Bailey's Blog

Plus 13 and dry when driving.. It looks dry for the next few days too.

Colin Sewter called in third lot to see his KBRS horse and last weeks Fontwell winner Reallynthruthfully

We have our usual Friday vet visit..

Chepstow Racecourse have now stretched their opening meeting from two days to three and it is fast becoming the opening festival of the National Hunt season, three days full of excitement and anticipation.

They’ve been absolutely pouring water on the course to guarantee good ground, and today we’ve got three horses running over hurdles.

The real test, though, will be to see how the chase track rides, as we’ve got two due to run there over fences tomorrow 

It’s certainly good news that Chepstow have invested so much to make this such a special three-day festival. The Dragonbet Welsh Racing Festival..

The only slight disappointment is that the Novice Handicap Chase, the race we won last year with Destroytheevidence and the year before with Chianti Classico, has disappeared. It’s been replaced by a two-mile-seven novice chase, which has attracted only five runners. It does rather show that the Novice Handicap Chase was the stronger race.

Still, we head there with plenty of hope, and let’s look forward to a good weekend.

We run Matty's Getaway, High Tea and Guchen at Chepstow and for our thoughts please click here.

Tattersalls Book day 3..

Clive Washbourn celebrates

South Africa produced a stunning win ove the hosts India in te Womens World Cup cricket.

England beat Wales at Wembley

To finish..Happy birthday today to Martin Jones, who breaks in our youngsters, and Leigh Pollard our travelling head person.

Plus 5 and dry when driving in.

Firstly, many thanks for all the messages re Chianti Classico’s retirement… Of course I will keep you posted on here when his future is sorted.. CC is relaxed and happy back in his old stable at Glenbevan Stud under the loving care of James Sheahan.

Thursday is our easy day.. Round the farm…

More huge prices at Newmarket on day 2 of Tattersalls Book 1..

The first wobble on the Australian Ashes front?

A man visited his doctor, and the doctor checked him over before commenting ’ it looks like you get a fair bit of exercise’

The man replied, ’Oh year, in fact, just the other day I walked 5 miles over rugged terrain, I climbed over rocks and trees, I also waded along the edges of a lake, pushing my way through tall thistles, and even slid down a sandy slope while getting sand in my eyes.'

The doctor was quite impressed. ’Well, you are certainly a dedicated outdoor enthusiast’

The man replied, ’’Not really, doctor, I’m just a really bad golfer’’

Plus 13 and dry when driving in.

Huntingdon was not the best yesterday. Faerie Cutlass could have runner better.. She did win Best Turned Out and that was a feather in Sarah’s cap as it was her very first days racing when leading up FC, and BTO award.. so well done to her and of course to Leigh.

Sadly, I have to announce that we've decided to retire Chianti Classico.

We all had a great visit to Enda Bolger's stables last week to see him cantering and although everything looked to be going in the right direction, CC took a backward step earlier this week, and we don't need backward steps.  

The welfare of the horse is the most important thing, and, on that note, we've decided the most sensible thing to do is retire him and let him have a wonderful life away from racing, which I'm sure he will.

Chianti Classico has given us the most unbelievable journey.

Francis Brooke and Richard Pilkington became involved with CC after Aiden Murphy and I bought him off Ben Halsall at the Newmarket Cheltenham Tattersalls sales. Since then, he has just been an absolute revelation, an absolute star for us.

Obviously, the highlight of his career for us was winning the Ultima Chase at Cheltenham in 2024. How can we ever forget that unbelievable moment?

But in many respects, one of his greatest runs for me was when he won The Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot last November, carrying top weight. We were all there at Ascot that day, and as we all know, Francis Brooke is ‘His Majesty's representative of Ascot’, and to all stand and watch CC win from his balcony was a moment of sheer joy for all of us. 

Whatever happens in horses' lives, we always want the best for them. And the decision has not been taken lightly, but it's the right thing for the horse.

I cannot thank Francis and Richard enough for their support, James Sheahan and all the staff at Glenbevan Stud who looked and treasured him in the early spring and over the summer, Enda Bolger for pre training him and of course all the vets who have looked after him.

