Baileys Blog

Plus 8 and dry when driving in..

The big day has arrvied .. well for those around Windsor..All that planning and now for the arrival of the bride..

Talking wedding planning..my Daughter Pandora heads down the aisle in September.. plenty of planning to come.

We have just the one runner over the weekend and that is General Picton at Bangor on Dee and for my thoughts on his chances  please click here.

Philosophers Of the Century.. the last ones..

John Glenn... As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.

David Letterman... America is the only country where a significant proportion of the population believes that professional wrestling is real but the moon landing was faked.

Howard Hughes... I'm not a paranoid, deranged millionaire. Dammit, I'm a billionaire.

Have a great weekend and enjoy The Wedding...

Plus 9 when driving in this morning

It's set to be another hot weekend, hopefully the sun will stay around as long as that miserable weather during the winter months!

We are busy looking ahead to our Open Day this year, we will keep you posted as to which weekend we will be holding it.

Racing at Aintree today, no runners from us but we look forward to running a couple over the weekend.

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Philosophers Of the Century.. a few more

Steve Martin... Hollywood must be the only place on earth where you can be fired by a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a baseball cap.

Jimmy Durante... Home cooking. Where many a man thinks his wife is.

George Roberts. The first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone.

Jonathan Winters... If God had intended us to fly he would have made it easier to get to the airport.

Robert Benchley... I have kleptomania, but when it gets bad, I take something for it.

Plus 9, clear skies and sunny when driving in this morning.

Most of the horses are now out enjoying the grass whilst the team are spring cleaning the yard ready for the new season. It's holiday time all round and the yard is becoming quieter.

It is Mental Health Awareness Week and Racing Welfare have been doing a great job in supporting the cause. Racing Staff acoss the country have been wearing green ribbons this week in aid of Mental Health Awareness. Equine Productions made this video.

No runners today but we hope to get a few out this weekend.

Well done to Nicholas Jones for winning the Musidora Stakes at York with his homebred filly Give and Take... a great feat and much deserved for a small breeder. Nicholas and his wife Cherry have the promising Rose to Fame here with us who of course is by the hugely popular sire Fame and Glory who they too bred..

Philosophers Of the Century..

Arnold Schwarzenegger...Having more money doesn't make you happier. I have 50 million dollars but I'm just as happy as when I had 48 million.

WH Auden...We are here on earth to do good unto others. What the others are here for, I have no idea.

Jonathan Katz...In hotel rooms, I worry. I can't be the only guy who sits on the furniture naked.

Johnny Carson... If life were fair, Elvis would still be alive today and all the impersonators would be dead.

Plus 11 and cloudy when driving in.

Yesterdays Tattersall’s Sales was certainly interesting. Firstly there were hardly any English trainers or buyers and secondly the quality overall  was not that brilliant. Having said that the good looking horse with any sort of a pedigree sold well.

Fame And Glory is probably the hottest sire around at the moment but sadly there are not going to be many more as he passed away far too early in his career.

Top lot of the sale was one of his sons at 65,000 Euros and one Aiden Murphy and I liked enough to be under bidder on. We did though buy a stunning example of his offspring in lot 43 for 40,000.

As I mentioned not many English buyers but it was good to catch up withy Martin Kiely who was selling the last lot of the day a 3 year old Notnowcato half brother to his horse Lake Field..Also good to see John Kidd and Jeremy Maxwell..

The most prolific buyers were the Irish Point to Point boys.. we will see some of these horses back at the Tattersalls Cheltenham sales next year having won their points..?

Home late meant missing Mon Palois’s run at Southwell.. He ran better and looked a happier horse to finish 5th..summer holidays for him now.

Timmy Murphy announced his retirement from the saddle last night after riding a winner at Chepstow..

It was a while ago that Timmy arrived in my yard in Lambourn as my 7lb claiming jockey..He was a hugely talented jockey..Good luck to him..

