Perseverance pays

Today got off to a good start with the news that Forest Murmur had saluted the judge in the first, a 2000m maiden, at Naracoorte. For those of you unfamiliar with this horse - ie anyone who doesn't know Richard Sims; anyone who does know Richard will feel that they know this horse very well indeed - Forest Murmur is a six-year-old gelding by Western Symphony from Miss Emma, who was, I believe, a good mare in New Zealand in her youth but whose best days were behind her when Richard, in partnership with his father and brother, bought her a few years ago, by which time she was aged about twenty. Richard couldn't be described as a lucky owner, but his enthusiasm for ownership, like his loyalty to his horses, is boundless; consequently I am always delighted when he enjoys success. So Clan Sims bred Forest Murmur, and have had their patience sorely tested as a result. For the injury-plagued horse's current preparation, Richard did something quite sensible, sending him to be trained in Warrnambool, whence it would be feasible for him to race in the weak races in Victoria's Western District and in the even weaker ones across the border in South Australia. Which is exactly where Forest Murmur saluted today. A 2000m maiden at Naracoorte on a Friday is, by definition, about as weak as you'd get, but a win's a win. Especially for the owner/breeders of a six-year-old. Our ATR offering overnight was Kyneton and Quirindi so I hadn't been able to watch it, but I was preparing to go on to the TAB site to check the results before I went outside when the text came through from a jubilant Dickie, so that sent me off the for the day with a smile on my face.

I'd had a smile on my face at various times earlier in the week, too. My son Anthony always provides us with plenty of smiles when he's here, and this week's half-term visit was no exception. His being here coincided with Dave and Carolyn Huelin passing through on their way back to Jersey from their winter holiday, which was lovely. The highlight was an excellent dinner, which also included Colin and Eileen Casey. Emma's excellent roast lamb received a real thumbs-up, with both Anthony and Colin leaving a clean plate. Colin even had a second helping, which is something which happens about once every fifty years. Eagled-eyed Racing Post readers might have spotted Colin making an appearance in Brough Scott's column recently, after Brough had enjoyed an evening in the company of Colin and Willie Snaith in Tenerife on Jack Berry's Injured Jockeys' Fund holiday; I doubt that Colin ate much that night, although I suspect that he might have drunk some Scotch.

It's been cold, as the lack of jump racing earlier in the week suggested, but winter's ain't what they used to be, and that brief cold snap, which was accompanied by sensational dawns and even better dusks, appears to have been and gone. The frosts have knocked the spring grass on the head for the time being - our re-seeded field out the back was starting to come on really well, but it's looking rather sorry for itself now - but fingers crossed that is only a temporary setback. Even though spring seems thus almost here, we won't be having any runners for a while, Polychrome's intended third start 22 days hence being the next in line. Run From Nun just ran an ordinary race at Kempton, and I think that the sensible thing is to give her a break and freshen her up for the summer: she's only a small, young filly who's now had six races in five months, so her best chance of winning a race probably lies in starting the summer, when there ought to be several options on the firm tracks which her physique suggests she ought to handle, fresh. Our outing to Kempton when she ran wasn't the most exciting trip to the races I've ever had, but one ray of sunshine was provided by seeing Jerry O'Dwyer ride the winner of the race after ours for John Ryan. Run From Nun had travelled to the races in company with that horse, so it was nice that the lorry came home with one winner on board - and Jerry is a hard-working and very likeable young jockey who deserves his success. The icing on the cake, of course, came the next day when we checked the later results and saw that Jerry had ridden two more winners later in the evening, thus achieving his first treble.

Others who are overdue for a mention in dispatches include Andrew Stringer, who has taken over Barney Curley's string while Barney administers his DAFA charity which is, of course, now awash with cash thanks to Sheikh Mohammed's generous stipulation when he sold the Racing Post. It's probably pretty much business as usual in Cleveland House, because Andrew had been overseeing daily operations for years anyway and Barney is obviously still very much in evidence, as I noted the other morning when passing him and Jamie Spencer chatting on the grass verge outside the stable. But, even so, it was a nice milestone the other day when Andrew posted the first winner of this phase of his training career. I remember him enjoying a good run of success in Bellwood Stables, near Malton, roughly twenty years ago when he took over the stable on the sudden death of Tony Charlton; they had a horse called Tinimion who won something like eight consecutive races, mixing flat and hurdles. I would guess that Tinimion had maybe the first two or three wins in this streak under Tony Charlton's care and then the remainder for Andrew. That yard, of course, is now the home of several very successful horses as it is John Quinn's principal base. Otherwise, Sean Travis takes the bulk of the plaudits for winning the Stable Lad Of The Year award. We see Sean most days in Jeremy Noseda's string, and see even more of his brother Liam Casey, one of this stable's best friends. You might find it odd that Sean Travis and Liam Casey should be brothers, but that's something which can be filed in the 'strange but true' category. I had hoped that we might have had a contender in the latter stages of one category of the awards - that of newcomer - as I thought that Martha was a very deserving nominee, and that her entry, into which she had put a lot of effort, was excellent. Disappointingly, though, she didn't even make the 'thanks but no thanks' commended list. Which is really odd, because in the first year of the awards I had put the name of a lad called Stuart Wade, who was close to useless, forward - for no reason other than that the Racing Posts kept writing that trainers were being too lazy to nominate people - and, even though he would have been the most undeserving winner one could ever envisage, he was rewarded with some sort of close-but-not-close-enough piece of paper. But for Martha nothing, which was a shame.

(By the way, if anyone thinks I'm being harsh in describing Stuart as close to useless, I ask you to consider this rather amusing little story. Every year each stable receives a check-up from the Jockey Club (sorry, BHA) inspection officer, which in our case is the former Squeak Fairhurst apprentice Mark Beecroft. Each year Mark goes through the usual list of questions (Do you have a first aid box? Do you have an accident book? Do you offer to wipe the staff's arses for them if they are having difficulties? Tie their shoe laces? Provide sun block cream for them for the 2 hours of strong sunlight which Newmarket receives each year? ... ). Anyway, when Mark visited the year Stuart had worked here I proudly reached for the accident book in the tea room when he asked about it, proffering it to him and saying, "Yes, we've definitely got one, but whether anyone's ever written anything in it is another matter". So Mark opened it to be polite and, instead of finding the blank pages which he and I expected to see, found that someone (not me) had recorded one, and only one, accident: "Employing Stuart"!!!).