A big thank you to David Bass, Harry Cobden, Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings for riding him and of course to all the team here who've looked after him all those years, especially Erika who looked after him and absolutely adore him.. It has been a joy and an honour to have had CC around and here to train..we all just loved his exuberance for life and racing...A one off..

Very sad, but we look back with great memories. A great record.. 14 starts, 8 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third..

His picture can now take pride of place on the wall in my office, which is something I wasn't looking forward to putting up as they only go on the wall when they retire, but what a life, what a horse, and what pleasure he has given us all.

Moving on..

Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings were in to ride out.

Frankie Foster was here with a video team late morning.. Jukebox King and The Racingclub PR morning... You can still buy a share in Jukebox King..£70.00 a share..

England women just beat Bangladesh!..

Day one of Book 1 at Tattersalls yesterday!!

Highlight of yesterday.. David Bass reaching into his wallet to buy me a pint at Huntingdon Races.. God that must have hurt.. his pocket!

Plus 13 and dry when dry when driving in.

Talking dry .. It was like a summers day here yesterday, the temp rose to 21 degrees..

Again..So dry that Exeter Racecourse have had to cancel the opening meeting of their season on Thursday.

Today..We have out usual vet visit and this week’s mover and shaker in the BHA handicap charts was Reallynthruthfully up 7 to 130...

Good to see Nico de Boinville back riding at Stratford yesterday and on a winner. It looked mighty quick there..

Jilly Cooper.. What a lady and what fun she was too..  A great writer and great company. Loved her racing and loved life.. she will be hugely missed..How many people denied reading her books and secretly did?

What a heartfelt tribute from The Queen when describing Dame Jilly as a legend and a "wonderfully witty and compassionate friend", adding: "May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs."

On the other end of life.. shocking news about former English Rugby Captain Lewis Moody..

Ready for explosions? The best yearling sales start today in Newmaret. Tattersalls Book 1 has always catered for the elite of world racing..

We have a runner today at Huntingdon. Faerie Cutlass heads there and for our thoughts please click here.

England play Bangladesh in the womens World Cup Cricket.

Ian Reid sent this over!.. It could of course have been written by Jilly Cooper??

A man meets an attractive woman in a bar.

They talk, they connect, and they end up leaving together.

They go back to her place, and as she shows him around her apartment, he notices that her bedroom is completely packed with sweet cuddly teddy bears. Hundreds of cute small bears on a shelf all the way along the floor. Cuddly medium-sized ones on a shelf a little higher. Huge enormous bears are on the top shelf along the wall.

The man is surprised that this girl would have a collection of teddy bears, especially one that's so extensive, but he decides not to mention this to her so as not to ruin his chances.

She turns to him, invitingly... they kiss...and then they rip each other's clothes off and make hot steamy love.

After he has this intense night of passion with this lovely girl, and they are lying there together in the afterglow, the man rolls over and asks, smiling, "Well, how was it for you?"

The woman yawns and says.. Help yourself to any prize from the bottom shelf....

Plus 10 and dry when driving in and annoyingly it looks like it is going to dry all this coming week

Well, that was a very enjoyable weekend which ended with another winner.. 

Saturday was a great success..our owners who came to see their horses and stayed for lunch all seemed to have a great time. The Frogmill did us proud, as always, and I think you can probably guess who the last person was standing??… and quite late into the evening too! It really was good fun, and we were delighted with how the day went.

Sunday morning started with a visit from David and Julie Martin and Dan Hall and Max, who dropped in to see Seatoit on their way home. Then it was off to Uttoxeter for me where we went with high hopes that all the horses would run well. We were quietly confident we might get a winner, though you can never be too sure in this game.

Marsiac ran a very pleasing first race over hurdles... I thought his division was probably the stronger of the two. Marsiac who finished second in an Irish point-to-point in Ireland, will improve for stepping up to three miles in the future.

