Bailey's Blog

-4 and dry when driving in this morning.

Seriously chilly here this weekend, with temperatures around -6 yesterday morning and flurries of snow in the afternoon; a proper frosty winter’s day. Today is expected to stay cold with sunshine and clear skies. The horses were tucked up in their duvets yesterday keeping warm. Luckily the all weather gallop has meant that we can keep them exercised, even if there is no racing!

As expected jump racing was abandoned yesterday. Sandown survived the plummeting temperatures on Saturday but sadly Wincanton did not.... after failing the first two inspections, they called Wincanton off barely an hour before the first was due off. Frustrating but safety has to come first.... Leigh and Amazing Cleni were on their way so turned around and headed back to Thorndale. Ludlow and Lingfield decided yesterday that their meetings today would be abandoned, and Musselburgh is already off tomorrow so another quiet few days in store.

It seems the weather isn't only playing havoc here.... I am told that weather also stopped play in the cricket, where bad light and rain washed out the first day of the fifth Ashes test early.

Anyway, 5th of January means I can definitely take the Christmas decorations down in the office at long last now that's all over for another year!

-1 and dry when driving in this morning. Cold day here yesterday, and a colder weekend ahead forecast.

Really sad to hear about the passing of Ian Balding yesterday aged 87. A great trainer of his time, having trained the legendary colt Mill Reef, he was a successful trainer and brilliant sportsman.

Bit of snow to clear yesterday morning before we could get on to the gallop, but the sun soon shone and made for a beaiutiful cold day. We had no runners which was a welcome break after a busy few days, and gave us a chance to get on with some jobs around the yard.

Mat went to see Martyn & Sanrda Steer-Fowlers Blue Bresil filly over at Martin Jones's yesterday. She's a lovely looking horse and she will be joining us later on this month.

Too frozen to school here so none of that today but the horses will be getting out as usual. Tom and Ciaran both in to ride out.

One runner for us at Wincanton (should racing survive the inspection), Amazing Cleni heads off there. For our thoughts please click here.

The ground is way too quick for us to run anything at Chepstow, and the weather is likely to stop play everywhere anyway, so a relatively quiet weekend here and likely the start of next week too. ..have a great weekend and see you all on Monday.

0 degrees and dry whe driving in, although the feels like temperature says -7!

What a days racing yesterday! We are absolutely delighted with Step Ahead who ran an absolute blinder to win the first race on the card. He is a lovely horse wirh a big future. A day of firsts yesterday: Our first runner of 2026, Ciaran's first winner at Cheltenham and our first winner there since the joint licence came into force one year ago. So pleased for Phil Andrews.... a shame he couldn't be there yesterday but we are all thrilled that he has another exciting horse to go to war with.

We were quickly brought back down to earth when Does He Know, who was running a great race back at his beloved Cheltenham, made a horrendous error down the back resulting in he and Tom parting company. Thank you for all the messages asking about them.... luckily hey both got up and walked away, and DHK is back home at Thorndale.

Across at Windsor I Spy A Diva ran another honest race to finish third under 7lb Isabelle Ryder. I.S.A.D is a tough and consistent mare..hopefully everything will fall into place for her and she will win again soon enough.

It was record crowd at Cheltenham yesterday with over 44,000 people in attendance... a bigger crowd than last years Champion Chase day and the first time that the New Years Day fixture has sold-out. Chepstow, Kempton, Aintree and Newbury also all reported doule-figure percentage increase in attendances at all of their Christmas fixtures.... can only be good news for racing?

Mat was very spoilt yesterday spending half the day in the Royal Box before popping up to the Chelteham Club to have a drink with Martyn and Sandra Steer-Fowler.

We have no runners today. Robert & Nicola Baillie and Mark & Rachel Burt came up third lot to see new KBRS horse Double Ten.

Mat then went to meet the Steer-Fowler's at Martin Jones's to watch their new Blue Bresil filly, who should hopefully make her way over to Thorndale soon, all being well.

