I'm quite pleased with the title of this chapter because tonight we have another of the excellent Wallander dramatizations on the BBC. (And 'After The Frost' is, of course, the title of a Henning Mankell novel). I was very sceptical in advance of these programmes because I couldn't see the previously (to my mind) rather too jolly and English Hugh Brannagh in the lead role - but I couldn't have been more wrong because he's outstanding, as are the shows. So I'm really looking forward to that.
And, of course, we are after the frost, because the freeze-up has gone (for the time being - or for the winter if we're really lucky). It seemed to be taking an age to go, and then it suddenly went because it rained and rained, and rain is outstanding at making snow vanish, and pretty good at getting rid of frost too. There was still plenty of snow around when I went up to Norfolk on Wednesday to take Ethics Girl and Douchkirk (aka Frankie) on holiday and to bring Anis and Rhythm Stick back here. It was still below freezing and more snow started to fall while I was there, but happily there were no anxious moments on the road. Horses spelling at Kerry and Steve Oldfield's lovely property invariably
come back looking tremendous, always looking well and strong rather than either flabby or insubstantial, and Anis and Rhythm Stick have definitely returned in great order. Roll on the spring! Not that it is around the corner if you judge by the photos which I took there on Wednesday of Ethics Girl (particularly) and Frankie relishing their new holiday-home. There was plenty of snow on the ground, but their field was in such good order and with so much grass that they could frolic in it freely, and as you can see they certainly did that. I'm not sure that Frankie quite merits a holiday, because him being on holiday prompts the question
"A holiday from what?", but Ethics really deserves hers having been in the money on eight of her twelve starts last year. They can stay there until the spring and, fingers crossed, they'll both be set for a productive year (another productive year in Ethics' case, an unprecedentedly productive year in Frankie's) when they do come back into training. Anyway, it was, as always, a pleasure to go up there, and on my return I found another inch of snow had fallen in Newmarket while I'd been away. But Thursday morning dawned dull, grey and damp; steady rain did its usual depressing job of turning an arctic paradise into a quagmire, and two days later we, rather unexpectedly, found ourselves at the races.
It was strange to have runners on Saturday. I felt totally unprepared as the resumption of racing happened so swiftly. As I said, we still had a good covering of snow on Thursday morning, but constant rain - which hardly needed to fall as we seemed to be in, rather than below, the clouds, as this photograph on Long Hill shows - soon put paid to that, as hour by hour more mud became visible. But the departure of the snow, which really took until the end of Friday to happen, still left an awful lot of ice in its stead. We'd been told all week that jumping at Kempton on Saturday would not be possible and would be replaced by flat races for jumpers on the all-weather track there (which would have been an interesting first) but amazingly on Friday it transpired that this would not be the case, so the declaration I'd made (for Douchkette) just because of going through the motions (rather than in any expectation of a run) suddenly was a runner. And Huntingdon's meeting, which had been called off on Friday because the course was still ice-bound, suddenly and unexpectedly seemed to be happening on Saturday too, so Ex Con was a runner there. No racing, and then runners at two different meetings on the same day! I still wasn't entirely convinced that Huntingdon would be ice-free and an inspection was understandably called for Saturday morning -
but when Saturday morning came, so sudden and wet had the thaw been that this inspection turned out to be for water-logging rather than ice. As was the second inspection at 10am (the first one at 8.00 having been inconclusive) so, with my having been worried that the ground would be dangerously firm, Ex Con found himself racing on ground which was just about as heavy as you'd ever see. He'd shown us last season that he can't go a yard under such conditions so consequently ran abysmally, but no harm was done - and with Douchkette running adequately in equally atrocious conditions at Kempton, all in all it was good to be back racing. And at least it stopped raining in time for our arrival at Huntingdon,
as this photograph of Ex Con and Leighton Aspell in the parade ring shows. Even in the parade ring Ex Con looks a bit bemused, but at least he is familiar with quagmires, even if he can't gallop on them. What, though, must poor Ginolad, the Australian steeplechaser, have made of it, having come from a country of almost permanent drought and where 'slow' tracks probably equate to good to firm going on our National Hunt courses? It was nice to see him, even if understandably he was only able to lead the good horse Tazbar on the way to the post (pictured) before struggling in his soggy wake once the race was under way.
