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Plus 4 and dry when driving in. Rather grey and bleak?

There are definitely less cars on the road when doing my short journey to work (3.5 miles) and the local garage, where I stop every day to buy the papers, seems to have one or two less things on its shelves.

Yesterday afternoon Clare and I drove to Malvern to pick up all Archie’s cloths and school work ..He has already been home a week with his leg injury.. Archie is rushing around on crutches..

The school was empty and it felt rather eerie walking round the classrooms picking up his work books.. Archie is now going to spend the last week of term having direct video link lessons, via my home computer..

What really hit me was passing the cricket ground .. It looked immaculate and ready for a game..

Sadly there will be no cricket to watch this summer.. something I just love .. watching my son play is one of the highlights of my summer..

No Lord’s either.. Spelt correctly for the benefit of Claude Duval.. are you still reading this Claude?

We exercised all the horses yesterday and today.

One horse went for a wind test.. an overland scope..We are trying to carry on as normal, that is until The BHA decide that racing is in a more permanent shut down or not.

It has not been a good 10 days for me in many respects..

Firstly ex jockey Charlie Poste who was commentating for the BBC last week announced I was a veteran trainer and over 70....

I rang him after to express my horror of suddenly being aged so quickly and reminded him that rude comments like that meant I would not be buying any more of his point to pointers!

Secondly Oliver Sherwood when quoted in in the Racing Post...

He stressed that horses still need to be fed and exercised, and there was no social distancing from his great pal and ‘former Lambourn pin-up boy Kim Bailey’, who sent workers from his HQ near Cheltenham to use the village's acclaimed facilities…

Sorry Oliver I thought you were a mate???

Thirdly was when Graham Clark rang yesterday afternoon to talk about my Cheltenham week.. I told him I was at my sons school.. he thought I was picking up my grandchildren..

Sandie Wilkinson my Account secretary who is now working from home spent a fair amount of time yesterday talking to my accountant  Ian Hewitt trying to sort through the new Government business help structures…

I did think after that, that the only people who will do well out of the blood virus are going to be accountants and divorce lawyers..

Dont get too excited as I will only be using one of these professionals..

Mobile phones.. what would we do without them..But..Weatherbys keep pinging text messages..

I am sure you are no different that when your phone pings to remind you that you have a text message you invariably turn you phone on and look to see who it is from..

Why do I need to receive 6 messages, all at different times telling me about race meetings being cancelled.. don’t we already know..

Yesterday I had one saying Wetherby on Friday was Abandoned! This was shortly followed by individual ones telling me that Uttoxeter, Chepstow, Bangor On Dee and Newbury had been abandoned and then after a while another one pinged through to inform me that Sundays meetings at Exeter had also been abandoned.. Come on Weatherbys you can do better than that..

Todays laugh.  mind you tomorrow I could possibly have a rather 'good video' of two of my owners demonstrating how to wash their hands.. Not sure as yet whether I am allowed to name..there is certainly no shame...

"Last night my Wife texted me to say she was in casualty, I went home and watched the entire programme but did not see her once. She is still not home and I am getting hungry"