It's been a really lovely week. As outlined in the previous chapter, it began with the tail-end of Hurricane Whatever passing us closely by, but since then we've had some idyllic days. Admittedly the sunshine hasn't been invariably as glaring as it was in these photographs taken when we were trotting up towards Side Hill on Wednesday morning and then when were cantering around the all-weather. But it's been just very, very pleasant, whether the skies have bene cloudless or whether there's been a bit of cover overhead. When I look
back at some of the photographs which I've taken this year, I'm reminded that we have been blessed with some lovely weather; and this week deserves to rank up there with its better weeks. Let's hope that it remains that way, although I'm told that rain could be on the way. Ayr looked very bright (although I'm sure that it wouldn't have been hot) yesterday, but today's meeting there looked murky and wet. The worry is that the rain could be heading down to Catterick, where Ethics Girl is set to run tomorrow. It's currently
good to firm there which would suit her perfectly, but obviously the ground could soften appreciably if the rain does indeed come. But, as she showed at Thirsk last time, now that she's a bit older and stronger, she can now show good form on a wet track too, so let's hope that we get a good run whatever the conditions. She's got 9 stone 12lb, which is quite a weight for a little one, but she's the best horse in the race and so she deserves top weight. One obviously needs a lot of luck in a 14-runner handicap around Catterick, but we've got a good jockey (Stevie Donohoe, seen here earlier this year at the top of Railway Land with Seb Sanders, the two of them waiting to gallop a pair of horses up the Al Bahathri for their boss Sir Mark Prescott) so, fingers crossed we should get a run for our money.
As regards the horses a bit farther away from a run, the two-year-olds are coming along nicely. As they get nearer to a run, it's good to get some practice at galloping on grass into them. Even though the Heath is fairly dry again now, we've used the peat moss gallop between the two dykes on Racecourse Side a couple of times over the past fortnight, which has been great experience for them on ground that is no firmer than a genuine good to firm surface. The fillies by Sir Percy, Cadeaux Genereux and Barathea are pictured here trotting down towards the start of the gallop on Wednesday. I'd like to
think that all three of these fillies will run at least once this season, although we're more than halfway through September already now so it might not be until October that the first of them (whichever that proves to be) makes her debut, because I'd say that they could each do with having another couple of gallops before they have a race. But they are all doing very well, and the Tiger Hill filly has done a fair bit of work this summer too. The horses set to go over jumps this autumn are all coming along satisfactory too, so all in all it's been a very pleasant week, over and above Rhythm Stick's victory on Tuesday. Let's hope that this lovely weather, in which Silken Thoughts is shown having a post-exercise munch on Wednesday, can last a bit longer.
It's been a really lovely week. As outlined in the previous chapter, it began with the tail-end of Hurricane Whatever passing us closely by, but since then we've had some idyllic days. Admittedly the sunshine hasn't been invariably as glaring as it was in these photographs taken when we were trotting up towards Side Hill on Wednesday morning and then when were cantering around the all-weather. But it's been just very, very pleasant, whether the skies have bene cloudless or whether there's been a bit of cover overhead. When I look 
back at some of the photographs which I've taken this year, I'm reminded that we have been blessed with some lovely weather; and this week deserves to rank up there with its better weeks. Let's hope that it remains that way, although I'm told that rain could be on the way. Ayr looked very bright (although I'm sure that it wouldn't have been hot) yesterday, but today's meeting there looked murky and wet. The worry is that the rain could be heading down to Catterick, where Ethics Girl is set to run tomorrow. It's currently
good to firm there which would suit her perfectly, but obviously the ground could soften appreciably if the rain does indeed come. But, as she showed at Thirsk last time, now that she's a bit older and stronger, she can now show good form on a wet track too, so let's hope that we get a good run whatever the conditions. She's got 9 stone 12lb, which is quite a weight for a little one, but she's the best horse in the race and so she deserves top weight. One obviously needs a lot of luck in a 14-runner handicap around Catterick, but we've got a good jockey (Stevie Donohoe, seen here earlier this year at the top of Railway Land with Seb Sanders, the two of them waiting to gallop a pair of horses up the Al Bahathri for their boss Sir Mark Prescott) so, fingers crossed we should get a run for our money.
As regards the horses a bit farther away from a run, the two-year-olds are coming along nicely. As they get nearer to a run, it's good to get some practice at galloping on grass into them. Even though the Heath is fairly dry again now, we've used the peat moss gallop between the two dykes on Racecourse Side a couple of times over the past fortnight, which has been great experience for them on ground that is no firmer than a genuine good to firm surface. The fillies by Sir Percy, Cadeaux Genereux and Barathea are pictured here trotting down towards the start of the gallop on Wednesday. I'd like to
think that all three of these fillies will run at least once this season, although we're more than halfway through September already now so it might not be until October that the first of them (whichever that proves to be) makes her debut, because I'd say that they could each do with having another couple of gallops before they have a race. But they are all doing very well, and the Tiger Hill filly has done a fair bit of work this summer too. The horses set to go over jumps this autumn are all coming along satisfactory too, so all in all it's been a very pleasant week, over and above Rhythm Stick's victory on Tuesday. Let's hope that this lovely weather, in which Silken Thoughts is shown having a post-exercise munch on Wednesday, can last a bit longer.
2 comments:
Lovely pictures as usual John. I am very interested that, at a time when there are lots of painted horses around Newmarket, there is a real live painted horse for sale at the forthcoming yearling sales. He's by an unraced stallion called I Was Framed.In the catalogue he's described as Pt.c . I can remember a few white horses before but never a painted horse.
Yes, I Was Framed is a sort of skewbald and his offspring seem to be the same. I saw one running (very poorly) at Yarmouth last year, trained by William Knight. He is supposedly a thoroughbred, but I assume that he has some American antecedents (stock horses? saddle horses? brumbies?) whose genes have determined his very unusual colour and markings. It is hard to see that his stock will attract much interest at the sale.
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