Plus 10 and dry when driving in; another hot day ahead.

Surprise surprise… Bill Foylan called in first lot to see the horses.

Bill, as an owner, was last here a couple of season ago, emailed yesterday saying he would like to call in as he was missing us and nothing appealed quite so much as the Thorndale experience!

That Thorndale experience? It is all about the staff I employ and the great people I train for.. It has to be fun.

Something Sandra Steer Fowler mentioned yesterday when she emailed to say 'a massive thanks for affording us so much of your time this morning. Never cease to enjoy!. Thank you for helping us continue this wonderful journey.'

Mat, Sandra’s son who is away traveling in Brazil, must log on every day while he is away as he emailed to say…'Brilliant blog this morning. Really made me smile here. Was wonderful to see Gran and Grandad on there as well. I’m sure that made their day.'

Enough of the self promotion….

Mel Pyman and Sue Tagg called in mid morning to see their horse Savant Bleu and the horses at work. Sadly I missed them as I was on my way to Goodwood to spend the day racing with Keith and Liz Ellis.

This is my annual trip to that stunning Sussex racecourse and one I greatly enjoy.. I drove down with Aiden Murphy, who promises not to consume any of his name sake… as will I mine?

Every horse when it returns from their holidays are given an MOT which includes a blood test, worm, a visit from the dentist and Mia White.

Mia White looks after my horses backs and checks every horse when they first appear. Backs and muscles can cause major problems and you will be amazed what she can do to help them. We bench mark every horse as a matter of reference when they come in, even if they were here last season.

Warwick Racecourse announced that they were scrapping their flat meetings and concentrating on making themselves a top class jumps course.

Warwick have been having major problems with the home bend; the camber was/is wrong and the speed of flat horses racing around the bend has been causing fallers, and as a result it has become dangerous.

A good call by JCR to concentrate on jumping and now they must get right behind the decision and throw in some decent prize money and prove Warwick to be a top quality jumps track..

I like Warwick, so personally this is good news.

This video clip was sent to me.. It amused my deaf friend so it must be funny!!

Plus 9 and dry when driving in.

Gary Liptrot and Tony Clegg were early birds this morning as they were here first lot.

Gary is a member of the Boom Syndicate who have leased Mrs Peachey for the last couple of years.Mrs Peachey probably goes chasing this winter although she still has mares hurdle races to win.

We worked Sunblazer, West End and Viking Ridge. Most of the others cantered.

Sandra Steer-Fowler was here for breakfast with her parents Derek and Pam Heddon delivering her latest youngster nicknamed 'Twiggy'. Twiggy is a 4 year old filly by Erhaab out of Pulling Strings

Sandra also saw her bumper and twice hurdle winner Such A Legend and his promising half sister by Norse Dancer who is leased to the A&R Racing Club. There are a couple of shares still available..

Such A Legend goes chasing this winter while the Norse Dancer Filly (who will be named this week) goes bumpering..

Two racecourses offering the best of racing are hard at it this week. Goodwood and Galway are two proper Festivals and I head to Goodwood tomorrow for my annual trip; I always thoroughly enjoy Goodwood.

I have not been to Galway for a while but once been never forgotten..

Todays clash of Kingman and Toronado even whets the appetite of a jumping trainer..

Warwick and flat racing have fallen out!! Warwick now concentrates on being a proper jumps racecourse.. got to be good news.

I took some more photos of the horses last night for the horses in training section of my web site..

On the domestic front Pony Club camp sarts today.

A man walked into a supermarket with his zipper down.

A lady Cashier walked up to him and said, 'Your barracks door is open.'

Not a phrase that men normally use, he went on his way looking a bit puzzled.

When he was about done shopping, a man came up and said, 'Your fly is open.' He zipped up and finished his shopping.

At the checkout, he intentionally got in the line where the lady was that told him about his 'barracks door'

He was planning to have a little fun with her; so when he reached the counter he said, 'When you saw my barracks door open, did you see a soldier standing in there at attention?'

The lady (naturally smarter than the man) thought for a moment and said, 'No, no I didn't. All I saw was a disabled veteran sitting on a couple of old duffel bags.　　　

Plus 14 and dry when driving in.

Happy faces is all I want to see when I go racing.... Midnight Oscar won last night at Uttoxeter and there were plenty of happy faces on show.

Midnight Oscar who was always traveling and jumping well was given a great ride by Ed Cookson; Ed's first ride since deciding to go freelance..

Peter Kerr who runs all my KBRP, also runs some of those which don't run under the Kim Bailey Racing Partnerships banner; one being last nights Oscar Partnership.