We chose Uttoxeter because the ground was good and safe.. they’d done an excellent job there. If we hadn’t run him yesterday, he’d have been waiting another two or three weeks, so it was well worth the trip. He finished fourth, and we were delighted with that.

Wild Goose was a bit of a disappointment, unseating Tom.. not what we were hoping for! So, it’s back to the drawing board for him, and he’ll be out again fairly soon.

We saved the best until last with Court In A Storm made all to win the long distance novice hurdle. He’s now had two runs for John and Laura Garnett (Park View) and has won both of them. He jumped off in front, made all, and was never headed, a tough effort carrying a penalty. 

It just goes to show that when I advertise horses for sale on my website and they sit there for a while, there’s nothing wrong with them!

PS on the day..

Nick Cook who has a share in the KBRS's Marsiac reminded me that Marsiac's race was won 10 years ago by Younevercall which of course Nick also part ownered.. It was apparently Leigh Pollard's first day of being travelling head girl to us here at Thorndale. 

So, that’s the weekend done and dusted. A new week begins, and for those of you who’ve entered our in house Five to Follow.. or haven’t yet.. today’s your last chance to get those entries in. Prize an excellent dinner for two at The Frogmill.. plus a bottle of wine!

Murphy asks Paddy.. ''Why are you talking into that envelope?'

Paddy replies.. 'I'm sending a voice-mail ya idiot!'

To finish.. Many thanks to Nigel Kirby for the excellent photo of Court In A Storm jumping

Plus 10 dry and windy when driving in.. Storm Amy.. 12mm of rain overnight

A welcome winner yesterday with what I would call our second winter runner..

Fontwell really is one of the better run racecourses around. If you’ve never been racing before, it’s the perfect place to start. You can stand in the middle of the track, by the fences and watch the horses going uphill and downhill around over those fences while only a few feet away from you... It gives you the full thrill of what racing is all about.

The only drawback? Getting there. The M3 and M27 make it a nightmare from our part of the world. Still, I eventually made it and was rewarded with an excellent lunch with Keith, Liz Ellis and Kathyn Todd. The food was top notch, Colin Brown compared the main restaurant and kept reminding everyone (again!) that he rode Desert Orchid countless time.. to add to the excitement and there were even a couple ofscantily clad girls dancing through hula hoops to keep us old boys amused!.. Who said racing should not be fun!

Keith and Liz’s homebred mare,Driving Miss D’Azy, was having her first proper run and finished a very encouraging fourth in the novice hurdle. A starting point that hopefully we can build on. 

We’ve always thought Reallynthruthfully would be more of a chaser than a hurdler, and he’s clearly improved from last season to this. He proved the point with a winning start to the season in the handicap chase — fittingly sponsored by a highly praised local Indian restaurant... sadly too far away for me to try!

Most of Reallynthruthfully’s KBRS owners had travelled a long way to be there and hats off to them for making the effort. A big turnout, a great atmosphere, and a thoroughly enjoyable day. The journey home? Just as “interesting” as the one there.

Racecourses rely on a good team and Louise Daly the owner’s liaison person runs it with charm and a strong hand, while Philip Hide is growing in stature and a clerk of the course..

England thrashed South Africa in their first match of the Womens Wold Cup.

The clipper blades were in action for the first time this winter..6 horses were clipped ..

Saturday morning.

Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings were in to ride out.

Busy here this morning with Colin Stapley and Elizabeth Warman here for a morning on the gallops and breakfast. 

Late morning Phil Andrews, Stuart Ballantyne, John and Penny Perriss, David and Julie Martin Dan Halll, Ed and Kashy Hawkings, Paul and Elzabeth Kellar, Richard Pilkington, John and Laura Garrett and for some reason Cornelius Lysaght called in to see their horses!.. Lunch after at The Frogmill..

No jump racing today but we have three runners tomorrow at Uttoxeter. Marsiac, Wild Goose and Court In A Storm head there and for our thoughts please click here.

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.. And goodbye and RIP to Mrs Bucket..

Plus 14 and dry when driving in. 5mm of rain overnight

Firstly, our thoughts go out to those affected by the shocking incident in Manchester yesterday.

