Bailey's Blog

Plus 12 and dry when driving in.

I had some really good quality time with Archie up in Durham over the weekend. The journey up there was a bit of a shocker, but once I arrived, things improved considerably. We watched a bit of cricket, went out for supper, and I stayed in the Lumley Castle right next to the cricket ground.

Saturday morning, Archie and I did a bit of sightseeing. We walked around the hugely impressive Cathedral and explored Durham itself, which I have to say is tiny, more like a charming little French town than a city. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering around before heading back to the cricket ground. We even bumped into Ben Stokes having a net session.

From there, we travelled on to Hexham, where unfortunately the day took a slight downturn. Campaign Trail never looked happy and never seemed to be enjoying himself. Whether it was a second run on firm ground I don’t know, but he simply wasn't letting himself down properly. Our rather indifferent record at Hexham continues… The good news is that CT was fine yesterday and spent the day out in the field.. Back to the drawing board for him..

Hexham’s racecourse chairman Jimmy Walton reminded me that I hadn't been there for at least ten years.. Hexham proudly tells us that it is the most scenic racecourse in the country and it is, but on Saturday it also the windiest. Despite a very strong wind, it was an enjoyable afternoon, made even better by bumping into past KBRS owners Paul and Helen Nicholson who now live 6 miles from the racecourse.

Queens .. Not for Emma Raducanu, but still a good week for her even though she was beaten in the final by Croatia's Donna Veki.

Lewis Hamilton's historic first victory for Ferrari in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.. Brits finished 1,2, 3 for the first time since 1968!

The second Test against New Zealand starts this week at The Oval and more woes for the England team as now Ollie Robinson is injured.. fast bowlers and injury!

FIFA World Cup news..

Royal Ascot starts tomorrow..The huge power of this meeting.. Flat racings Cheltenham?

Lets start the week with a Bud Light moment!

Plus 11 and dry when waking in Chester Le Street.

I arrived here yesterday afternoon in time to watch a bit of Durham play Derbyshire with Archie.. although he is currently on the easy list we did have a good night out together,.

Court In A Storm ran and jumped well but sadly just did not stay at Newton Abbot last night and as a result finished 4th

This made me laugh..

I'm at the point in life where the hottest text I get is..'Your prescription is ready to pick up''.

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday and to finish.. Happy birthday to my sister Moo.. 

Plus 14 and dry when driving in. 8mm yesterday.

No rain today? Warmer from today on..El Nino coming.

More records fell on day 3 of the Goffs sales in Ireland..

Turnover soared by 34% to €4,279,500, the average increased by 15% to €20,876 and the median rose by 13% to €18,000.  Six lots in Arkle Part 2 made €50,000 or more this year, compared with two in 2025.

Queens cancelled yesterday because of rain..

The closeness of the median figure to the average figure, and a clearance rate of 83%, were sure signs of the robustness of the market at all levels.

Good to see Graham Radford yesterday..Graham was last involved with me in a horse he shared with Ian Bullerwell called Porphyrios..

Graham is investing in a share in our latest KBRS. The Irish point to point winning mare Gambling Echo.. Please click here for more info..there is more on this page...and here is a video...

We have one runner today at Newton Abbot. Court In A Storm heads there and for our thoughts please click here.

An attractive young woman on a flight from Ireland asked the priest beside her, "Father, may I ask a favor?"

"Of course child. What may I do for you?"

"Well, I bought my mother an expensive hair dryer for her birthday. It is unopened but well over the customs limits and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through Customs for me? Hide it under your robes perhaps?"

"I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you, I will not lie."

"With your honest face, Father, no one will question you," she replied.

When they got to Customs, she let the priest go first. The official asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?"

"From the top of my head down to my waist I have nothing to declare."

The official thought this answer strange, so asked, "And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?"

Father replied, "I have a marvelous instrument designed to be used on a woman, which is, to date, unused."

Roaring with laughter, the official said, "Go ahead, Father. Next please!" 

Plus 10 and drizzling when driving in... April showers in June? only 2mm here but..

A lovely day yesterday. I called in to join Ed and Kashy Hawkings for lunch before we set off to Fontwell.

Their horse Kylenoe Dancer ran well to finish second.. second is always frustrating!

Mat and I debated putting cheekpieces on beforehand, and I vetoed it. Looking back, I probably wish we had used them, although I don't think they would have made any difference as the winner won comfortably 

But she did spend plenty of time admiring the hoardings, cars and spectators on the way round, which might suggest the cheekpieces would have helped her concentrate a little better… Next time

Still, it was a good run and a very enjoyable afternoon. Thanks to Ed and Kashy for the lift.

