers, but I remember the Royal Marshall Hennessey win better than most as he had forgotten to take him out of the race. He felt that Royal Marshall had absolutely no chance and in his opinion it was a waste of time running him (he had already rung John Sumner his owner admitting his mistake) and that the horse should not run.

But at Breakfast on the day of the race the headlines of the Sporting Life were ''Royal Marshall to win the Hennessey'' and having read the write up The Captain put down his paper he said ''perhaps we had better run as some idiot believes he has a chance''. Royal Marshall ran and duly won!

Annoyingly our all weather gallop still has a large amount of snow of it at the 3 furlong marker which means that we will have to wait before we can use it, but at least we can use the grass which is fine for a Monday morning canter. The whole farm seems to have changed from white to green, but our gallop did have over a foot of snow on the top of it where it drifted; it will go I hope before the next load arrives!

I received a very strange telephone call last night from, I assume, Richard Gurney or an imposter, asking me to join his merry band of singing racing celebrities for the new Cheltenham Song. He said that he had heard that I had a great voice, which of course I have not, then he had the cheek to say that I could mime and pretend to sing rather like my training! On that high note I feel the Cheltenham song can do without me; it would have come off better if the idea had been launched on April 1st.

Racing at Fakenham today, bit of a novelty.