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Plus 7 and dry when  driving in..

We’re off!!  I Spy A Diva won at Warwick on Saturday evening, so the season has started after a few near misses!!

What a tough mare John Perriss has bred.. ISAD held on by the shortest of heads and another stride I am not sure she would have been in front?

It is unbelievable how these mares can improve with age, or is the warmer weather? .ISAD won 4 hurdle races for John last season and she produced her best effort of the season when finishing third at Cheltenham on their mares day in April..Saturday she improved again.

As a trainer you have to love these mares, and like her mother Molly's A Diva neither showed any sort of ability until they ran, and both mother and daughter won their first bumpers..

Molly went on to be rated 130 plus over hurdles and ISAD is heading the same way.. All she needed to do was dead heat on Saturday to join the achievements of her mother as she did that some years ago at Warwick..

I remember Molly's first run at Ffos Las.. Mat was in his early days of working for me and I sent him there with John and Penny Perriss, while I went to Lingfield.. Mat rang me and asked if the owners knew that there was every possibility that their mare might pull up in the bumper.. and I said yes... I have sort of warned them!!

It was in the days before you could watch on your mobiles, so I called into a betting shop in Theale on the way home from Lingfield..

I walked in to watch and unfortunately the manger of the shop recognised me and said ..’there has been a great deal of money for your runner in the bumper Mr Bailey’… I was shocked and replied .. 'If you have a betfair account you could lay this one as it has no chance'…. Well.. when Molly's scooted home by 5 lengths I felt it prudent to leave the shop asap..

All I could hear as I left was the abuse and the words ’I will make sure nobody ever has a horse with you, you f…..g idiot!! ..Thankfully it was not proved to be the case..

Anyway Saturday was great result her owner/breeder John Perriss and probably an even better one for the connections of her Sire Telescope..

The postscript of Warwick..

After ISAD’s win we were invited to celebrate in the directors rooms..

Dermot Daly, one of the Directors, was glued to his Ipad screen watching his son George win a race in America at the Willowdale Steeple Chase meeting.... the wonders of modern communication..

The rest of the weekend was indifferent.. Shantou Express finised 9th, while Imperial Admiral  ceremonously unseated David Bass at the first, and then Gerard Mentor pulled his way to the front too soon and his effort pettered out.

Monday morning and a new week..

Tom Fillery and his team from Stable Shield arrived this morning with their steam cleaners and are going to completely clean and disinfect every inch of the top barn.. roof and all..The exercise will be repeated in a couple of weeks time when we empty the other barn of horses.

We have one runner tonight at Southwell.. I Got Stung, who is a half brother to ISAD runs there and for my thoughts please click here.

I have a day in GR.. Tests.. I have been home a month and a month of heavy antibiotics.. I just hope I can come off them ..

To finish on a weather note..from Gary (the Pom)

In Queensland we say "Sunshine one day, perfect the next"