1st May 2012

Now that our first season at Folly House has drawn to a close, we go into the ‘summer’ safe in the knowledge that we have had a fantastic season - the horses have kept their form, and we have finished 45th in the trainers championship with a healthy 16% strike rate, and 55% of our horses finishing placed. We had 19 winners amassing over £127,000 in prize money, with 10 horses winning from 29 different horses. A lot of credit must go to our fantastic team of staff, which have worked tirelessly throughout the season. We have had a far better quality of horse this season, and combined with the incredible Lambourn facilities, we have bettered our previous best season.  We are now beginning to rough off a lot of our 'winter' horses but will have about 6 or 7 horses for the summer months.

We ended the 2011-2012 season at Sandown where Knighton Combe ran in the Bet365 Gold Cup (aka the Whitbread) and finished a very creditable 7th. He was outclassed but stayed on well, and certainly didn't disappoint. We will now try to win back to back runnings of the Summer National, but may struggle off a 10lbs higher mark and now at the age of 12. We also took Miss Milborne up to Perth last week for the class 2 'Future Champions Novice Hurdle', where she fisnished 4th. I thought she ran right up to her mark, and possibly a bit better as well. Considering it was a class 2 Novice event, I think it was a race worthy of Cheltenham! I was hoping going 3 miles on soft ground on a right handed track would bring about 4-5lbs improvement, and it probably brought about 2-3lbs improvement. If we had improved 5lbs, we would have been 2nd, and if we hadn’t lost a front shoe, then I think we could have been 3rd, so it was another very solid run from our mare. She has been a star this season, and I can’t wait to go novice chasing with her next season.

We look to have an even stronger team of horses for next season (started on Sunday!) and I cannot wait. I think Marodima may be our first runner of the season at Hereford on Thursday, and fingers crossed we can start off on a winning note.