Let's hope that plenty of good things happen to plenty of people this week, because that would go some small way towards balancing the books: racing has lost two of his most special people this week, with the deaths of Ginger McCain and Michael Jarvis looming large over our horizon. It's been business as usual in Kremlin House Stables and I presume that it will have been business as usual in Bank House Stables, as I believe that the McCain stable is called. The late, much lamented former principals of those yards would not have wanted it any other way, but even so it must have been a very sombre version of usual business.
So what has business as usual entailed here? Well, I had a pleasant trip to Catterick on Saturday with Ethics Girl, who fills me with pride and admiration every time she goes to the races. The outlook had suggested dry ground there for most of the week, but overnight and on race morning a total of about an inch of rain fell, leaving the track considerably wetter than one might once have said was her preferred ground. However, she is so brave that she doesn't really seem to have a preferred surface nowadays - or, rather, she is so brave that she copes admirably with whatever conditions are thrown at her. She did look to find things rather hard work,
but even so she plugged on ever so bravely to finish a very creditable third under top weight of 9 stone 12lb, which is quite a burden for a little mare. Her efforts can't have exhausted her too much, though - and I say that not only because, a bit tired though she appears as she walks back to the unsaddling enclosure, she looks fresher in this photograph than Stevie Donohoe, but also because her usual Sunday display in the field the next day was very much in evidence as we can see here, suggesting that she had taken the race extremely well. Horses as tough as she is really are very, very special animals indeed.
No runners during the week for us, but we still have plenty to keep us occupied, with one landmark being a visit from William Kennedy on Monday. The two main schooling projects at present are the two aspiring hurdlers Douchkirk and Dr Darcey, who each should be going over hurdles in the relatively near future. The Dr (shown in this first picture) might run next week in a juvenile hurdle, while Frankie (Douchkirk, seen below) might also run next week - in another bumper, though, with the aim being that he should run over jumps fairly soon after that. Strangely, William's nephew Jamie was able to come here too on Monday morning when William was here, which was good as he could play a part in the
schooling session as well, which was good news for us and good experience for him. One might wonder how he could do that as he's still at school and one might have thought that a Monday in term-time would count as a school day - but apparently Jamie's school regime is fairly flexible. That's great, with the only drawback being that one might presume that he would be likely to fail his A-levels - only he won't, thanks to the government's excellent initiative (for which we have admittedly to give the previous government the bulk of the credit) which has brought about a situation in which that nobody actually fails an exam nowadays. What a great way of ensuring that we live in a country of geniuses!
So what has business as usual entailed here? Well, I had a pleasant trip to Catterick on Saturday with Ethics Girl, who fills me with pride and admiration every time she goes to the races. The outlook had suggested dry ground there for most of the week, but overnight and on race morning a total of about an inch of rain fell, leaving the track considerably wetter than one might once have said was her preferred ground. However, she is so brave that she doesn't really seem to have a preferred surface nowadays - or, rather, she is so brave that she copes admirably with whatever conditions are thrown at her. She did look to find things rather hard work, 
but even so she plugged on ever so bravely to finish a very creditable third under top weight of 9 stone 12lb, which is quite a burden for a little mare. Her efforts can't have exhausted her too much, though - and I say that not only because, a bit tired though she appears as she walks back to the unsaddling enclosure, she looks fresher in this photograph than Stevie Donohoe, but also because her usual Sunday display in the field the next day was very much in evidence as we can see here, suggesting that she had taken the race extremely well. Horses as tough as she is really are very, very special animals indeed.
No runners during the week for us, but we still have plenty to keep us occupied, with one landmark being a visit from William Kennedy on Monday. The two main schooling projects at present are the two aspiring hurdlers Douchkirk and Dr Darcey, who each should be going over hurdles in the relatively near future. The Dr (shown in this first picture) might run next week in a juvenile hurdle, while Frankie (Douchkirk, seen below) might also run next week - in another bumper, though, with the aim being that he should run over jumps fairly soon after that. Strangely, William's nephew Jamie was able to come here too on Monday morning when William was here, which was good as he could play a part in the
schooling session as well, which was good news for us and good experience for him. One might wonder how he could do that as he's still at school and one might have thought that a Monday in term-time would count as a school day - but apparently Jamie's school regime is fairly flexible. That's great, with the only drawback being that one might presume that he would be likely to fail his A-levels - only he won't, thanks to the government's excellent initiative (for which we have admittedly to give the previous government the bulk of the credit) which has brought about a situation in which that nobody actually fails an exam nowadays. What a great way of ensuring that we live in a country of geniuses!
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