Timmy has a stud just up the road form here which will keep him busy.. Kilfilum Cross is there at the moment enjoying his grass.

David Bass was in for one lot this morning.

No runners today.

A husband and wife are shopping in their local grocery store.

The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in the cart.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks the wife.

"They're on sale, only £10 for 24 cans" he replies.

"Put them back, we can't afford them", demands the wife.

They carry on with their shopping. A few aisles farther on, the woman picks up a £20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks the husband.

"It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful," replies the wife.

Her husband retorts, "So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price."

Plus 8 and damp here in Ireland.

Not a good day at Kempton.. Royal Supremo, who looked to be travelling so well, suddenly pulled up 3 from home..  he had broken a blood vessel.. Not good news.

If there was better news then it was lunch at Russells in Broadway on the way to Birmingham.

Peter and Moo Mordaunt  and I took out Moo’s Godmother and very old family friend Gill Sidgwick for lunch..

It is always a special treat to go to Russell’s as it is bloody good and what’s more Andrew Riley who owns and runs it has promised me some proper jokes as apparently mine are awful.

Peter is share holder in Balleticon who ran so well on his debut at Southwell on Sunday to finish second in the bumper.Yes Peter is happy chap.

Not being around at home today.. Mat, who celebrates 10 years of employment at Thorndale today took over horses to John Perriss's for their summer break.

Our vet Graham Potts was in for his Tuesday visit and this weeks movers and shakers tin the BHA handicap charts are. Agent Memphis was given a Handicap mark of 100 over hurdles, Blazon down 2 to 107, Cascaye up 3 to 106 and Sonneofpresenting down 2 to 131.

We have just the one runner tonight in the last at Southwell .. Mon Palois heads there and for my thoughts please click here.

Tattersalls Sales today.. a long one with loads of horses to look at..

Martin F-G sent this one over..

A young woman in London was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the Thames.

She went down to the docks and was about to leap into the freezing water when a handsome young sailor saw her on the edge of the pier, crying.

He took pity on her and said, "Look, you have so much to live for. I'm off to America in the morning, if you like, I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take good care of you and bring you food every day."

Moving closer, he slipped his arm round her shoulder and added, "I'll keep you happy, and you'll keep me happy."

The girl nodded yes. After all, what did she have to lose? That night the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a lifeboat.

From then on, every night he brought her three sandwiches and a piece of fruit, and they made passionate love until dawn.

Two weeks later, during a routine inspection, she was discovered by the captain.

"What are you doing here?" the captain asked.

"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she explained. "I get food and a trip to America and he's screwing me."

"He certainly is," the captain said. "This is the Woolwich Ferry."

Plus 7 and dry when driving in.

Thank God.. We have started the new season.. a winner..

Minella Warrior was impressive when winning what looked ‘an above average for this time of year’ novice hurdle at Warwick on Saturday night..He jumped well and showed what we expected of him..

This lovely big son of Kings Theatre who missed all last season with splint problems looked a horse with huge potential.. He last ran in two bumpers for us and finished second to the progressive Kalashnikov.. So he needed to win on Saturday..

Jockey David Bass and David Martin his owner had big smiles after the race.

Gallows Point ran well in the bumper to finish the evening off.. This huge son of Black Sam Bellamy will make into a lovely chaser in time..

Yesterday at Southwell Mr Macho ran a blinder to finish second on his hurdling debut.. A few more yards and it might have been a different result. Delighted for his owners Nanette Sellars and Philip and Sandra Arkwright as they have been so patient with this son of Flemensfirth.

The bumper horse Balleticon was again second.. yes we hate them but happy to come away with both horses running well and enjoying their day out at the races. Balleticon is a horse to follow..

Southwell yesterday was an extra meeting.. I like this racecourse as they try and do a good job on their ground.. It is a friendly course..

I also like their brush hurdles which are like mini fences.. made of birch unlike the ones they use at Worcester which are plastic.. Horses jump Southwell's one so much better than Worcesters.