Goffs Sales or the Arkle sales as it is known.. Two days of staggering prices.. Most of the top lots stayed in Ireland.. But the trade was just huge… There is another sale there today but the pedigrees would not be anything like as strong.

Turnover for the three-year-old stores on offer shot up by 28% from last year to €24,001,500, while the average and median both rose by 22%, to €65,222 and €55,000 respectively.

There was also keen interest in the two-year-olds on offer. That session produced aggregate sales of €1,068,000, up 27% on 2025, an average of €66,750, a rise of 27%, and a median of €65,000, a gain of 66%.

Oh no.. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson out ot the Second Test

Plenty of action at Queens to follow

England won their last warm up game last night.

Now the football world turns its attention to the United States today as the FIFA Club World Cup gets underway. The opening ceremonies in Toronto, Mexico City and Los Angeles promise all the usual glitz and glamour, although for those of us on this side of the Atlantic, it may well be taking place while some of are  fast asleep.

As ever, Mat and his fellow football fans will dare to dream. England's supporters have become experts at hope over the years, but it is now 60 years since that glorious day in 1966 when England lifted the World Cup. Yes, I can remember it, and I can remember where I was when the final was played..In Ireland on the side of the road listening on a Roberts wireless..

Whether this summer finally brings football home remains to be seen, but just don’t we love the optimism that is all part of being an England supporter.

Plus 9 and dry when driving in. 2mm of rain here and 6mm a mile away!

Tom Bellamy was in this morning and we jumped Campaign Trail and Court In A Storm

Strong trade at Goffs Arkle sale day one.. Unbroken 3-year-olds..Records broken again!.. Day 2 today..

Oh dear.. Ben Stokes..

Queens.. 2 weeks of perfect tennis. Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter through the first round.

Serena Williams rolled back the years with a winning performance on her comeback to tennis after 1,375 days away from the sport.

We have one runner today at Fontwell.. Kylenoe Dancer heads there and for our thoughts please click here.

A Blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer, who was also a blonde. 

The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver’s license. She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated. 

‘What does it look like?’ she finally asked. The policewoman replied, ‘It’s square and it has you picture on it.’ 

The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it and handed it to the policewoman. ‘Here it is,’ she said. 

The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying, “OK, you can go. I didn’t realize you were a cop

Plus 9 and drizzling when driving in. Another 5mm..

Yesterday was a rather special day celebrating Colin Weedon's birthday. I won't tell you which one, because it's embarrassing enough, but he's reached it, and even more embarrassing is that most of his friends have flown passed it too!

Colin first appeared in my life when I first started training.. I was based in East Ilsley.. As I mentioned yesterday Colin arrived on a motorbike.. and yes he thought his horse was going to run twice in one afternoon that first day at Plumpton..

Colin was a used car dealer, who I later bought cars off.. That was before he became a trainer who famously won a race at the Cheltenham Festival with Miracle Man in 1995. But long before that, we accumulated plenty of stories, many of which resurfaced yesterday.

One of the best involved Colin, Lawrence Wells and Chris Marshall who decided that owning a Derby runner sounded like a good idea. But after explaining that the real Derby was slightly beyond their means, I suggested the Manx or Isle of Man Derby instead. Free entry and free transport..it sounded perfect. So I bought a horse for them for a grand and off we went.

Sadly none of us can remember the name of the horse or the jockey, but Chris Marshall remembers pointing out on the flight over that the ticket and hotel room cost £200, which I owed him... My response was that owners traditionally paid for the trainer's ticket! He disagreed. Being rather short of cash at the time, we barted and argued and finally I sold Chris my battered old Land Rover for £200 to fund the trip.

The Isle of Man Derby turned out to be run across a collection of fields and the course was erected on the day, probably on land that Robert Sangster owned.. Anyway, the favourite for this mighty race was trained by Vincent O’Brien and ridden by Steve Cauthen and obviously owned by Robert Sangster.

Understandably Robert's well bred superstar won the race, and we finished a respectable third of four and celebrated accordingly, and of course we enjoyed some of Robert Sangster's renowned hospitality post race.

Later that evening we visited the casino, where I won enough money to buy my Land Rover back. Result!

Then, at three o'clock in the morning, somebody decided it would be a good idea to drive our hire car around the TT course!!!!