And, of course, we are after the frost, because the freeze-up has gone (for the time being - or for the winter if we're really lucky). It seemed to be taking an age to go, and then it suddenly went because it rained and rained, and rain is outstanding at making snow vanish, and pretty good at getting rid of frost too. There was still plenty of snow around when I went up to Norfolk on Wednesday to take Ethics Girl and Douchkirk (aka Frankie) on holiday and to bring Anis and Rhythm Stick back here. It was still below freezing and more snow started to fall while I was there, but happily there were no anxious moments on the road. Horses spelling at Kerry and Steve Oldfield's lovely property invariably 
come back looking tremendous, always looking well and strong rather than either flabby or insubstantial, and Anis and Rhythm Stick have definitely returned in great order. Roll on the spring! Not that it is around the corner if you judge by the photos which I took there on Wednesday of Ethics Girl (particularly) and Frankie relishing their new holiday-home. There was plenty of snow on the ground, but their field was in such good order and with so much grass that they could frolic in it freely, and as you can see they certainly did that. I'm not sure that Frankie quite merits a holiday, because him being on holiday prompts the question
"A holiday from what?", but Ethics really deserves hers having been in the money on eight of her twelve starts last year. They can stay there until the spring and, fingers crossed, they'll both be set for a productive year (another productive year in Ethics' case, an unprecedentedly productive year in Frankie's) when they do come back into training. Anyway, it was, as always, a pleasure to go up there, and on my return I found another inch of snow had fallen in Newmarket while I'd been away. But Thursday morning dawned dull, grey and damp; steady rain did its usual depressing job of turning an arctic paradise into a quagmire, and two days later we, rather unexpectedly, found ourselves at the races.
It was strange to have runners on Saturday. I felt totally unprepared as the resumption of racing happened so swiftly. As I said, we still had a good covering of snow on Thursday morning, but constant rain - which hardly needed to fall as we seemed to be in, rather than below, the clouds, as this photograph on Long Hill shows - soon put paid to that, as hour by hour more mud became visible. But the departure of the snow, which really took until the end of Friday to happen, still left an awful lot of ice in its stead. We'd been told all week that jumping at Kempton on Saturday would not be possible and would be replaced by flat races for jumpers on the all-weather track there (which would have been an interesting first) but amazingly on Friday it transpired that this would not be the case, so the declaration I'd made (for Douchkette) just because of going through the motions (rather than in any expectation of a run) suddenly was a runner. And Huntingdon's meeting, which had been called off on Friday because the course was still ice-bound, suddenly and unexpectedly seemed to be happening on Saturday too, so Ex Con was a runner there. No racing, and then runners at two different meetings on the same day! I still wasn't entirely convinced that Huntingdon would be ice-free and an inspection was understandably called for Saturday morning - 
but when Saturday morning came, so sudden and wet had the thaw been that this inspection turned out to be for water-logging rather than ice. As was the second inspection at 10am (the first one at 8.00 having been inconclusive) so, with my having been worried that the ground would be dangerously firm, Ex Con found himself racing on ground which was just about as heavy as you'd ever see. He'd shown us last season that he can't go a yard under such conditions so consequently ran abysmally, but no harm was done - and with Douchkette running adequately in equally atrocious conditions at Kempton, all in all it was good to be back racing. And at least it stopped raining in time for our arrival at Huntingdon, 
as this photograph of Ex Con and Leighton Aspell in the parade ring shows. Even in the parade ring Ex Con looks a bit bemused, but at least he is familiar with quagmires, even if he can't gallop on them. What, though, must poor Ginolad, the Australian steeplechaser, have made of it, having come from a country of almost permanent drought and where 'slow' tracks probably equate to good to firm going on our National Hunt courses? It was nice to see him, even if understandably he was only able to lead the good horse Tazbar on the way to the post (pictured) before struggling in his soggy wake once the race was under way.
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