We were over run with Tractors yesterday..Bluebell Tractor Run in aid of Cancer Research UK

Monday morning and more horses heading to the fields and their summer holidays.

Imperial Aura, who won a bumper last month at Ludlow headed back to Ireland last night for his.. Imperial Racing have all their horse back with Kevin Ross..

We have one runner today at Kempton.. Royal Supremo has his first run over fences and for my thoughts please click here.

I am heading to Ireland to attend the new Tattersall’s sale.. Tomorrow sale is a new one.. should be interesting..

Wandrin Star was one of the horses that headed home and John Cootes sent these over in anticipation

Here are some Famous Quotes from Lee Marvin of Wand”rin” Star  fame:

There are two types of people: those that are going somewhere and those that ain't.

In the movies you get even; in life, diplomacy is best.

Now that I think I know what I'm doing, I'm scared. Before this, I just didn't know any better.

Don't gamble take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it."

One of the good things about getting older is you find you're more interesting than most of the people you meet."

"Tequila. Straight. There's a real polite drink. You keep drinking until you finally take one more and it just won't go down. Then you know you've reached your limit."

"If your house burns down, rescue the dogs. At least they'll be faithful to you."

"I only make movies to finance my fishing."

To finish.. Dreadful scenes at Ascot on Saturday. This was the second Saturday (Goodwood last week) that fighting has broken out at one of our premier racecourses.. Racing needs to sort this out before it becomes a monster problem..Cocaine and alcohol..

Plus 6 and dry when driving in.

El Presente ran to form at Market Rasen just being beaten in a photo for third.. yes he finished 4th.. 128 on his rating possibly high enough for what he has done, but he will win again and showed that jumping is his forte.. Fences soon?

London last night a good night..….late..

David Bass in this morning as was Norman Carter.. Norman was here to see his two horses Sunblazer and Diamond Gait.. One worked and one already out in the field.. He also saw his KBRP horse Milord.

We have two runners tonight at Warwick ..Minella Warrior and Gallows Point.. First and last races.. Tomorrow at Southwell we run Mr Macho and Balleticon  and for my thoughts on all their chances please click here.

Philosophers Of the Century.. Or thoughts for the weekend..

Betsy Salkind... Men are like floors. Lay 'em right and you can walk all over them for thirty years

Jean Kerr... The only reason they say 'Women and children first' is to test the strength of the lifeboats

Prince Philip... When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.

Harrison Ford... Wood burns faster when you have to cut and chop it yourself.

Spike Milligan... The best cure for Sea Sickness, is to sit under a tree.

Jean Rostand... Kill one man and you're a murderer, kill a million and you're a conqueror.

Plus 5 and dry when driving in.

A mixed day at the office yesterday.

I arrived earlier enough to walk the course at Huntingdon and felt they had done a good job on the ground .. it was as described as good. How they managed that I simply don’t know.. they must have poured water on it as off the course it was like concret.. The down side was the sun was shining and ther was strong drying wind.

Blazon was our first runner. He was hampered by a horse falling in front of him at the last which took him totally out of the race, but he would not have won anyway.

Commodore Barry ran a far better race to finish 3rd; it was his first run over hurdles and the sooner he goes chasing the better.

Bandon Roc actually ran well but the ground was far too quick for him.. they wind and sun had done its job so I took the bumper horse Balleticon out as it had firmed up by the time his race came along.

Nicky Henderson and I both asked the same question..Why do Huntingdon racecourse close their Champagne Bar area for some meetings, especially these warmer/summer ones.. Their O/T bar is small enough and certainly hot enough so closing the only one that has an outside sitting and drinking area is ludicrous...

Over at Worcester neither horse ran well. Worcester celebrates 300 years of racing this year and judging by feed back from those who went it has not seen much improvement since then.. In fact it might have been easier leaving the course then than now .. not so much town traffic to creep through, just the odd carriage to pass. One of my owners described the facilities there as 'shocking..'

At Wincanton Abbreviate was second and ran to form.

