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It was plus 6 and dry first thing this morning..

We had a good bit of rain yesterday, although it was cold.. especially after the last 4 weeks of sunshine.. I hope that was not our summer?

You could say it was a day for being inside..

Yesterday afternoon, with the help of Lizzie Wills's hens and their freshly laid eggs Clare and I took on the egg challenge as set by Oliver Sherwood, Richie Forristal, Clarissa Daly and Annabel England... Raw eggs are not something that regularly appears on our menu, but we did it without any side affects..If you fancied watching please click here..

Sadly after completing the challenge I found out that the charity was closed.. Tooo late! I will find another..

My Conditional Jockey Chester Williams has kindly taken up the mantle of the Kim Bailey Racing Community spirit..

Over to you Chester...

'From the high of riding on Gold Cup day on the friday, by the following Tuesday afternoon the prospect of no racing until May, and now July, really brings you back down to earth. I knew racing was going to struggle to go on much longer but was really hoping to last out the week as I had a couple of good chances, but unfortunately for me the ending was very abrupt.

I am lucky in that I've been able to go home and work at my parents' yard. Like all yards fairly shortly after racing ended and the weather warmed up most of the winter horses were turned out but i’ve had a few breakers to get on with. Doing breakers is something I really enjoy and it's been great in giving me focus and a project to think about. Having gone from being flat out all winter to the prospect of doing very little was strange, and being someone who loves to be busy, i’m very glad i've had something to keep doing.

The silver lining of the break has been that I've not had to stand on the scales since I had 10:6 at Uttoxeter the day after Cheltenham. Given weight is a struggle for me, through the winter I'm very careful and would rarely drink, so it's safe to say I've been enjoying my food and probably too many beers for the past month! The prospect of having to stand on the scales again is concerning but at least it will mean being near a racecourse again. I’m sure i’m not the only jockey enjoying the break from the food and drink point of view and the sauna will be packed on the day racing resumes.

The first couple of weeks were probably the hardest, as it was such a change from waking up, looking at that day's racing, work, checking declarations for the next day hoping I had a ride or two and going racing. Now i’ve got out of that routine it's definitely easier day to day but like everyone I massively miss the thrill of racing. If anything, it's made me appreciate how lucky we are as jockeys with the job we have. It is easy to forget with the daily grind of riding out, watching your weight, driving etc but we are blessed to do a job we’d probably pay to do.

Me and 7 friends have a challenge to run 1,000 miles in Apri between us. I’m a fairly keen runner so to keep fit I've been doing a lot more and have wracked up 120 miles so far this month and broken a few PBs. At least it makes me feel less guilty tucking into a big meal and beer at dinner.

The 1st July is obviously a long way off but at least there’s been clarity for everyone and a date to work towards. Although it will probably mean having to shift a few pounds when the day comes, i can't wait to be back having fun in the weighing room and on the racecourse.'

Thanks Chester..keep safe...

As we know the BBC is out of love with most sports and racing seems to be top of their hit list.. So much so that they have finally and sadly added Cornelius Lysaght's name to the must go list. Listen to his last hour of radio..

A huge shame as he has done so much for our sport and his voice has echoed around many homes and cars for the last 30 years that he held his microphone..

Here is a link to his top 10 racing moments..      and here is a link to an excellent Irish Field article.. 

And another with The Sporting Life.......His facebook page

So it is goodbye from the radio Cornelius, but I am sure we will still see and hear a great deal more from you....

Todays non virus video nasty..