Chris and Laurence who were both part time motor-racing drivers set off with one driving and the other changing gear from the passenger seat.. I sat in the back seat with Colin absolutely terrified. To this day, I don't think I've ever been more frightened.

Thankfully, we all survived, and is that's not what youth was all about..foolish mistakes??

So you can understand why yesterday meant so much. Those three have been with me from the very beginning, back when I was in my early twenties, struggling to make ends meet but having enormous fun along the way.

Seeing Colin surrounded by his family, reminiscing about those extraordinary adventures, was a wonderful reminder of just how lucky I've been.

A fantastic day, full of memories, laughter, and old friends. Sometimes that's about as good as it gets.

A big thank you to Colin's children Marcus and Lisa for organising the lunch and for Leigh Pollard for driving me.. It was as you might have expected a very long lunch!.. Tom and Maggie Garthrop, Martin Brewer, Lance Owen and Nonie

Plus 11 and raining when driving in..5mm so far.

What an extraordinary sporting Sunday.

It started at Lord's, where England finally got enough play in to beat New Zealand on what is rapidly becoming known as a rather dodgy wicket. There may not have been many overs over the weekend, but there was certainly plenty of drama.

Then it was off to Monaco to watch a very incident packed Grand Prix, where 19-year-old sensation Kimi Antonelli continued his remarkable season by making it another victory. He has won the last five races.. An extraordinary achievement and further proof that he is a young man with a very bright future ahead of him. Behind him came the vastly experienced Lewis Hamilton, still flying the flag for Britain in Ferrari colours.

But the highlight of the day was undoubtedly The French Open.

The final between Alexander Zverev and Flavio Cobolli was simply sensational. Five sets of breathtaking tennis, played at a speed and intensity that scarcely seemed possible. Alexander Zverev won but by the end they looked absolutely exhausted, and so did most of us watching. I felt ready for an ice bath myself, so goodness knows how they felt.

All in all, a magnificent day of sport and one that will take some beating.

Looking back to Saturday.

The weather can ruin just about anything in this country, and on Saturday it did a pretty thorough job.

Lord’s was virtually a washout, with only nine-and-a-half overs possible. I made the executive decision not to go, which was disappointing as Mrs B and I had planned a family day with her brother Michael and wife Podge.

I have to say that watching the television later, I briefly thought I’d made the wrong call, but by the evening the refund text arrived and suddenly it looked a very good decision indeed.

I did feel sorry for Lord’s. A full house, a great occasion, and then having to hand back everyone’s money. A tough day all round.

So pleased was I that a refund was coming my way that I went off piste and took Mrs B out for supper in Cheltenham.. New venue and one that soon made me realised how lucky I was that Mrs B cooks so well.. and I am sure she felt the same about mine!

The Derby at Epsom suffered much the same weather fate.

The racecourse had worked incredibly hard to make it a memorable meeting, but the weather kept plenty of people away.

To add to the confusion, the favourite finished tenth and was then disqualified. As a National Hunt trainer, I’ll admit I’m struggling to understand that one. Thankfully, he didn’t win, or there might have been total uproar. Whatever it was still not a good look for racing.. Anyway Aiden O’Brien still won the race with the aptly named Christmas Day..

On a happier note, my visit to Lord’s on Thursday produced a lovely surprise when I bumped into Anthony Stileman, an old friend I hadn’t seen since I was 14. We spent some time catching up and promised not to leave it quite so long next time.

Talking bumping to old mates..Today I am off to Surrey for what is apparently a surprise birthday lunch.. I’m looking forward to plenty of memories and stories.

I still remember when we first met.. 'He' arrived at my then base in East Ilsley on a motorbike to buy a horse. The horse ran in the first race at Plumpton, and after lunch and a few drinks I was asked, quite seriously, what time his horse ran again! He has come a long way since then. More on that tomorrow!!

It should be a wonderful afternoon of reminiscing, laughter and catching up with old friends...

Plus 10 and raining when driving in..4mm so far

June 6 1944..

It just goes to show that if you have four O’Brien runners in a nine-horse Oaks, there’s every chance one of them will get their head in front. Yesterday, though, it wasn’t father Aidan stealing the headlines, but son Joseph, whose filly Thundering On stormed home in tremendous style. What looked a competitive race on paper turned into something of a procession in the closing stages, and she won with plenty in hand.

Today, of course, it’s all about The Betfred Derby and a completely different challenge. Yet again, the O’Brien family are heavily represented, with five runners between Aidan and Joseph. The obvious question is whether they can do it again.

