12 February 2016

Quiet canters again for most horses this morning. I believe they are all fit and am not one for over galloping them, tomorrow is a work day. Chase End Charlie has come out of his run in good order, not a nut in his feed bowl this morning which is always a good sign.  

Katie Kilminster has gone back to Overbury Stud for a rest. She will be given the summer and will be back for next season. We were unable to pin point her lameness and it remains a mystery. On Monday it looked as if it was high up in her shoulder, on Thursday, after 3 days box rest we thought she was slightly wrong on her off hind - but arguably. Whatever it is, it is nothing time won’t cure and she will benefit from it. We dropped her off and bought a Schiaparelli 2-year-old back for breaking-in.

Tim Kent from Goffs /DBS was here to see the store horses I will be sending to their May sale. Doncaster Bloodstock will soon be a thing of the past as I believe they will trade under the Goffs name going forward. When I first started to frequent the sales circuit, their site was in the most unexpected surround and not particularly pleasant. They now have a state of the art sales complex parallel to home straight on the racetrack and always do a good job.

I had hoped to gallop some horses around Barbury Castle after racing on Sunday but the landowner won’t allow it. I’m not sure what we, as a point to point community can do to gain access to more tracks after racing. I appreciate it is the land owner’s choice and that has to be respected. There is no substitute for a school round on a track and the chance to do so would be greatly received by many. I don’t think anyone would resent a £50 / fee. The ground has to be put back and a few more horses isn’t going to do any more damage than the racing has done already.

Our dentist was here again today and has been through the whole yard over the last week or two. Typical, he’ll be needed again to deal with the new arrival.