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Plus 10 and dry when driving in.

The mornings are closing in. Lights needed when arising..

Driving in it is easy to notice that leaves are falling off trees.. Also so noticeable is the amount of Ash dieback .. It will sadly transform our view of this stunning part of the countryside.

Paul and Elizabeth Kellar were here second lot to see their two home bred Big Suze and Faerie Cutlass.

Robert and Nicola Baillie were also here second lot to see their KBRS horses Magical Escape and Mikhailovich

Third lot Ken Gray was here to see his KBRS horses Sprucefrontiers and Galante De Romay.

Has the horse world gone mad .. Trying to take a mare from a field in Ireland.. Theft is one thing, but breeding or selling a horse without a passport does not happen.. Every horse is microchipped and has a passport, so stealing to breed or race is not a winner.. must be another reason… Blackmail?

Reading heradlines in the Racing Post 'The BHA launched a consultation on Tuesday to consider whether penalties for riding offences should be increased... It reminded me of Ed Hawkins's email..

Dear Kim ,

When I heard that there was going to be a stick review I was absolutely delighted, not before time! It is an issue that frustrates owners and trainers and has definite horse welfare implication.

It would appear that every Clerk of the course has a different 'stick' there seems to be very little correlation over different courses and if you are desperate enough and endeavor to compare historical stick readings at the same course, they change when the Clerk does.

In this technological age we live in I cannot believe that something more sophisticated than the ‘Stick’ could be employed.

One solution maybe sensors that detect the water percentages at various depths at designated parts of the course would soon allow the development of a data base which would give a far more accurate state of the going .

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered it was a rather pointless whip review!

Yes Ed the going stick and its readings are certainly far from reliable.. you do have to know your racecourses..

Topical..

A UK ticket holder has scooped a record jackpot of £195 million on the EuroMillions lottery, the biggest National Lottery of all time.

When asked what he planned to do with the money, the winner admitted that they were going to splash out all in one go.

I'm going to buy some groceries, fill the car and put whatevers left towards my next energy bill''

They continued, ''I hope I win again soon, otherwise God knows how I'm going to get through the winter''