Mentioned in dispatches

We had another pleasing trip yesterday. Admittedly finishing 11th of 13 isn't pleasing under all (many!) circumstances, but yesterday such a run represented a heartening outcome. The racecard yesterday kindly and sensibly pointed out that Zarosa (pictured coming back in after yesterday's race) had "showed nothing but greenness" on her debut at Newmarket, so it was very pleasing to see a much more polished performance yesterday on her second run. On the day, she wasn't fast enough, but that was no surprise; but the race was as competitive as one would expect to find in maiden company at any Grade One track on the turf, and she showed plenty of grit to run into the kick-back and pass the post just behind the mid-fielders, with well-bred colts from stables such as Cecil and Fanshawe just ahead of her. She really seemed to thrive on the experience, looking very much in her element at every stage of the outing, and she showed that, physically and mentally, she has now got to the stage where we can say that she has had a very worthwhile grounding from her first season in training. She's really been thriving recently and has really learned to relish her work, and I am sure that she is set to develop into a lovely tough, genuine and consistent filly/mare. So that was good; as was the fact that the second division of the same race was won by the Toby Coles-trained Lycidas (pictured with his jockey Stevie Donohoe, being led in by Toby after the race) . That was the second winner in two days for Toby, who is doing really well with his small string. Lycidas, a Zamindar half-brother to the Group One winner Lady Marian, seems to have the potential to become his stable's star - which would no doubt please Lycidas, who has quite a high opinion of himself. We were trotting up through the trees along the edge of Southfields on Racecourse Side a couple of months ago, and trotted past Toby on a brown horse who was standing bolt upright on his hind legs most elegantly. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to swap places with Toby, but fortunately he's an extremely good rider as well as a most diligent horseman, so he was just sitting there, calm as you like. I'd say that Lycidas is in very good hands, so let's hope he can progress from here.

I can't end the report of Saturday night without saying how typically helpful Zarosa's jockey Jimmy Quinn was. He gave her just the positive ride I sought, ensuring that she ran as well as she could and learned as much as possible from the race. He remains one of the weighing rooms most conscientious and respected professionals, and predictably has been continuing through the summer and autumn to do his job well despite the worry of a BHA enquiry hanging over him. I'm sure that there was a reason for charging the jockeys months before the case was going to be heard, just as I'm sure that there's a reason why we're now more than two weeks since the case's hearing was finished, and yet there is still no sign of a verdict. On the face of it, that does not suggest the rule of law being applied well, because it has ensured that the jockeys have already suffered a stiff penalty (in the form of lost patronage) irrespective of whether they are found innocent or guilty. That is not right, and Jimmy for one (a man in whom I remain more than happy to place my trust) has deserved better. It was good to be able to use him on this occasion, just as it was good to see him ride two winners (at 40/1 and 12/1) earlier in the day.

Salutations also from Saturday for local conditional jockey Mark Marris (pictured here on one of Neil King's horses a couple of winters ago) who rode his first winner in the UK (having already ridden one earlier this year in the south island of New Zealand when on a working holiday over there). Mark's an excellent lad who is in a very good stable (that of Sarah Humphrey). I haven't seen the race yet, but I will; but I'm told that he rode very well, so hopefully he will be able to move onwards and upwards from here. Salutations also to Chloe Madgin, who had ridden her first winner earlier in the week. Chloe has worked for James Eustace for years now, and she put that experience to good use when giving stable stalwart Baan an extremely well-judged ride to win an amateurs' race at Lingfield by a head. It would have been a good ride whether or not the horse won - and that he did was the icing on the cake. That was a victory which she really deserved.

Another local boy (sort of) who had a first winner in the week was Tom Symonds. He isn't, of course, a local boy at all, but he worked for James Fanshawe for a while and made a very good impression while he was in town. I was delighted to see him send out his first winner at Hereford on Thursday. I'm sure that that will be the first of many. And finally, another former James Fanshawe-employee who deserves a pat on the back is Colin Bolger. Colin remains one of the most under-rated jumps jockeys, a fact of which we were reminded when we were at Folkestone on Tuesday with Dr Darcey. We were amused to note that an hour after our race there was a steeplechaser running called Master Darcy. We thought that that set up the potential for a nice double. Unfortunately, the Doctor scuppered whatever chance there was of that happening, but Master Darcy landed the second leg, which was remarkable as he was a 16/1 shot in a three-horse race. The AP McCoy-ridden favourite fell early on, and that left the door open for Colin to get young Master Darcy home by a head. If you ever see Colin (pictured earlier this year in Rayes Lane on a horse trained by Mark Tompkins, to school for whom Colin comes up to Newmarket regularly) down to ride a long-priced horse (which is pretty much any horse he rides) you can always be assured that the horse will be ridden as positively and as well as if he were the favourite. And you can't say more than that.