Pre-Christmas treats

What more could be better than a couple of dry, relatively mild and partially sunny days? Well, having those, plus a winner plus a new arrival, of course. The winner came courtesy of Take Me There, who won on the Flat at Southwell today. A Flat campaign only came about because of the incessant rain, which his terrible run at Market Rasen a few weeks ago told us was what he didn't need. Flat maiden options weren't numerous, especially as, being by Cape Cross, he wasn't eligible for median auction maidens, so today's race more or less picked itself. Had he been beaten but still run well enough to have another Flat run, we'd have had to wait until 28th January for another suitable race, but thankfully that's not the case, because he won, and won nicely, under Jim Crowley, so ought to be able now to return to Southwell sometime next month for a handicap. I think that that's the best plan because it's hard to believe that we'll get decent ground until the spring, so we'll put hurdles to one side until then.

So Take Me There is the winner, and the new arrival is Cape Roberto. He arrived yesterday from Jamie Poulton's stable. I must admit that Jamie's probably not the ideal man to get a horse from, because he's such a good trainer that improving one of his former inmates would be easier said than done. As one would expect, Cape Roberto has arrived looking absolutely fantastic, so improving him in condition won't be possible, but he's only a young horse and, more importantly, he seems blessed with a lovely disposition, so it's great to have him here - and stranger things have happened than late-developing horses suddenly starting to improve once they turn from three to four. We'll see.

The days preceding Christmas are always very busy and hectic ones, but there has still been time for a few highlights, over and above the winner and the new recruit. We've really enjoyed 'Wallander' on BBC One, and I have to take back my misgivings about the casting of Kenneth Brannagh: he's excellent, and truly the star of a really well-made show. It's visually very splendid, and I'd say the same about John Gosden's string of yearlings, which I had the pleasure of watching yesterday. We'd been putting Take Me There through the stalls - he needed a bit of practice because, in keeping with his laid-back disposition, he was rather too relaxed about coming out of them, which wasn't ideal for a horse about to run on the Fibresand - and, just as we'd finished, around 30 of John Gosden's yearlings appeared out of the wood which separates the Heath from the Bury Road traffic lights, heading towards Bury Hill all-weather. On a beautiful, sunny spring-like day, this made a lovely sight: really nice horses looking very well, well-behaved and well-ridden. It was a glorious spectacle, made all the more special by the awareness that I was probably looking at at least one future Group One winner - if only I knew which one! One for whom I will keep my eyes open is a filly who grabbed my attention by being branded: this filly at the back of the string had to be an Aussie, and when my enquiries elicited the information that she's by Redoute's Choice, she was instantly logged in my brain as one to remember. Could she be the future star?