Sunday, September 03, 2006

Fingers crossed

We have three exciting runners to look forward to. It's been a tough one making the call two days in advance of the various meetings, because My Obsession (Lingfield today, ie Sunday) and Jolizero (Newcastle tomorrow) both want it wet, while Jack Dawson (Warwick tomorrow) wants it reasonably dry. Having watched the weather around the country yesterday, in particular seeing it surprisingly dry here, looking fine at Stratford and torrential rain leading to abandonment after three races at Thirsk, I think I should have got it right for Jack and Joli (that's Dollyzero, in case you're confused, Dickie and here's a picture of him looking very woolly last winter, just as you'll remember him), but fear it may be drier than ideal for My Obsession today. Still, it should be good, safe ground so there's no reason not to run. I do think, though, that the current spate of non-runners is going to continue today and tomorrow.

I nodded off in front of the television yesterday but am very pleased that Emma roused me before the Haydock Sprint Cup, because, although I'm not particularly interested in sprints, that was a race to savour. Reverence, ridden a treat by Darley, was again a wonderful encouragement towards persistence, and dear old Quito ran superbly in second. It's too easy to set a deadline of the end of a horse's three-year-old career for him to have shown some form, but Reverence is proof that, just occasionally, a horse can be an unraced four-year-old (for part of the year anyway) and a Group One-winning five-year-old. So we add him, his owner/breeders Mr and Mrs Middlebrook, his trainer Eric Alston and Kevin Darley to our list of heroes - but they were on it anyway really, only having written about the team on a thoroughbredinternet grey panel I hadn't thought to praise them here. But praise they deserve. Darley will be even higher on the list if he can salute the judge on board Jolizero tomorrow.

Hats off too to our friends John and Terre McNamara of Golden Vale Stud, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, for breeding a double on Wednesday, courtesy of Diamond Dan at Wolverhampton and Monashee Brave at Beverley. The latter won a five-furlong maiden by seven lengths, which takes some doing, so that was a great day for them. With a small band of inexpensive mares going to inexpensive stallions, that was a great day's work.

Time now to head out to ride Jack and Joli. I'll just give each a light exercise so that won't be too taxing an assignment. They both seem in great form, as does My Obsession, so let's hope for three good runs. Three runners, particularly three nice horses who ought to run well, makes for a nerve-wracking couple of days and I will be glad to get to Tuesday. Tomorrow will be a very early start to go to Newcastle, and then Tuesday too will be early for a two-day trip to Fairyhouse Sale in Ireland. Star attraction of the first day there (in our eyes anyway - I hope in nobody else's) will be Jill Dawson's full-sister - half-sister to Jack, obviously - so there's plenty for me to worry about.

In the interim, if anyone fancies some light reading, Emma has started her own blog. It promises to be jam-packed with items of interest to the fairer sex, with recipes, knitting patterns and shopping tips. I think she's even planning to start a section in which bloggerettes compare the relative merits of netball stars, so log on for a ripping read. You'll have seen that she's worked out how to illustrate the blogs, so I suspect a photo of Take That or Wham! might be up on her site before too long. That would, of course, be better than James' suggestion of shots of him and Gerry having a mighty time on a, presumably, otherwise deserted naturist beach in Crete. Knowing James' parsimonious nature, I bet the couple of drachmas/drachmae which James must have spent on a half-hour of web time in a Cretan internet cafe to tell us how much he's missing Gerry will be the only money the family will have been allowed to spend all holiday.

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