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Minus 3 and dry when driving in.. Dry for how long I wonder?

Does He Know.. Yes He Does!

What an absolute trooper.. What a horse..A star. A syndicate star to boot.

We had a plan and on Saturday at Doncaster it came to fruition when Does He Know won the Grimthorpe Chase. 

DHK was high enough in the handicap and we were short of suitable races for him, especially after his rather lacklustre start to the season at Wetherby, so we decided to try and win some prize money for the syndicate while hoping he might drop a few pounds in the weights for doing so.

He started the season off 155 and on Saturday he was 6lbs lower in the race we had hoped to aim him at.. He loves staying distances and Saturday’s race did not have any Gold Cup horses to take on, unlike his last two..

I said to David before the race to drop him in and hold onto him so long that the opposition might pull up and he would pass them..Yes it was of course tongue in cheek intruction as we all knew what David was going to do.. He knows the horse inside out so whatever I might have said was always going to be like Saturday' weather wet or rather 'water off a vegans back'..

It was seriously brave ride and on a seriously brave and talented horse. Not that big and carrying 12 stone in those conditions was really something very special. As the TV pundits said.. 'We must take our hats off for DHK…'

We were all so proud of him and those members of the Yes He Does Syndicate who were there at Doncaster were able to shed a tear of pride of emotion and hopefully kiss their horse..(Mark Laws promised to do so if he won!).. Anyway one was possible, but the kisses were certainly not as DHK would not stand still after the race.

Celebrations deserved and welcome.. of that dreaded cold list and all ready for the coming weeks..

It was the race that showed the best of this horse and one that will go down in the books as a very special performance.

Emotional tributes over the weekend to Mark Bradstock.

Marcus Amytage led the way and even if the Racing Post were very slow off the mark they did finally show respect by printing some wonderful tributes to Mark..

Nico de Boinville was excellent on ITV when he reminded us how much Mark and Sara meant to him as they supported him from day one..

So sad that such a lovely man has left us too early.. His memory and achievements will last for ever..

Sadly another trainer has died. Dai Burchell aged 87.. A Welsh wizard and a good trainer.

Clare, Archie and I went to a celebration lunch at The Fish in Broadway yesterday..ruined by watching General Hubble.. Owned by a great syndicate who know how to enjoy themselves.. even if their horse does not!

Driving in this morning a muntjac ran in front of my car and we met.. thankfully it was able to run off probably feeling worse for wear and wishing it had looked left and right before crossing the road.. Archie hit one on Friday and sadly killed it, and as you can imagine it did damage to his car.

Next time you do a Karaoke remember the words..

A footnote......

Well done to Ciaran Gethings for winning the biggest race of his career at Newbury on Saturday.. The Greatwood Chase