It looks a very open renewal and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a bit of an upset. Aidan supplies the favourite, but perhaps this could be the year that Andrew Balding breaks his Derby duck with Item.Whatever happens, it promises to be a fascinating race.

Let’s hope Epsom enjoys a big crowd, some great racing, and another step towards restoring the Derby meeting to the prominence it once enjoyed. Ever hopeful.

Cricket.England v New Zealand...Seventeen wickets fell yesterday at Lord's and England now have the upper hand after a remarkable day's cricket. Great viewing for the spectators, less so for the batsmen, as the Lord's pitch seemed to be doing all sorts of strange things..

I was meant to be at Lord's today, but with the forecast looking rather wet, I suspect there won't be much cricket to watch. Disappointing, but that's weather and cricket.

Tennis.. French Open Ladies final..Mirra Andreeva v Maja Chwalinska

Britain's Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have won their seventh successive French Open wheelchair doubles title.

Monoco Grand Prix..

No jockeys in today. Dreek Eaton was here to see his KBRS horse Campaign Trail

The old adverts were by far the best.. Bugger!!

Have a great weekend and to finish..

Happy Birthday to Claude Duval... See you at Lords!!

Plus 11 and dry when driving in. 5mm overnight.

Lord’s.. not full but very busy. A great atmosphere.

Trained it up to London and as one might have expected, delayed... So missed the first few overs and when I finally sat down at my seat alongside Martin F-G and Jonathan RK rain started and they came off with England were 20 for 1.

We left the ground to enjoy what possibly looked like a long lunch.. Rain stopped and we returned to witness England collapse for 140..You could almost hear the scribes writing their thoughts on another shameful England collapse!

New Zealand came into bat and Ollie Robinsons first over was a stunner.. the whole ground rose to their feet and cheered their heads off as he took 3 wickets for 0. Talk about redemption!. New Zealand finished the session on 61 for 6.. What a days cricket..

Good to be back at Lord’s and I hope the weather holds as it just could well be another Melbourne and all over in 2 days, although I somewhat doubt it. 

Any back at Thorndale this morning we have Peter and Fiona Woodhall here to see their KRBS horses Gatineau Park, Pethers Star and the retired Does He Know.

The Derby meeting at Epsom starts today and The Oaks is todays Classic. Not often you see the favourite Amelia Earhart running with blinkers and a hood!.. But trained by Aiden O'Brien!

Tony Wilton-Steer sent this one over.

A successful married London based investment banker had to visit his client in Singapore quite regularly. Only problem was he suffered serious back problems making the flight very uncomfortable. But for several trips he had used the hotel masseuse to sort him out after each flight.

On his next trip the hotel had a new rather pretty masseuse who was rather more hands on than the previous one, indeed much more hands on, not least saying she could not do her job properly while he had underwear on.

Needless to say he got rather aroused so he asked the masseuse to stop as he was getting a little bit "embarrassed".

Understanding what he was meaning she ask "Do you want to be satisfied?".

Closing his eyes and thinking of his wife and children after what seemed an age he crossed the Rubicon and said "yes".

"OK give me a minute and I'll be back for you" and she left the room.

A minute later there was a knock at the door and the masseuse popped her head around the door and said....... "Finished?"

Plus 11 and dry when driving in. Not for long and it was not last night...7mm..

The first test match of the summer and the weather looks like playing havoc..It is always exciting to be entering Lord's .. The home of cricket.. England v New Zealand..

You certainly cannot say that the French Open has been predictable.. Far from it.. World number one Aryna Sabalenka was the latest to fall with a crushing quarter-final defeat by Diana Shnaider..

Two Italians fought it out last night.. Matteo Arnaldi won when his opponent Matteo Berrettini retired.

Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk faces Russia's Mirra Andreeva in todays semi finls..

There seems to be a never-ending appeal for charity donations from those wishing to punish themselves to help raise awareness and funds. Harry Bailey might be in Sydney but he is at it again!

Three older ladies were discussing the travails of getting older. 

One said, "Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand, in front of the refrigerator, and I can't remember whether I was taking it out or putting it away." 

The second lady said, "Yes, sometimes I find myself on the landing of the stairs, and I can't remember whether I was on my up, or on my way down." 

The third lady chimed in, "Well, I'm glad I don't have those problems. Knock on wood." With that, she rapped her knuckles on the table, then said, "That must be the door. I'll get it."