Great excitement

Great excitement.  We've got two outings coming up over the next two days, the second of which isn't really much of an outing at all as we're only going over to the other side of town (ie to the Rowley Mile) but which in another sense is a very exciting one: it'll see the debuts of two of the two-year-olds (in the same race) and, most particularly, it will be the first time that I'll have been to the races as breeder/owner/trainer.  And if that won't be an exciting day, then I don't know what will be.

It'll be a good couple of days for Hannah as she'll have two rides for us, which is particularly good as she is no longer apprenticed here.  The week in which she won at Haydock on Grand Liaison was her final week, as she started with Robert Cowell the following Monday.  It made sense for her to move on: we have so few runners - maybe on average five Flat runners a month, and realistically she wouldn't be riding more than a fifth of our runners, or a fifth of the runners of any stable in which she would be apprenticed - and she'd reached the stage where she should be in a stable which could be able to give her more than one ride a month.

So that's fine - as you could deduce anyway from the fact that she rode Grand Liaison when about to leave, and is riding Batgirl tomorrow and Roy on Wednesday.  Anyway, tomorrow will be a notable trip as it'll probably be the last time that we run Batgirl, who is entered in the Horses in Training Sale next week.  We've had some very special trips to the races with her - including four wins, two of which were under Frankie Dettori which obviously made them particularly special, especially when he did a flying dismount off her on the first occasion - so it'll be the end of a mini-era.  Let's hope that it's a victorious end; it could be, although one can take nothing for granted at all in a 16-runner handicap on a genuinely heavy track.

The next day, as mentioned above, will be a real milestone for me.  It would be exciting enough if it were just Many Levels, a lovely horse, making his debut, but Roy's appearance will make it a truly special one.  I'll be going there with no expectations at all, other than believing that they should both get round safely.  (Famous last words).  As these first three photographs of a stalls session for the two horses six weeks ago (Hannah on the grey Roy, Terri on Many Levels - and, yes, it really was only six weeks ago, even if you'd have thought it was six months ago from how unlike our present foul ones were the glorious conditions at the time) they really ought to conduct themselves well down at the start.  And as you can see from the picture of Roy spending some 'quality time' with Anthony in the field the previous evening, you'd be disappointed if he gave any trouble anywhere.