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Plus 8 and dry when driving in.

Yesterday was a special day..

We all know racing is all consuming, but just occasionally we need to take stock and realise we are not immortal and on that note yesterday was a very special day for me.

First stop was a trip to London to see Tony Solomons..

So good to Tony who as you know is my longest serving owner..

Tony has had a few flat trainers over the years but I have been his only jumps trainer.. yes we have stood the test of time and although he has had some good horses on the flat, his good jumpers in First Flow and Harry Topper have been some of his proudest moments..

Tony was looking remarkably well (93) and although he is unlikely to visit a racecourse again he will enjoy, hopefully, some more great moment watching his horses on TV..

Nicola, his daughter, cooked a lovely lunch and over a bottle of wine we talk horses. I left happy knowing that whatever happens in the future we have and will have again, some great racing moments.

From there I drove to my sisters, and then we moved on to visit one of our families oldest friends..Patricia Ruck Keene..

Patricia is going to celebrate her 100^th birthday on February 19^th...

Sadly Clare and I will be unable to join the 80 odd people she has asked to celebrate her big day as we will be away watching Archie play cricket on tour in Sri Lanka (PCR permitting) But it was so good to see her..

Patricia has seen it all when it comes to the Bailey family and however hard I tried to wrench some secrets out of her, she was not for giving them up..

A very special lady is Patricia and what a fun hour or so I had with her, and her daughter Georgina and my sister..

Time flies and time has been good to Patricia.. we just laughed and had fun..A truly wonderful lady.

Wednesday morning..

David Bass, Ciaran Gethings, Jay Tidball and Harrison Beswick were all in to ride out.

Espoir de Romay and Imperial Aura visited Laura Collett for a bit of jumping practice.. we also jumped Equus Dreamer, Subway Surf, Captain Rose, Shantou Express, Trelawne and Fair Frontieres.

John and Pat Lee were here to see their KBRS horses Parc D'Amour, Does He Know, Galante de Romay, Voyburg and Fair Frontieres

Jim and Lynda Clark were here to see their KBRS horse Mikhailovich.

Peter and Olive Smith were here to see their KBRS horses Shantou Express and Mikhailovich

We have three runners today at Ludlow.. Percy Veering, Charming Getaway and Firth Of Gold all run there  and for my thoughts please click here..

We have so many KBRS owners going to Ludlow today that we have taken a box for the day..

David and I called in to see some young horses at Martin Jones's on the way to the races.

Maria, a devout Catholic, got married and had 15 children. After her first husband died, she remarried and had 15 more children.

A few weeks after her second husband died, Maria also passed away.

At Maria's funeral, the priest looked skyward and said, "At last, they're finally together."

Her sister sitting in the front row said, "Excuse me, Father, but do you mean she and her first husband, or she and her second husband?"

The priest replied, "I mean her legs."