All our partnerships run for 2 years and at the end of the term it is decision time ... keep or sell..

Midnight Oscar did not have the best of seasons last winter and at the end more than 4 members wanted out for various reasons, so MO had to visit Doncaster sales.

Peter worked hard on trying to keep most of the partnership together and some of those who decided to stay in went to the sales. John Battershall and Paul Nicholson bought him back for £16,000.00 for the new partnership.. were they right in doing so.. last night they were proved right and my.. they were happy people.

When MO came back from the sales and I sent him over to event rider Simon Lawrence for an intensive schooling session and as they say the rest in history.

I am so pleased for John Battershall, Paul Nicholson, Nick Cook, Rob Heginbotham, Stephen Hind, Fred Newson, Allan Snow, Gary Phillips and Johnny Walker.. they stuck by him and last night they were celebrating.

To end on what Mat Chapman said after MO's race on Atheraces... "Quality outfit, quality Trainer, and well ridden Ed Cookson"

Owning racehorses should be fun... come win or lose you should enjoy, and a happy partnership helps.

I did appreciated Michael Worcester and Tim Whitehouse's emails last night saying well done.

Talking Kim Bailey Racing Partnerships.. We have just announced a new one for this coming season.. Click here to see more about becoming involved in the promising bumper horse Boulavard King..He is going hurdling this autumn..

Julie and David Martin's Irish point to point winner Ballyknock Lad arrived here last night.

Elisabeth Parker Jervis was here third lot to see her horse Gallery Exhibition canter. GE goes novice chasing this winter.

I have moved into the modern world again.. I now have an iphone app and a windows phone app. The android one is on the way.. Just go to itunes and look for Kim Bailey Racing.. down load and it is free.. we all like something free don't we? click here to see the iphone link..https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kim-bailey-racing/id879456002?mt=8

This weeks movers and shakers in the handicap charts are.. Sunblazer down 3 to 108

Buttercups and golf balls..

Towards the end of a round of golf, Ed Cookson hit his ball into the woods and found it in a patch of pretty, yellow buttercups.

Trying to get his ball back in play, he ended up thrashing just about every buttercup in the patch.

All of a sudden, POOF!!

In a flash and puff of smoke, a little old woman appeared.

She said, 'I'm Mother Nature! Do you know how long it took me to make those buttercups? Just for doing what you have done, you won't have any butter for your popcorn for the rest of your life... better still, you won't have any butter for your toast for the rest of your life... As a matter of fact, you’ll never have any butter for anything for the rest of your life!!!'

Then POOF!... she was gone!

After Ed recovered from the shock, he hollered for his friend, 'Mat, where are you?'

Mat yells back 'I'm over here in the pussy willows.'

Ed shouts back,........‘DON’T SWING, Mat!' FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T SWING!!!'

Plus 11 and dry when driving in.

Yesterday was spent watching cricket at the Gloucester Cricket Festival; it was their last day of this fabulous B&D festival.

Archie and I were kindly given tickets by Paul Nurden.

Plenty of spice in the game as Northamptonshire beat Gloucestershire; I supported my old county for the day as Archie was keen on his home county. The winner paid for lunch at 131...

Talking food..We bumped into Nicholas and Cherry Jones at The Wheatsheaf on Saturday night; the place was heaving and probably struggling with all those customers. We are sadly without a Jones horse for this coming winter as Twelve Roses is having a season off after running a blinder to finish 5th in the Neptune..He will be back to go chasing..

Mat was not feeling his best this morning; a heavy weekend away has taken its toll.

Monday morning and fresh horses soon sorted that out.

Kerry Maxwell, my PA, is back from her weeks holiday in sunny Salcombe... she looks like something Carl might have said...

One runner tonight at Uttoxeter.

Midnight Oscar runs in the 3 mile handicap hurdle; it looks competitive and as Stuart Redding, the Racing Post's analyst rightly points out 'the handicapper seems in control of his destiny..'

Ed Cookson, who has ridden him before takes 5lbs off as MO has top weight. Place chances for his first run back after a break.

My blog gets me in trouble sometimes and this email pinged its way over on Saturday..

Dear Mr Bailey,

I have just had your blog of todays date drawn to my attention and the libellous reference to my good self. I hereby demand the following or something like it be inserted in a future blog at an early date. I shall regard publication as full and final settlement of any claims I may have against you as a result of  the publication

"In my blog on Saturday I referred to a most enjoyable evening at the sporting quiz. In passing I referred to racehorse owners Geoff and Donna Keeys as being present and posed the possibility that Geoff fell asleep half way through. He has asked me to make it clear that he denies falling asleep but, if he did, it was only while I was talking"

As Jeremy Ker righly said to me...