Mark was in for his usual friday vet visit, and to administet the last flu vaccination until the summer (phew!). The legislation changed a few years ago meaning that horses now have to have their flu jabs every 6 months. They all have them when on thwir summer holidays, meaning their next one is due in Dec/Jan... a logistical nightmare! Horses can't run for 7 days post-vaccination due to withdrawal periods, and so it takes a lot of planning to make sure they keep in line. Mat and I both very pleased that saga is over for another 6 months!

1 degree and dry when driving in this morning. Didn't really defrost here all day yesterday but made for a beautiful sunset.

Happy New Year to all! Hope everybody had a lovely evening and saw the new year in well.... I did my invoicing and went to bed at 8.30pm!

Kim, Clare and Archie are well on their way to Aus and so Mat and I are left to fend for ourselves...

Thursday is our easy day so not much going on in the yard. Mat off to walk the track at Cheltenham at 10am.

Two runners yesterday.... Isle of Gold at Uttoxeter and Seatoit at Warwick. Both pulled up, Seatoit finding the ground too quick for him at Warwick and the same again for Isle Of Gold, it all happened too quickly. A dissapointing day but that's racing, back to the drawing board...

A great day of racing to start the new year off with 5 jumps meetings... we have runners at Cheltenham and Windsor. Let's hope the frost doesn't get the better of us and all of them go ahead. With the forecast looking pretty cold, who knows what meetings are going to get the green light over the next few days!

Three runners today; Step Ahead and Does He Know head to Cheltenham ridden by Ciaran Gethings and Tom Bellamy, whilst I Spy A Diva heads to Windsor under Isabelle Ryder. For our thoughts please click here.

Minus 3 and foggy when driving in...

Guchen was 4th at Haydock yesterday. Aamilah is learning all the time on Guchen and yesterday was her third ever ride.. she is just so lucky that she has the support of his owners 'The Friends Of Ebony Horse Club', and I know she will reward them soon with a winner.

Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings were in to ride out this morning.

We have two runners later.. Seatoit runs at Warwick (racing goes ahead) while Isle Of Gold heads to Uttoxeter (racing goes ahead) and for our thoughts please click here.

Well, here we are on the final day of 2025, and it’s been a very, very interesting year to say the least.

Tomorrow marks one year since Mat Nicholls joined me on my licence, and I can honestly say it’s been a great success.

We haven’t had too many arguments (which always helps), we’ve agreed far more often than not, we’ve bought some very nice young horses, and all in all we’ve enjoyed a pretty good season so far (21 winners to date).

There’s no doubt we need to kick on in the second half of the campaign, but the foundations are firmly in place and we’re heading in the right direction.

As for now, Mrs B, Archie and I are off on a family holiday to Sydney to see Harry and India Bailey.

There’ll be a bit of Test Match cricket squeezed in, along with a few other bits and pieces, and hopefully a chance to recharge the batteries and see a few things while we’re out there, and of course have a great family time together..

It also gives Mat the perfect opportunity to enjoy some peace and quiet away from me and to just get on with the job without having to worry about us hovering around. I suspect he’ll enjoy that immensely and no doubt will the team here and that includes the horses too.

Of course, the interesting part while I’m away is that the blog will now be in the capable hands of Mat and Molly, who will keep you updated on what’s going on at Thorndale as from tomorrow.

The jokes may be noticeably thinner on the ground, and I say that in the nicest possible way, because most of mine are fairly ghastly anyway.. but I’ll be reading along just like you to find out exactly what’s been happening back home and reading about all the winners/runners.. and of course the weather!

That’s 2025 wrapped up. Onwards and upwards for 2026.

One last one before I go..

While on vacation in the Queensland, Wesley learned of an old Aboriginal tradition of tattooing their name on their male organ, but when he did it he found that when it shrinks, all that’s visible are the letters ‘WY’.

