13th July 2016

A busy morning riding out before heading off to hospital to have my wisdom tooth out.  I had failed to realise that part of the procedure is to have a consultation with the surgeon before anything is removed. I now have to return in a couple of weeks to have the job done.

I know it is lovely to have horses in the paddocks but I’ve never forgotten a statistic we were told on the trainers course in Newmarket. A horse is over 30% more likely to get injured in the field than anywhere else. This was proved correct yesterday when a 3-year-old got kicked and the tendon sheath just behind his knee has been nicked, the knee has blown like football and he’s very sore. If antibiotics don’t sort it out he will need key hole surgery to flush it.

One would hope the industry has an ally in the new Prime Minister as she has been part of a racing syndicate previously.

Gabriel Oats has an entry at Uttoxeter next week, the likelihood is he will wait for a novice handicap hurdle at Stratford on 28^th July.

My car is still in the garage and is not too well at all. The surgery on it hasn’t gone as smoothly as they had hoped and some part has now got to go off for special treatment before the engine can be put back together. They have upgraded my courtesy car from the electric blue Polo to a silver Golf. I took the opportunity to go into my favourite shop Bookers and stock up on some of the essentials for both me and the horses.