As I have grown older: I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.

Plus 13 and dry when driving in.

Last nights sporting quiz, organised Paul Nurden and sponsored by Brewin and Dolphin, was great fun. My fellow panelist were entertaining and bloody interesting..

Sochi Olympic Gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold needs no introduction; she was such fun and what a girl... Lizzy, who also rides horses has an open invitation to visit and ride out here whenever she can find time..

South Africa and Gloucestershire cricketing legend, Mike Procter. I played against him once.. in a charity game organised by Mark Nicholas... and Viv Richards played too..

I sat next to Mark Alleyne during supper. Mark was Captain of Gloucestershire Cricket for 9 seasons and played a total of 19 season for his county; Mark now coaches the young MCC players.

And finally South African Rugby World Cup winner and Sky commentator Thinus Delport.

Good questions and fun people in the audience who included racehorse owners Geoff and Donna Keeys ( I think Geoff went to sleep half way through?) who were on Chris Coley's table and also seem was Rupert Longsdon who found time away from organising excotic holidays; Rupert was a guest of B&D's Edward Mawle.

Back to day..

Dave Tyler called in first lot to watch The A&R Racing Clubs Norse Dancer filly go around the roads and do one canter. Dave was one of the first people to join; we have 3 shares left by the way.. call?

We gave Sunblazer, Midnight Oscar and West End a jump over the pastic hurdles on the all weather..

It is Mat Nicholls birthday today.. how old?

Mat is away this weekend on a stag do up in York. Richard (Sparky) Bevis, who is TFFFN's right hand man is getting married?...  Catching?

This is for you Mat...

The sharing of marriage

The old man placed an order for one hamburger, French fries and a drink.

He unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half, placing one half in front of his wife.

He unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half, placing one half in front of his wife.

He then carefully counted out the French fries, dividing them into two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife.

He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them. As he began to eat his few bites of hamburger, the people around them were looking over and whispering.

Obviously they were thinking, 'That poor old couple - all they can afford is one meal for the two of them.'

As the man began to eat his fries a young man came to the table and politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple. The old man said, they were just fine - they were used to sharing everything

People closer to the table noticed the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink..

Again, the young man came over and begged them to let him buy another meal for them. This time the old woman said 'No, thank you, we are used to sharing everything.'

Finally, as the old man finished and was wiping his face neatly with the napkin, the young man again came over to the little old lady who had yet to eat a single bite of food and asked 'What is it you are waiting for?'

She answered --

THE TEETH...

Have a good one Mat!

Plus 13 and dry when driving in.

Hot yesterday and hot again today. I was certainly hot in Derbyshire when visiting Julie Martin yesterday. I arrived cool calm and collected to see King Opus and their new horse from Ireland Ballyknock Lad. 

The way home was not so comfortanble as after a BBQ lunch and back in the car the air conditioning broke down; it was registering 31 degrees outside and it felt twice that inside even with the windows wide open. Spoilt?

Johnny and Liz Wills were here 2nd lot to see their horse Net Work Rouge go around the roads and canter while 3rd lot Norman Carter and his son Tim were here to see Norman's horses. Norman is involved in The KBRP's Milord, Taras Rainbow, Sunblazer, Silver Eagle and Mor Brook.

Johhny and Liz are also part of the Sunblazer team of owners..

Norman, Tim and I then drove upto Robert Chuggs at Little Lodge Farm to see The Robin Des Champs 3 year old filly and of course Supreme Present.

Norman and Tim returned for a late Lunch at The Wheatsheaf.. a first visit for them and I wonder why? I was not able to join them as I was preparing for my evening at the Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Festival Cricket!!

Wisdom from a Jewish Man...

A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time.

So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site.　

She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him for an interview.

Pardon me, sir, I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN. What's your name?"

"Morris Feinberg," he replied.

"Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?"

''For about 60 years.''

"60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"

"I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews, and the Muslims."

"I pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop."

"I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults and to love their fellow man."

"I pray that politicians tell us the truth and put the interests of the people ahead of their own interests."

And finally "I pray that everyone will be happy".

"How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?"

"Like I'm talking to a f...brick wall!''

Plus 15 and dry when driving in; yes another scorcher ahead.

We gave Midnight Oscar, Bonne Fee, West End, Viking Ridge, Sunblazer and Amazing D'Azy a jump over the plastic hurdles on the all-weather.

