Our two trips to the races during the week yielded differing outcomes. Alcalde, disappointingly, ran very poorly at Uttoxeter, but Kadou put in his usual fine effort to finish third at Market Rasen. Alcalde seemed fine before the race (as I think that this photograph suggests) and fine after it, but during it he only seemed fine for the first half. Still, we are accustomed to disappointment, and there are plenty of worse things than a disappointing run from which horse and rider come home undamaged. He remains a lovely horse, so we just plug on towards
his next race undaunted. Kadou's effort was typically sterling. It was a 0-130 (novice) handicap steeplechase, and that ratings band theoretically equates to 0-95 on the Flat, so finishing third, even off a light weight, is a very respectable effort. William rode Kadou (pictured in the parade ring) very patiently and he came there with every chance between the last two fences, but sadly the effort which he puts in at his fences inevitably took its toll: after the last fence he could do no more and third was the best he could manage. But that's grand. He'll probably eventually learn to fly his
fences in the same way that he flies hurdles, but he is only small and being slightly too ponderous at them is not a bad fault to have, as he is only small and it would rash for a horse of his size to treat them as if they were not significant obstacles. Anyway, it was another terrific effort and, as usual, I came away from the race really proud of him - and Gus enjoyed the day too, as you can see. Kadou's a proper trouper who tries his hardest every time and that's as much as one can ask. He has now run 16 times (including his Town Plate victory) during 2011 and finished in the first three on 13 of those runs, and that tells us all we need to know about his honesty. What a horse.
Other than that, it's been a fairly unremarkable week. We're descending into winter, of course, but the descent remains a gentle one. Yesterday morning was cold, but the frost came with the consolation of some splendid sunshine. By second lot, the sun was up, the slight frost had dispersed from the ground, and conditions were truly splendid. You can get an idea of how magnificent was our setting from these photographs of Hugh and Hannah, firstly riding Oscar and Alcalde along the side of the Heath and then a bit later letting those same two
horses pick a bit of the small amount of grass which remains in the yard. And conditions which are good for man and horse are good for dog and cat too, as we can see with the greyhounds mooching around and with Natagora sunning herself on the window-sill. We didn't have nearly such splendid conditions this morning, but then again it was much milder so again we had no cause for complaints. And today was a relatively easy, as well as mild, Saturday morning, with all the work finished in good time for the
start of a great afternoon of televised racing. I'd have to say that the Grand Sefton Chase over the National fences provided a bit of food for thought. The heavy ground made for very gruelling racing, and one had to marvel at the courage shown by Stewarts House and Linnel, who each gave their all in a real slow-motion slog to the line, the former getting home by a neck. It transpired that Paul Carberry on the runner-up had kept within his whip quota while
Aidan Coleman on the winner had exceeded the limit, for which he received a 7-day suspension. Under the circumstances, I think that I would have been very, very disgruntled had Linnel been my horse; and, while I am aware that the arguments in favour of not disqualifying horses whose riders breach the rules are strong, I think that I would have found their validity very hard to accept had that been the case. I just hope that we don't get a repeat of this in a really big race - and I'd be disappointed if we do, because the jockeys really should see that, on the high-profile occasions, by breaking the whip rules they really are opening up massive cans of worms which, for the general good, really would be better remaining closed.
I can't let this week end without wishing Josh Quinn a happy 16th birthday. I rode past Jane Chapple-Hyam's during first lot on, I think, Wednesday morning and on saluting Josh (who was riding out before school) I learned that it was his 16th birthday. He's an excellent lad who rides really well. As he's already taller than his father Jimmy (which is understandable as his mother is considerably the taller of his two parents, and boys almost invariably end up taller than their mothers, irrespective of the height of their fathers) Josh (pictured on one of Jane's horses during the summer) is probably going to struggle to make a career as a Flat jockey, but
I am sure that he would excel under National Hunt rules were he to head in that direction. In the last chapter, I might have seemed a bit down on the yoof of today, but that's far from the case - so I might as well prove that by saying nice things about a few of them here. And when there are youngsters around like Josh, it's easy to find nice things to say about them. Ditto our Hannah, who gave the Peter Salmon-trained Hydrant a very nice ride to finish third at Wolverhampton yesterday, her second ride of the week, which was good. The winner (the Tommy Keddy-trained Archie Rice, pictured up at th
e Links on a particularly fine winter morning last February preparing for a hurdles schooling session) of that race yesterday was given a remarkably polished ride by another of our best local apprentices, Michael Murphy, son of the former Middleham-based jumps jockey Mick and someone who has appeared in this blog previously. And, on the subject of good young riders, I can't close without mentioning the town's next pop star (perhaps). You might have read in the paper that Jamie Hamblett seems to be in the process of being head-hunted to join a 'boy band'. Jamie was a good apprentice (as was his elder brother
Ashley) although he hasn't had a ride for a year or two now. (And their father Paul was also a jockey, best remembered for finishing third in the 1989 1,000 Guineas on Aldbourne). Jamie was apprenticed to Michael Stoute but now works for John Gosden (in whose string he is pictured here in May, although you might need a magnifying glass to spot him in third place). But, it seems, his future might lie in a different sphere if this pop thing comes off. Nobody could begrudge him any success which he might achieve, because he's a really nice lad, so if he follows in the footsteps of George Formby and the Monkees' Davy Jones (both racing lads, I believe) on the road to fame and fortune in show business, good on 'im. And, finally, happy 70th birthday to Brian Proctor (seen cantering a Godolphin horse up the first sand earlier this year) - a master horseman and a true gentleman.
