Heroes and villains

With British Gas having having secured for themselves Villain of the Month, Doug Misson and his staff have earned the Hero of the Month award for putting right British Gas' damage in a manner which was as competent as it was courteous. It was great on Monday to have our heating back in action, particularly as the weather isn't great. Although, as anyone familiar with this stable will know, the horses usually go out in the afternoons whatever the weather, we've just had three afternoons within a week when they stayed in because the rain was just so incessant and so cold. It's dry now, and set to stay that way it appears, but that's because we have a cold front coming in from Russia with severe frosts in tow, so Doug Misson's men are rightly at the top of the list of our heroes.

Close up there, I have belatedly to point out, is BHA employee Will Lambe, who kindly forwarded us the photo finish of Kadouchski running third at Leicester. We received this while we were away, hence my not mentioning it at the time, but it is better that I record this satisfactory ending to the debate late rather than never. We'll just have to put the former confusion down to an optical illusion.

Challenging British Gas for the booby prize have, I am afraid, to be Jockey Club Estates. We were among the members of the Save Historic Newmarket Action Group who attended an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Town Council in the Memorial Hall last night, and I feel we did a good job in getting the point across (as you will be able to read in tomorrow's Racing Post, I believe) that it really is very, very important not merely for the aesthetics of the town, but also for the future of the town as a racing centre that Newmarket does not become significantly more congested than it already is. Our succession of questions and observations from the floor must have got this viewpoint across, and the minutes ought to record that the councillors acknowledge the importance of this. However, sadly a large amount of wind was taken from our sails at one point when the head of planning of Forest Heath District Council was able to point out that there is a lot of pressure towards expansion within and around the town with several large planning applications pending "including four from the racing industry". Sadly, it appears that Jockey Club Estates and "the racing industry" are nowadays separate entities, but of course that is not how the outside world sees it, so racing's case in the eyes of FHDC and the town council has to suffer because of JCE's regrettable decision to abdicate from its former role as guardian of the interests of the training community in Newmarket.

Fingers crossed we'll finally be able to watch Ex Con take part in a race on Sunday. I think if this race was scheduled to be run the following day we might be set for our seventh abandonment, but I hope that the incoming blast of air from the Russian steppes won't quite have reached us by Sunday, although it could be touch and go. There are only eight runners in his race, so that should give him every chance of a prominent showing.