The Honest Toun

"... So, apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?". Well the funny thing was that this time I really did enjoy the rest of the play. Watching Marvin Gardens' race at Musselburgh, of course, was far from fun, because it turned out to be an awful long way to have gone to discover that trying him over a mile and a half wasn't a good idea, but otherwise how can one not enjoy an afternoon at Musselburgh? It had been too long since my last visit there. I know Kelso prides itself on being "Britain's friendliest course", and I certainly wouldn't contradict that, but Musselburgh really does give it a run for its money. The fact that they are both in Scotland, of course, is no coincidence. It was just so good to be back. Everyone is so friendly. I saddled George Margarson's horse for him, and it went without saying that, when he saw me doing so on my own (which was very easy, as the filly, who ran well to be second, is a really sweet and gentle horse), Jim Goldie came straight over to lend a hand. It is just so different from being in England, because the Scottish racing community is such a good one. Everyone one sees, whatever their role, makes you feel as if you are at home: Bill Farnsworth, Fran Marshall, Sheilagh Dodds, Jim Beaumont, Keith Mason, Dick Allan, Peter Monteith, George Foster, Tommy Cuthbert, anyone else employed by the racecourse in any role, 1,001 racegoers etc., etc., etc.

The good thing about Marvin's disappointing run - and this really is accentuating the positive - was that there were no 'ifs' or 'buts'. David Allan rode him faultlessly, but he just didn't get the distance. In retrospect, Yarmouth four days previously over two furlongs shorter - which had been the initial plan - would have been a far wiser choice, but that for a variety of reasons had been eschewed. So we went to Musselburgh, learned that he didn't stay, and reminded ourselves that, if you're going to watch a horse run badly, there are few more pleasant places to do so. I'll have to make sure that it isn't three or four years, or whatever it had been, until my next visit.

Tomorrow shall see Sandown on our agenda; and if it's Sandown, it must be Brief Goodbye. Brief loves the place, it's not the strongest race and I and Gemma both think he's in great form, so we must hope for the best (again). In any amateur race anything can happen, and particularly in an international invitational one, but if our hoop takes to Sandown, and if Brief takes to our hoop, then we can expect a bold showing.

Looking farther ahead, Fairyhouse looms on the horizon next week. At the moment it looks as if Emma and I will go there for the second and third days. The average on the first day is signficantly higher, so we'll have more to chose from later in the week. I don't know if trying to minimize one's expenditure makes one a frivolous buyer, because I read in today's Racing Post that Henry Beeby is pleased that "we were missing no serious buyer of yearlings" at Doncaster. I'd like to think that I take the buying of yearlings very seriously indeed - in fact, I'd be surprised if people who buy ten times the amount of yearlings that I do spend as much time studying the catalogues as I, nor inspect the yearlings of whose pedigrees they approve as closely as I - so perhaps Henry was just misunderstanding the word 'serious'. But, make no mistake, yearling selection time is as serious as there is. There is no point in my attending a sale where the average is 35,992 gns and where very few horses fetch four-figure sums, but Fairyhouse is a place I'm very happy to visit. In fact, the only winners we have had this year - Jill Dawson, Lady Suffragette and Imperial Decree - are all Fairyhouse graduates, at an average of around £7,500, and they are actually the only yearlings I have bought there over the past three years. So we'll head over there next week and try to unearth another future winner. Off the top of my head, other winners I have trained who have come from that sale include Diamond Joshua, Seaside, Rocco Tower, Diamond Maxine (and Diamond Max, whom I trained for a brief period at the end of his distinguished career also came from there after I suggested to Steve Goodwin that he might fetch very little money but could still become a nice horse) and none of those were very dear - so you can understand why I like the sale.

On the subject of our former inmates, one of the most loved could be in action again soon after a long absence from the track. Micky Hammond was at Musselburgh, and I was delighted to hear from him that dear old Big Bertha, whom he bought a couple of years ago, is ready to run and is entered at Sedgefield next week. I do so hope she can win for him. She hasn't run for ages, and I was worrying that she might have gone permanently amiss, but apparently he just never ran her last winter because the ground was so wet all the time. I was very touched when Micky bought her solely on my recommendation, so I would feel bad if it turned out that I had done him a disservice. Let's hope that that proves not to be the case, and I'll certainly be cheering for her wherever she runs.

I must just share one little gem with you. Fortunately the cassette player in the horse box I drove to Musselburgh worked so, although obviously the radio provided good entertainment for much of the time, we were able to enjoy an alternative during the times one wants something else. Avoiding the Jeremy Vine show is, of course, wise at the best of times, but today, the tenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death, was an occasion to give it an even wider berth than usual. But it was inevitable that we did catch odd snatches so, if ever you are trying to explain to someone just how bad radio in this country can really be, see if you can unearth a recording of the bit when he was imploring members of the public to phone in if they were getting involved in the day's services of remembrance so that they could explain to the audience why they "need closure". At that point, a cassette was re-inserted so that Martha and I (and Petit Julien Numero Deux, our passenger and my room-mate) could resume the process of deciding which songs Midlife Crisis should think of adding to their repertoire. So, according to our findings, Jim, you should be practising a few Beach Boys numbers (in Martha's view) - but I'd love to hear you sing 'Working Class Man'.