14th August 2011

We've only had 2 runners this week - Horseshoe Reef hit the crossbar yet again as he finished 2nd at Newton Abbot on Tuesday.  He hit the front with a circuit to go, and looked as though he was holding the eventual winner, when he dropped his hind legs in the water (3 from home).  The mistake brought him to a standstill,  and Sam did well to stay on board.  Reef fought back and was only beaten 4 lengths - he's now been unlucky in his last 3 runs, and deserves a change of fortune....!  Unfortunately, Optimistic Duke didn't help our recent stats when he fell at Stratford on Thursday.  He's come out of the race well, but he'll probably head to the sales in October.

We won't have many runners over the next few weeks as most of the summer horses will have a break, and the winter horses have only just begun cantering away.  However, its a busy time of year as we start to school a few, and begin working some of the earlier types.  Its an exciting time of year as we look to have a strong team of horses for the winter months.   Since our move to Folly House we have really tried to concentrate on increasing the quality of the horses we are training, and not necessarily increasing the quantity - it is certainly helping our strike rate and prize money.