Friday morning brings in our usual vet visit and a Racing Post man to chat to Mat.

Although it was a very good and, I felt, a very beneficial meeting, it was a pleasure yesterday to welcome Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, our local MP, to Thorndale.

Geoffrey who took time out of his very busy schedule to come here and listen to what we had to say, shows a genuine interest in racing.

What was disappointing, however, was that the BHA had emailed all the trainers in his constituency—13 or 14 of us, I believe, and only about 55% even replied. 

Of the two who were due to come along yesterday to meet him, both had to cry off at the last minute for various reasons. Not exactly the best look for racing when trying to engage with a local politician.

But perhaps that’s the way of things. I don’t quite understand it..but there we are. As they say, that’s life. And that’s politics.

The English womens cricket team take on South Africa in their first round of the Womens World Cup Cricket..Did you know how big womens cricket has become?

We have two runners today at Fontwell..Driving Miss D’Azy and Reallynthruthfully head there and for our thoughts please click here.

Plus 11, foggy and dry when driving in.

Thursday is our easy day for the horses, although we have an interesting one here..

Firstly Karen Masters and Mary Rolfe were here to see their KBRS horses Does He Know, Isle Of Gold and the Racing Club Jukebox King..

We then have a visit from our local MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and his wife Kym. Organised by the BHA..  to discuss Axe The Tax.. The BHA’s Henry Dixon-Clegg representative asked all local trainers if they would like to attend to meet our local MP.. Fergal O’Brien and Ben Pauling were the only two who were free to come along. Mat, Peter and I will be the others at the meeting

CD Tours comes to an end..

Andrew Bullimore who runs Course and Distance Stable Tours has decided to call it a day with the Stable Tour business and to move on to pastures new.

We are very grateful to him for organising some brilliant stable tours over the years and wish him the best.

Going forward, if you would like to book a Gallop Morning here at Thorndale, please email Molly directly molly@kimbaileyracing.com and she will book you in. More information on Gallop Mornings found here.

The BBC ditch another sport .. The Boat race has moved to Channel 4..

Britain's Sonay Kartal claimed the biggest scalp of her career as she overcame world number five Mirra Andreeva to reach the China Open quarter-finals.

The yearling sales continue.. still very strong trade..

Mrs B is on a First Aid course today and tomorrow..

No nurse jokes today!

Plus 9 and dry when driving in.

Properly dark now until just before 7.. October is here and the winter season starts in earnest this month..

Yesterday..Autumnal weather at its best!. Sunny, dry and stunning.. but rain would be helpful.. I am sure it will come.

Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings were in to ride out.

David Shuttle along with his neighbour Rosemary were here to see David’s KBRS horses Does He Know , Moon Rocket, Gatineau Park and Marsiac 

Welcome to our 2025/26 Five to Follow Competition which is now open for entries.

Entries will close and the competition will go live on 1st October 2025 and run until 30th April 2026. Entries close on 6th October 2025 and there will be a "transfer window" opening in January for two weeks when you will be able to change up to two of your selections.

You can make multiple entries but please note, you will need to complete each one individually and create a new username for each selection.

Prizes this year: A three-course meal and bottle of wine at The Frogmill.

If you need a bit of help with your selection check out our Horses in Training brochure.
Points will be allocated as follows:-
•    Winner - 10
•    Second - 5
•    Third - 2
•    Fourth - 1

There will be double points awarded for any horse that wins at odds higher than 33/1.

The yearling sales are in full swing and this week it has been all Ireland.. 

Carlos Alcaraz won the Japan Open

John Younhusband sent this long one over..

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripesheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct & inspect the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to: straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last..................

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

Plus 5 and dry when driving in..

Our in house 5 to follow competition for the season opens tomorrow and entries close at midnight on Monday..

We have our usual vet visit and this weeks movers and shakers in the BHA handicap charts were El Rio down 1 to 134 and Gerard Mentor down 1 to 80.. The handicapper is being far from helpful to poor GM!