One day at the beach showers, he couldn’t help noticing a local with those same letters, ‘WY’ tattooed on his thing. “What a coincidence”, Wesley thought, and says, “Excuse me, but if you don’t mind me asking, is your name Wesley too?”

The man replies, “Wesley? Oh, No, Mon. Mine Says, “Welcome to Australia, Have a Nice Day”

To finish.. Happy birthday to team member Erika Creed.

Happy New Year to you all..

Plus 2 and dry when driving in.

White Noise won at Newbury...yesterday

Newbury is probably the most improved racecourse in the country, and it was fantastic to go there and have a winner with White Noise in the opening race, the Mares handicap Hurdle, for John Perriss.

John, who was brought up locally and went to school in Newbury, was absolutely thrilled, but bizarrely this was his very first winner at Newbury Racecourse.

The mare has been a real revelation since Ed Bailey bought her after she finished second in an Irish point to point,.. she has now three from four over hurdles ..

White Noise was always handy, which was crucial. Tom Bellamy gave her a superb ride; it was his call to run there, and he was convinced that two miles around Newbury was exactly what she wanted. We were worried the ground might be too quick for her, but she (he) proved us all wrong, which was hugely important.

Meanwhile, Doncaster, Draco Malfoy ran an absolute stormer. He was beaten only by one rival, finishing second, and has now qualified for the EBF Final.

Tuesday morning.

We have our usual vet visit and this weeks movers and shakers in the BHA handicap charts were..Matty's Getaway up 1 to 126 while Thruthelookinglass goes down 1 to 104..

We have just the one runner today at Haydaock.. Guchen heads there and for our thoughts please click here.

Pessimist.. It can't get any worse..

Optimist.. Yes it can!!

Plus 3 and dry when driving in.. We look like having a dry week.. colder, but not yet as cold as the East coast of the USA...

Those words 'watering' have started to return in some of the racecourse's going descriptions!

We can look back on a Christmas Bank Holiday weekend where we were treated to some truly fantastic racing.To cap it all, after a phenomenal King George, the Welsh Grand National on Saturday provided a particularly special story.

The winner Haiti Couleurs was trained by Rebecca Curtis, who lives in Wales, and ridden by the champion jockey Sean Bowen who also is Welsh, which all made the whole occasion feel wonderfully fitting, especially in front a huge partizan crowd..

But I especially take my hat off to Rebecca. Her horse Haiti Couleurs run very poorly at Haydock just a month ago where he pulled up, yet she’s managed to turn him around to win a Welsh Grand National. That is quite some training feat by any standards.

The ground, too, was very different to what we normally expect at Chepstow. It was nearly good, which is almost unheard of for a race that’s usually run in pretty atrocious conditions, so it was great to see the Welsh National contested on a proper racing surface and run at a good gallop.

Over in Ireland there were a few shocks and non more so than dual Cheltenham Gold Cup Galopin Des Champs being beaten by Affordale Fury into third place in yesterdays Savills Chase.. a race that GDC has won for the last two years..

Anyway, moving on to today, we have two runners. White Noise goes in the first at Newbury, where I’ll be heading, and Mat is off to Doncaster to saddle Draco Malfoy.. For our thoughts please click here...

Thinking of sunshine on these cold winter days?

Two blondes walk into a tanning salon.

The receptionist asks.. ’Are you two sisters?’

They chuckle and reply.. ’No, we aren’t even Catholic’

Plus 2 and dry when driving in.. Drying so quickly!

I went to bed last night with the television still on, fully expecting to drift off at some point while the cricket carried on in the background. That never happened. Sleep simply refused to turn up. What I was watching was utterly unbelievable.. the most extraordinary game of cricket I think I’ve ever seen.

By half past six this morning, when England finally won, I was wide awake, buzzing, and staring at the screen in complete disbelief. The excitement, the noise, the drama, it was just relentless. My phone was going mad with text messages flying back and forth to Melbourne, everyone as stunned as each other at what was unfolding.