Our two trips to the races during the week yielded differing outcomes. Alcalde, disappointingly, ran very poorly at Uttoxeter, but Kadou put in his usual fine effort to finish third at Market Rasen. Alcalde seemed fine before the race (as I think that this photograph suggests) and fine after it, but during it he only seemed fine for the first half. Still, we are accustomed to disappointment, and there are plenty of worse things than a disappointing run from which horse and rider come home undamaged. He remains a lovely horse, so we just plug on towards
his next race undaunted. Kadou's effort was typically sterling. It was a 0-130 (novice) handicap steeplechase, and that ratings band theoretically equates to 0-95 on the Flat, so finishing third, even off a light weight, is a very respectable effort. William rode Kadou (pictured in the parade ring) very patiently and he came there with every chance between the last two fences, but sadly the effort which he puts in at his fences inevitably took its toll: after the last fence he could do no more and third was the best he could manage. But that's grand. He'll probably eventually learn to fly his 
fences in the same way that he flies hurdles, but he is only small and being slightly too ponderous at them is not a bad fault to have, as he is only small and it would rash for a horse of his size to treat them as if they were not significant obstacles. Anyway, it was another terrific effort and, as usual, I came away from the race really proud of him - and Gus enjoyed the day too, as you can see. Kadou's a proper trouper who tries his hardest every time and that's as much as one can ask. He has now run 16 times (including his Town Plate victory) during 2011 and finished in the first three on 13 of those runs, and that tells us all we need to know about his honesty. What a horse.
Other than that, it's been a fairly unremarkable week. We're descending into winter, of course, but the descent remains a gentle one. Yesterday morning was cold, but the frost came with the consolation of some splendid sunshine. By second lot, the sun was up, the slight frost had dispersed from the ground, and conditions were truly splendid. You can get an idea of how magnificent was our setting from these photographs of Hugh and Hannah, firstly riding Oscar and Alcalde along the side of the Heath and then a bit later letting those same two 
horses pick a bit of the small amount of grass which remains in the yard. And conditions which are good for man and horse are good for dog and cat too, as we can see with the greyhounds mooching around and with Natagora sunning herself on the window-sill. We didn't have nearly such splendid conditions this morning, but then again it was much milder so again we had no cause for complaints. And today was a relatively easy, as well as mild, Saturday morning, with all the work finished in good time for the
start of a great afternoon of televised racing. I'd have to say that the Grand Sefton Chase over the National fences provided a bit of food for thought. The heavy ground made for very gruelling racing, and one had to marvel at the courage shown by Stewarts House and Linnel, who each gave their all in a real slow-motion slog to the line, the former getting home by a neck. It transpired that Paul Carberry on the runner-up had kept within his whip quota while 
Aidan Coleman on the winner had exceeded the limit, for which he received a 7-day suspension. Under the circumstances, I think that I would have been very, very disgruntled had Linnel been my horse; and, while I am aware that the arguments in favour of not disqualifying horses whose riders breach the rules are strong, I think that I would have found their validity very hard to accept had that been the case. I just hope that we don't get a repeat of this in a really big race - and I'd be disappointed if we do, because the jockeys really should see that, on the high-profile occasions, by breaking the whip rules they really are opening up massive cans of worms which, for the general good, really would be better remaining closed.
I can't let this week end without wishing Josh Quinn a happy 16th birthday. I rode past Jane Chapple-Hyam's during first lot on, I think, Wednesday morning and on saluting Josh (who was riding out before school) I learned that it was his 16th birthday. He's an excellent lad who rides really well. As he's already taller than his father Jimmy (which is understandable as his mother is considerably the taller of his two parents, and boys almost invariably end up taller than their mothers, irrespective of the height of their fathers) Josh (pictured on one of Jane's horses during the summer) is probably going to struggle to make a career as a Flat jockey, but
I am sure that he would excel under National Hunt rules were he to head in that direction. In the last chapter, I might have seemed a bit down on the yoof of today, but that's far from the case - so I might as well prove that by saying nice things about a few of them here. And when there are youngsters around like Josh, it's easy to find nice things to say about them. Ditto our Hannah, who gave the Peter Salmon-trained Hydrant a very nice ride to finish third at Wolverhampton yesterday, her second ride of the week, which was good. The winner (the Tommy Keddy-trained Archie Rice, pictured up at th
e Links on a particularly fine winter morning last February preparing for a hurdles schooling session) of that race yesterday was given a remarkably polished ride by another of our best local apprentices, Michael Murphy, son of the former Middleham-based jumps jockey Mick and someone who has appeared in this blog previously. And, on the subject of good young riders, I can't close without mentioning the town's next pop star (perhaps). You might have read in the paper that Jamie Hamblett seems to be in the process of being head-hunted to join a 'boy band'. Jamie was a good apprentice (as was his elder brother 
Ashley) although he hasn't had a ride for a year or two now. (And their father Paul was also a jockey, best remembered for finishing third in the 1989 1,000 Guineas on Aldbourne). Jamie was apprenticed to Michael Stoute but now works for John Gosden (in whose string he is pictured here in May, although you might need a magnifying glass to spot him in third place). But, it seems, his future might lie in a different sphere if this pop thing comes off. Nobody could begrudge him any success which he might achieve, because he's a really nice lad, so if he follows in the footsteps of George Formby and the Monkees' Davy Jones (both racing lads, I believe) on the road to fame and fortune in show business, good on 'im. And, finally, happy 70th birthday to Brian Proctor (seen cantering a Godolphin horse up the first sand earlier this year) - a master horseman and a true gentleman.
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