We have one runner today at Market Rasen. El Presente heads there and for my thoughts please click here.

More horses head home for their summer break and the steam cleaner is flat out..

We are in London tonight. Charity dinner in memory of Tristan Voorspuy

Russell Field gave this one to me yesterday.

3 men captured by female savages, are told their dicks would be removed, in a manner appropriate to their jobs.

1st was a lumberjack so his would be chopped off,

2nd was a butcher, so his would be sliced off.

3rd man started laughing. The females asked what was so funny. He replied 'I work for dyson!"

Plus 6 and dry when driving in.. Not a cloud in the sky.. Stunning.

Sonneofpresenting was right back on form yesterday at Newton Abbot. The track was too tight but he relished being back left handed and finished a most encouraging third.. He is running off his highest mark of 133 having started his chase career off 102

Thursday is our easy day but not today as we have 7 runners..

With the need to walk courses..I am heading to Huntingdon with Blazon, Commodore Barry, Bandon Roc and Balleticon. Mrs B is heading to Worcester to saddle Kayf Storm and Agent Memphis while Mat is heading and driving the horsebox to Wincanton where Abbreviate runs.. For my thoughts on all their chances please click here.

There seems to be trouble in the Headmasters office with the masters trying to oust the headmaster.. interesting times and a first? A coup d'état?

New breaks and earlier evening on the flat amid burnout fears.. Headlines on the back pages.. Perhaps somebody would like to think about using the same headlines when it comes to stable staff.. they are later home on the long evenings as a runner in the last means they don’t leave the racecourse for at least an hour after their horse has run..Horseboxes are slower than cars and then the horses have to be put to be when arriving back at the yard..late and later..

Robert Baines whose racing ownership started with a horse called Docklands Express sent this one over..

Renault and Ford have joined forces to create the perfect small car for women.

Mixing the Renault ‘Clio’ and the Ford ‘Taurus’ they have designed the ‘Clitaurus’.

It comes in pink, and the average male car thief won’t be able to find it – let alone turn it on – even if someone tells him where it is and how to do it.

Rumour has it though, it can be a real bitch to start in the morning!

Some have reported that on cold winter mornings, when you really need it, you can’t get it to turn over.

New models are initially fun to own, but very costly to maintain, and horribly expensive to get rid of.

Used models may initially appear to have Kerb appeal and a low price, but eventually have an increased appetite for fuel, and the curb weight typically increases with age.

Manufacturers are baffled as to how the size of the boot increases, but say that the paint may just make it LOOK bigger.

This model is not expected to reach collector status. Most owners find it is best to lease one, and replace when it becomes troublesome.

Finally, a very Happy Birthday to Lesley Field (part owner of Bandon Roc), I hope she has a reason to celebrate later on today!

Plus 4 and dry when driving in.. Rain around later?

We took our intended runners out at Exeter yesterday due to the drying ground.. there were about 23 non runners due to the firm ground.. David Bass having walked the course was pleased that we did.

That left just Ludlow who produced fabulous ground.. a great effort from them to do so.

By The Boardwalk ran well enough to finish 4th. He probably hit the front too soon but all said and done it was a far better run.. ground does make a difference to this horse.

Poor Liam Carter did not have the start over hurdles he had hoped for as the saddle slipped on Blazon after two hurdles and he quickly pulled him up.. Hugely disappointing for both owners and young jockey.. I have to take the blame as I saddled. It was a night of saddle slips as Andrew Tinkler had to bail out and jump off his horse after his saddle slipped earlier in the evening..

Rose To Fame ran a far better race in the bumper and although she finished 8th; she was not beaten that far (7 lengths).The race was slowly run and turned into a sprint.. She will win a bumper after her summer break.

David Bass was this morning.. we jumped Mr Macho and Kayf Storm.

We have one runner today and that is Sonneofpresenting at Newton Abbot.. For my thoughts please click here.

Animals can make you laugh.. needed today!