I’ve seen some funny things in my life, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience some huge sporting moments, but that really was right up there with the very best of them. Absolutely thrilling.

I arrived at work this morning feeling pretty rough, if I’m honest, rather like Ben Pauling who’s just won the King George the day before. Tired, slightly shell-shocked, but very, very happy.

Talking King George..Yesterday was a cracking day’s racing, topped off by one of the best King George's I can remember for a very long time. To see four top-class horses still in contention at the last, all jumping it well and then racing virtually neck-and-neck to the line, was quite extraordinary.

Finishes like that are rare at the very top level and it was a phenomenal result for racing — exciting, dramatic and hugely popular with the public.

It was great to see Harry Redknapp having his moment in the spotlight. Football background aside, he’s clearly getting seriously involved in racing and his enthusiasm is infectious. Owners like that are brilliant for the sport, and days like yesterday remind you just how good jump racing can be.. and why Kempton needs saving!

Back to today..

Tom Bellamy and Ciaran Gethings in to ride out.

We jumped Jukebox King, Step Ahead, Island Bridge, Wild Goose, Sea Of Fortune, Does He Know and Moon Rocket.

Wales and their big days racing..The Welsh Grand National bizzarely will be run on nearly good ground.. the first for a long time.

We have no runners over the weekend..

Have a great one and see you all on Monday..

Plus 2 and dry when driving in.

I do hope you all had a great Christmas Day?

We did and it all started with church.. St Bartholomew's Church, Whittington.. Lovely service and packed.. Archie was called in to ring the bells.. summoning the locals to prayers?

Cricket.. hardly believe the score line.. Australia all out for 152!.. Don’t get your hopes up as England’s reply was predictable..we were 16 for 4 at one stage!

My phone was buzzing all night with texts from the MCG..

94199 in the crowd.. a record for the MCG..

We have no runners today.. not quite a first but with no long distance novice hurdles run anywhere today we are waiting for the other days.

Still.. if in front of the TV you will have some great racing to watch… Enjoy

Plus 4 and dry when driving in.

I like to think that our KBRS day yesterday was a huge success. We were blessed with perfectly respectable weather, the horses all looked extremely well, behaved impeccably and all our staff looked in fine fettle in their Christmas jumpers.. Mrs B, Molly and Felicity made welcome bacon butties and served huge quantities of mulled cider.. It must have done the trick as Peter Kerr sold one and syndicated another!..

The feedback afterwards was tremendous, and days like that rather underline exactly why joining one of our syndicates makes so much sense. Everyone gets on, everyone enjoys themselves, and that sense of shared enthusiasm is what it’s all about. A really important and very worthwhile day.

Things are a little quieter here today. Wednesdays are normally one of our main workdays, but we actually worked the horses we wanted to yesterday, which means we’ve no jockeys in this morning. 

That said, Thorndale will be far from quiet later on, as it is hosting a trail meet for the Cotswold Hunt this morning and there will be quite a few jockeys out to follow the trail around the huge jumps that Thorndale offers.. Madness at its best and something our current government is trying to stop..

It’s always a wonderful sight and hugely popular, with plenty of people coming along to support it. True country life in full swing, and something that remains very much part of the fabric our country life..

Your last chance to buy a Christmas present..

Mrs B and I went shopping yesterday in a very busy Cheltenham, Mrs B was surprised to discover that I was nowhere to be seen. Upset because we had a lot of things to do, she called me on my mobile phone. 

"Where are you? We have lots to do!"

"Do you remember that beautiful diamond necklace that you fell in love with when we were looking in Martins & Co the jewellers.. the one that I said that I couldn't afford, and I said that one day I would get it for you?"

"Yes, I do remember that, my love!" 

"Well, I'm in the pub next door to that.

On that happy note have a wonderful and happy Christmas..