Winter clinging on

We're told that we're reaching the end of this freeze-up.  But, of course, we're not quite there yet.  I was taken yesterday when we went to Kempton (where Simayill, pictured afterwards, ran another decent race to finish a close fourth) by how much less snow there is in the London suburbs than there is elsewhere, but we've still got a proper covering of snow, and tonight's minimum temperature could be anything between minus 6 and minus 7.  But I think that we'll be above freezing from Sunday onwards, so we're getting there.

As I like to go to bed fairly early, I struggle with evening racing at the best of times, but when the temperature is struggling to get up to zero (and would start to rain if it did get up that high) and the 7.30 race is two and a half hours after nightfall, it's far from ideal.  Still, the mare ran a nice race yesterday, so all was well that ended well.  Anyway, with it being night racing yesterday we hadn't needed to leave home until the end of the morning, so I rode a couple of lots beforehand - and the second one of those, which is pictured here with Hugh on Oscar seen through Frankie's ears on the Railway Land AW canter, gives you the clue that the thaw has yet to arrive.

Today, though, was different because we were in the second race at Lingfield, so we needed to be on the  road by 9am.  So today's been very easy with no riding for me before our departure; and then a very pleasant outing, helped by Magic Ice (pictured in the parade ring before the race with Franny Norton before the race) running a nice race to finish third, beaten a length.  She's a nice young filly who has run well now on each of her three starts, so hopefully she might be able to pick up a race before the winter season is over.  She's taking her racing very well, so we'll keep going with her while she is.

We were home in time to watch the later races at today's Kempton evening meeting on TV, which was nice as our former inmate Batgirl ran in the last, having her first run for her new connections.  She looked to find it all happening a bit quickly for her over six furlongs on the AW, but there was no harm done - and what was nice was that her team - Martin Smith overseeing her preparation in Terry Clement's stable - had had a winner while we were at Lingfield with Balti's Sister (pictured after the race) with whom they have done very well since buying her cheaply at the July Sale out of Mick Easterby's stable.

And on the subject of the Easterby family, clear-cut winner of victim-of-miscarriage-of-justice of the week award is Tim Easterby's apprentice Adam Carter, who was hit with a 7-day suspension for his ride on Faffa at Wolverhampton two days ago.  Watch a replay of the race if you have the time and I'm sure that, like me, you won't see anything to warrant an inquiry, never mind a 7-day suspension under the "non-triers'" rule.  That, of course, is the sames suspension as Adam Kirby picked up for his ride on Pipers Piping at Kempton.  As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.  Still, ours not to reason why (which phrase, incidentally, is correctly followed by 'ours just do AND die', not 'do OR die', which would make much less sense) and so I won't worry about that.  I'll just doze in the armchair for a few moments before turning in - or, rather, I would do that, but the armchair seems to have already been bagged.