I was in Derbyshire lunch time to see Julie Martin and her horses at home.

David and Julie Martin currently have Darna and Bonne Fee here.

Fate is a funny old thing.. 

Mid morning on Tuesday a white van drew into the yard and this tall blond haired chap jumped out and asked for the boss.. I was planning on throwing him out as we have had more than enough white vans pull in over the last few weeks..

Perhaps it was the word 'boss' that made the difference;  anyway I listened to him trying to sell the idea of a new power or pressure washer.. Little did he know that ours had just broken down and I was in the mood for a new one.

Yesterday afternoon Oliver Edkins of Pressure Washer Sales and Service PWSAS. appeared here with 3 different types of pressure/power washer to see what we needed.

We power wash the yard passageways on a weekly basis, likewise the horse walker and all the drains. Always time consuming but something we feel that is very important, especially with the added disinfectant.

A new machine has to be tough, easy to use and bomb proof?

After an hour of demonstrations Oliver and I arrived at a point where I agreed to part with a cheque and in return Oliver was offered a chance of a photo with my main powerhose driver Higgs.... history proves that I have done both... good product? I bloody well hope so.. it certainly looks like it will do the job.

The Racing Posts special report on racings problems did not shed any new light on the problem.

Yes small fields are a problem but until they realise that there is far too much racing this will always be the case. There are just not enough horses to go round.

Racing as a sport needs to encourage people to invest into the idea of owning racehorses and prize money would be a great place to start from.

One area that would help is a greater proportion of prize money for finishing second.

We all hate being second as your horse normally has a harder race than the winner, you received very little prize money as compensation and usually goes up in the handicap for the privilege of coming second..

We try to avoid races where this is likely to happen..

Able Deputy went up 5 lbs for finishing 2nd at Stratford last week and now has to rest as he is above any band of races over 2 miles..

His race was a rare one for the summer as it was £20,000.00 added..The winner collected £12,500.00 and the second £3,500.00.. We might not feel so bad taking the 5lb hit if we had received £7000.00 for finishing second..

Owners currently see a split of prize money pool as 1st.53.6%..2nd. 17.6% and 3rd 8.8%

It was Giffords Circus earlier in the week and last night Golf with Archie at Shipton Golf Course.. I was surprised not to see Jim Wilson still trying to get into his car.. A month away in Australia has not done him any good when it comes to car keys?

The Commonwealth Games started last night with a light hearted and enjoyable opening cermony..

The Queen was given a hugely warm reception on arrival and when she sat next Alex Salmond her conversation (as according to Andrew Bengough) went like this..

HM: How nice to see you Mr Salmond.

AS: Nice to see you Ma’am. Now, what are we going to call Scotland when we win Independence? How about calling it a Kingdom, and then I’ll be a King?

HM: No, we don’t like that.

AS: Alright, so how about calling it a Principality, and then I’ll be a Prince?

HM: .... (thinks).... No Mr Salmond, I think we should call it a Country.

Plus 14 and dry when driving; another scorcher ahead.

Racing has more disappointing headlines and this time it hits all the front pages. ''Queens Ascot winner fails drug test..''

We all know it is feed stuffs that are the cause of the problem but that does not really help as anybody, outside racing, reading the headlines will automatically assume the horse has been running on drugs... not a good reading of the situation.

5 horses fail or prove positive to morphine and what were the chances of one being owned by Her Majesty The Queen?

Sadly this is something we all dread as it is totally out of our control..

Paul Bittar, the BHA chief executive bleats that 'Quite simply British racing has to address the issue of small fields..'

Is he on a different planet to us at ground level? We shall find out tomorrow when he fields a special report in the Racing Post.

From where I am training it seems obvious enough that we have far too much racing and far too many all weather courses appearing. What is far more of a concern is that we just dont have enough horses in training to fill all these meetings. It is unlikely to get any better unless prize money improves.

Midnight Oscar went to Lambourn this morning for a gallop and change of scenery.

Paul and Elizabeth Kellar called in second lot to see Handsome Harry while third lot Vince Burmingham called in to see his horses Knockanrawley, Milord, Savant Bleu and Silver Eagle.

The Queen will be in Glasgow today attending the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. Today starts the biggest event held in Scotland for a while.  It will be a great event and one I am sure Alex Salmond will thrive on as a build up to the Scottish Referendum in September.

So excited that Peter Wheatley sent over this email...

Alex Salmond walks into a Royal Bank to cash a cheque. As he approaches the cashier he says, "Good morning, Ma'am, could you please cash this cheque for me?"