Womens World Cup Cricket starts today..Englands chances?

England all-rounder Chris Woakes has retired from international cricket following his omission from this winter's Ashes squad.

West Indies suffered a new low as they were bowled out for just 83 to lose their T20 series with minnows Nepal in the United Arab Emirates.

Emma Raducanu again failed to take three match points as she was beaten 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 0-6 by Jessica Pegula in a hard-fought last-32 tie at the China Open.

Molly started it and now it is the chance of our blacksmith Alex Hall to tell all about his job here with our horses.

Alex writes..

'So as we head towards the beginning of the winter season and some of the horses are beginning to look forward to their first runs I thought it would be a idea to explain what goes on from the farriers perspective on the yard.

Tuesdays are generally our big day for getting horses shod for the week/upcoming races.

We/I tend to arrive around 7-7:30 am to load up the trolley with all the shoes needed for the list of horses I carry in my Black book, this could be ranging from horses that are due to be shod on their shoeing cycle or horses that have a upcoming race, generally try and do all runners 4 days before racing, this allows them to settle nicely into their new plates.

In my book I keep all records of the horses shoeing, entries and any feedback from any of the stable staff (this can help me form a package that suits the horse best and for the longevity). Once first lot is back from riding out, I watch all the horses coming back in from their cool down and queuing for the hose pipe to be washed down (sometimes I get dragged into fixing the hose pipes if we have a rogue leaking one. Jack of all trades....) this gives me a chance to have a chat with the riding staff about how the horses are feeling and a good chance to see their feet.

At this moment I can make decisions on how their feet are looking and if anything is required sooner. The odd occasion if there's a sprung clench or even a lost shoe it can be sorted immediately. I try and watch every lot going out and coming back in, this allows me to see the horses in fresh state from the box and on return from work, I watch foot fall, their strides and generally any other dynamic movements.

I have a chance to also catch up with Kim, Mat and Charly about the horses and weeks plan. Tuesdays are also beneficial as the vet visits on this day and a Friday, great opportunities to work together on any horse that I can play a part in aiding maximising potential, through the use of modern materials such as 3d printed pads which can be designed in so many different ways which benefits the individual horses needs, bespoke if you like and also the use of impression material which gives great support to the feet where needed.

The rest of the week is spent doing more routine shoeing and watching the horses some more, especially the ones I may have made some adjustments with. If time allows, I enjoy going up the gallops with Kim and Mat and watching the horses work, half the time I think Mat is just glad to have someone open the gates for him or the hot topic of what type of chicken we've recently had for dinner.

Visiting almost daily allows me to sort anything that could occur from riding out, being turned out or racing which minimalizes time the horses have to wait for any attention. As you can imagine this all takes a lot of planning and organising, juggling shoeing schedules, racing and horses having away days. So, at the moment nearly all the horses are in steel shoes which are harder wearing and slightly heavier than racing plates, this helps with building fitness for the horses. Soon all the horses will be moving into Vulcan aluminium race plates in preparation for the season ahead. 

I'm honoured to work alongside my father (David Hall) as the duty farriers for Cheltenham Racecourse. As this is generally the only time I get to see any of the horses from the yard race in person, it's always special and a huge buzz. I always tend to the course for any problems that may occur on the way to the start, but also get to see the horses i've worked closely with at home racing, this is a huge buzz.  Dad tends to the pre parade ring and stables, often I'm on the phone to him checking in on any of the KBR runners.' 

Four Catholic ladies are having coffee together, discussing how important their children are.

The first one tells her friends, "My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him "Father."

The second Catholic women chirps, "Well, my son is a Bishop. Whenever he walks into a room, people say, "Your Grace."

The third Catholic woman says smugly, "Well, not to put you down, but my son is a cardinal. Whenever he walks into a room, people say, "Your Eminence."

The fourth Catholic women sips her coffee in silence. The first three women give her a subtle "Well...?"

She replies, "My son is a charismatic, 6'2", hard-bodied male blacksmith. Whenever he walks into a room, people say, "My God."