29th November 2021

The chilling air certainly made Monday morning canters a little more refreshing for horse and rider this morning. No empty saddle but a few near misses.

The weekend runners are all in fine shape after their excursions.

Going reports have really cheesed me off this weekend. Newbury on Friday was nothing softer than good ground and on the fast side. Yet we were told differently. Reports have it, Carlisle was covered in snow on Saturday evening with forecast temperatures of -4. I spoke to those at Carlisle on Saturday evening to be told the ground was good to soft but definitely tightening up after a day of high winds. No mention of snow! Carlisle did call off their meeting early on Sunday but not in time to stop me feeding the horses at 4 A.M. The meeting could have and should have been called off on Saturday afternoon. Throughout Friday, Newbury were clearly protecting the big race on Saturday as there was no going change and jockeys had voiced on TV that there was no good to soft ground out there. In hindsight, they need not of been concerned about Saturday as sufficient rain fell Friday night into Saturday producing beautiful ground for Saturdays racing. Given punters seem to be the priority to all those in power, were they not misleading their beloved punters? The trouble is this type of reporting just does nothing to install trust in clerks of courses. Last season, while driving to a track I spoke to the clerk before I left and again an hour into the journey. It had poured down here all night, morning and throughout my journey. I was assured the track in question had had nothing but a few spits of rain. On arrival, the gateman told me it had been pissing down all morning, I walked five meters of the tracks, sent the horse home and drove home myself in disgust without even entering the racecourse enclosures. I just don’t get it; no trainer runs just because the horse is there and they may as well. Clerks are getting pressure from someone to lie and this is simply not acceptable. Racing does not help itself, the reports of more suspected dishonesty in the Sunday papers just adds to irreparable damage that happened across the Irish sea last winter. All participants who are making a living out of this industry need to realize the responsibility we all have regarding how the industry is perceived and some appear to have a need to change their ways.

A quiet week until Thursday.