Cashier:" It would be my pleasure sir. Could you please show me your ID?"

Salmond :"Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland !!!!"

Cashier:" Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of impostors and forgers and requirements of the legislation, etc., I must insist on seeing ID."

Salmond: "Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am."

Cashier: "I am sorry, Mr. Salmond, but these are the bank rules and I must follow them."

Salmond:"C'mon lassie. I am urging you, please, to cash this cheque."

Cashier: "Look Mr. Salmond, here is an example of what we can do.　 One day, Tiger Woods came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful shot across the bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his cheque. "Another time, Andre Agassi came in without ID. He pulled out his tennis racket and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in my cup. With that shot we cashed his cheque. "So, Mr. Salmond, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you?"

Salmond stands there thinking, and thinking, and finally says, "Honestly, my mind is a total blank...there is nothing that comes to my mind. I can't think of a single thing. I have absolutely no idea what to do and I don't have a clue."

Cashier: "How would you like that cash, Mr. Salmond? 

Plus 12 and dry when driving in.

We all make mistakes and yesterday Tom Scudamore made one at Cartmel when taking the wrong course.

Sadly for Tom the front page of the Racing Post did what 'The Sun' does best and that is make a meal out of the situation and string a couple of words together to make it sensational... ''Forest Chump.''.

There is no better behaved jockey or ambassador for the sport than Tom and he was quick to apologise.. yes we all make mistakes and for Tom this must have been a first.

12 day holiday for him now.. family outings?

Tom Bellamy was in for a couple of lots this morning.

It is that time of year when I start taking photographs of the horses to go on the 'horses in training page' on this web site. Always interesting to see how much some of the horses have changed in a year, or has my photography just improved.... perhaps not.

I started taking a few last night at evening stables and it is not something my staff enjoy as the horses don't like standing still, especially when there are so many flies around to annoy.

The pictures will go on 'horses' page next week when Kerry returns from sunning herself in Salcombe. You can't beat a UK holiday when the weather is right?

The handicapper reassess horses ratings every Tuesday or rather it is published every Tuesday.

Able Deputy and Supreme Present are two that have high enough ratings, although one is coming down.

The main problem is that their ratings are based on summer racing form which bears no comparison to winter form.

Yes it is tough for the handicappers, but they should not assess horses on what they think they are capable of, but on the form as they see it.. sadly that means the slide rule effect still applies i.e if you beat a horse by 10 lengths and the second is rated 120 then you are likely to be rated 130.

No sense in that I am afraid as we are finding out with Supreme Present who beat a horse rated 118 by an easy 15 lengths so why not believe she is that good and put her up 25 lbs to 145?

I know I am banging on about this but it does mean that both AD and SP have no races to run in now and both need fast ground... is their season already over?

Any enough said.. this weeks movers and shakers in the handicap charts are.. Amazing D'Azy down 2 to 111, Able Deputy up 5 to 145, Bonne Fee up 3 to 110 while Supreme Present goes down 4 to 135... SP has come down 10lbs in two weeks and now almost back to the 15 lenghts she won by at Stratford.

Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly jumped into the deep end.

He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there. Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled him out.

When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered her to be mentally stable.

When she went to tell Edna the news she said, 'Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of the person you love....

I have concluded that your act displays a sound mind. The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead.

Edna replied, 'He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?'

Plus 14 and dry when driving in.

What a weekend of sport and weather.

We had the best part of another inch of rain on Saturday. Thunderstorms and deluges with hailstones the size of sugar cubes; yes we had it all, and sun.

Sport.. Rory McIlroy’s win in The Open was stunning stuff. I am not a golfer but it was captivating TV. The man is a genius, especially when you put in the context that he, along with Tiger Woods and Jack Nichlaus are the only players who have won 3 majors by the age of 25.

Last night I was watching the Test match from Lords on Sky on the TV and the Golf on the computer.. both were riveting although there was only one outright winner.. not sure we will have the same result in the cricket today.

AP McCoy has now passed Martin Pipe's record when riding more winners on Saturday at Market Rasen: Martin is apparently far from happy about the situation and will now take out a license again!

Monday morning and fresh horses. We started cantering the first batch today; those who came back in early July.

Young pony rider Gus Levinson was in and rode out 2 lots..

I bumped into Dr John Disney over the weekend.

John reminded me why men make better friends than women.. 

A woman didn't come home one night.

The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house.

The man called his wife's ten best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men:

A man didn't come home one night.

The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house.

The woman called her husband's ten best friends.

Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.