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12th February 2024
Plus 2 and dry when driving in. A sunny day ahead and a welcome change after the last few days...
Saturday at Newbury was enjoyable.. My happy team of owners knew that they were probably making up the numbers, but also knew that carrying top weight in a handicap on soft ground is not something he is ready for.. all Does He Know’s best form is on faster ground and a year ago he was third in the same race as Saturday and that was on fast ground.. what a difference a year makes?
Taking on Gold Cup horses showed to us the huge difference in speed.. DHK is not slow, but he was flat out for the whole race! David said after that he had never been so fast on soft ground..Hopefully the handicapper will now drop him a few pounds and then we can look for a long distance race in the spring..
Newbury looked after us all really well. The Yes He Does Syndicate members had a great days racing.. The crowd was not as big as it used to be on what is recognised as one of their big days and thankfully we managed to get in and out with any queuing. It was great days racing to be there for..
Yesterday really was touch and go weather wise.
16mm of rain overnight at Exeter must have been a struggle for the ground staff to get racing on and that they did. They were rewarded with good racing and a decent crowd and on top of that over three thousand students..
The students were carolled on the far side of the track..A huge tent and throbbing music.. Not sure I would have wanted to have been the bus driver taking them back to Exeter!
Anyway back to the racing...
Trelawne finished 3rd .. Disappointing no..Frustrating yes..
It was tactical race as we did not want to be in front after what happened at Wetherby and strangely enough the other two jockeys knew that, so they went so slowly into the first that it was touch and go that they had enough speed, on the bottomless ground, to take off and clear the fence..
The race was run at a crawl and then they sprinted up the home straight which really did not suit Trelawne.. Having said that he jumped well and behaved!. Beaten a total of 2 lengths..He looked fabulous in the paddock and Erika rightly deserved her best turn out prize.. again..
Two For Gold was frustrating to watch as he never really jumped as well as he could.. These old boys rattled round and as a result over half of the field pulled up including TFG..
No owner support for TFG, but a full house of The Real Partnership for Trelawne who loved their day out at their local track.
Tom Lacey was not surprised that he had a 200/1 winner.. Really Tom?.. You could not keep the smile off Tom’s face.. he arrived with one too.. most unlike him!?
This email came in last night from Lee Williams..
'I know it is fun to gently wind David Bass up on subjects such as politics, or environment, but I have total respect and admiration for his speaking out on such issues, and long may he continue to do so - as someone who is a trained advocate, and has a fair bit of stage experience, I find David a very decent advocate, in both oral and written forms.
And Exeter this Sunday has confirmed and highlighted that David really is a good 'un, with his heroic aiding a fellow horse and rider not only being of vital importance to them in a moment of danger, but also helping to lift jump racing's spirits so much higher - after the tragedy of last weekend the sport needed that.
It was so good Richie McClernon and Corkwell Legend were both up and on their feet after their fall. So well done David..'
Six Nations.... Ireland beat Italy......England beat Wales....France Beat Scotland..
The men's marathon world record holder, Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died in a road accident
The Kansas City Chiefs fought back to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime and win their third Super Bowl in five years.
No runners today for us although my horsebox is heading to Ayr later where we have a runner tomorrow.
Mat was at the airport yesterday and as he was waiting to collect his bag a lady passed out and fell on to the luggage carousel
Thankfully she came round quite quickly.