Seeking Harry Lime

It has been suggested to me by several people that I was unnecessarily and ungratefully dismissive of Gemma's cocktails in the last chapter of this blog. That's probably fair criticism, so I'll now put the record straight: people who like cocktails will probably find that Gemma's cocktails are exactly the sort of thing they like.

And on the subjects of recommendations and Gemma, this brings us nicely on to the Tuddenham Mill Hotel. Gemma and her partner Simon Waterhouse recently spent a night there, and their reports suggest that it's a really nice place. Their praise has prompted an inspection of the hotel's website, which contains the startling admission that the "indulgent" stone baths in the bedrooms are "big enough for three"! This, of course, is great news for couples planning to bring a friend, but otherwise it places visitors in an awkward dilemma because, while many people might prefer to bathe with no more than one companion at a time, one never likes to under-use the facilities at one's disposal. Poor Gemma and Simon, I believe, didn't know in advance that three isn't a crowd in these baths, but now that we are armed with this information it's probably correct that we should start the search early for a third man for the next time that Gemma and Simon - or indeed any other couple of our acquaintance - should visit the hotel. So I've been wracking my brains about who would be happy to be the third man. James Dowsett springs immediately to mind, but if anyone has any ideas of how to fill these baths, please share them with us.

If I'm allowed to move straight from the silly to the serious, I must mention the sadness I felt on Thursday when I read in the Newmarket Journal that Bill Brindle had died two days previously. Bill was a lovely man, the type of man who gives racing a good name. Bill, who was 71 when he died and who had been bravely battling cancer for several years, will be best remembered for looking after Chief Singer, one of the best horses to grace the turf in the vintage year of 1984, and certainly the best one trained in Newmarket that year. I didn't come to Newmarket until 1987, so my memories of Bill's working life are not of him working in Park Lodge for Ron Sheather, but in Sefton Lodge while it was owned by Charles St. George, under the direction firstly of Henry Cecil and then of David Loder. In recent years Bill was a regular visitor to this stable as he used to bring his collie dogs here to wash them with the hose-pipe, and seeing him was always a pleasure and an inspiration. He was unwell and living in the shadow of death for the last few years of his life, but he was the embodiment of the philosophy of 'Dum spiro spero', never ceasing to enjoy life and openly counting each day as a bonus.

As inspirational as Bill's courage in the face of adversity was, it sounds as if the young jump jockey Wayne Burton is similarly brave. I am sure that everyone who read the latest update on Wayne's situation - he has yet to regain movement in his legs following his awful fall several months ago - will be wishing him well as he faces his future with what sounds like true courage. I've never had the pleasure of meeting Wayne, but I know from reading the article that he is, as Bill was, is one of racing's great men.

And while we are on the subject of people with the courage to tackle adversity, it was a real pleasure to bump into Paula Roberts in Horse Requisites a week or two ago. When Rob Roy, whom she looks after, ran in the Lockinge Stakes last month, there was a story about how Paula has been battling cancer and has recently received a clean bill of health. I didn't know about Paula's illness until I passed her in the street a few months ago - I didn't see her to speak to as I was on a horse and she was driving by - when she looked very unwell, and it seemed likely that she was undergoing cancer treatment. Anyway, it's great news that she appears to have won the battle, and she looked really well when I saw her last week. She has looked after some really good horses for Michael Stoute - Pilsudski and Fantastic Light being the two to spring immediately to mind - and looked after them really well, so the perfect post-script to this tale would be if she could lead Rob Roy into the winner's enclosure after a really big race at some point this year.

No review of the past week could be complete without the names Dave Morris, Pat Rohan and Joe Janiak. Dave turned 60 on Friday, not that you'd know it because he's in great shape - and not that you'd have been able to predict that at various times over the past couple of decades, because he too has had some hard battles against illness. But he's still with us, 60 years young, and still a real pleasure to have as a neighbour. He received a surprise visit the day before his birthday when his old boss Pat Rohan called into the stable, down on holiday for a few days catching up with some of his former employees such as Dave, Michael Stoute and Chris Dwyer. By all accounts he remains one of racing's great characters - and I enjoyed my first encounter of the year with another of the sport's great brahmameisters yesterday morning when I bumped into Joe Janiak coming out the paper shop. Joe's back in town with the legend that is Takeover Target, whose recent record-breaking win in Singapore suggests he's again going to be the horse to beat at Royal Ascot. I very much enjoyed Joe's reaction to my answer about how we'd been going ("OK, really - in a quiet way"), as he gave a nod of approval and said, "Hanging in there". He knows more than most about hanging in there, being the inspiration to all battling trainers that the arrival of one good horse is all that is needed to turn one from 'hanging in there' to thriving - and as he has shown, that one good horse can turn up from the unlikeliest source. He's a man who really deserves his success, so let's hope that he and his lovely horse can enjoy some more this summer.