Routine

No runners last week and no chapter on this blog either.  We're back to normal now.  One might think that not having runners should have increased my productivity on here, but for some reason I'm actually in a position of having to fit a quart into a pint pot every day, so it was just that the trigger of having to write a blog wasn't there, so I used the time to do other things.  I don't know why really, but I always find myself snowed under at this time of year.  One reason possibly is having to get used to shorter days again.  I find I generally go to bed earlier in the winter when it gets dark earlier, and it's generally best to get finished outside earlier as it gets dark so early.

It's important to try to keep healthy any winter (well, it's important to try to keep healthy at any stage, but it's particularly important in the winter, when it's easier to get run down in the hostile weather conditions) and obviously particularly important in this winter, when we're all having to focus on remaining healthy.  I'm in a very good routine at present, always in bed by around 8.30, and that's good - but I'll be out of my routine over the next couple of days.  Today we're in the 8.05 at Kempton and tomorrow we'll be in the 7.30 at Chelmsford.  Both races were put back half an hour after declaration time, just to rub salt into the wounds.

It's The Rocket Park today.  He seems to be in as good form as he's ever been in, but we might be swimming against the tide with him as I'm fairly sure that AW racing doesn't suit him as well as turf racing (on a sound surface).  The handicapper shares this view and has given him an AW mark 6lb lower than his turf mark, but that might not be enough.  We'll see.  Tomorrow it isn't our handicap mark that's the problem.  Hidden Pearl will be racing off the same mark off which she ran third of 13 at Chelmsford two weeks ago, so that's fine.  What will make things tough is the draw, 13 of 13.  Particularly from a start (a mile and five furlongs) where the first bend comes up quickly, this will make things difficult.  But she, like Rocky, will do her best, and that's all one can do.