At least the sun shone

I want to move on from interference to a few observations on the whip, or rather on the misconceptions about the whip which are forced on us. I was interested, by the way, just after writing the previous chapter, to read the excellent feature in the Racing Post on Jimmy Lindley, who was very disparaging about the current bunch of jockeys. He seemed to share my views on the over-reliance on the whip which seems to have come about, and as I say I'll move on to that anon; and his observations on "the interference that seems always to occur" struck a particular and topical chord with me. I'm not, by the way, too worried about interference to horses in front of or level with one. We're told that barging one's way out is a cardinal sin, but that's not my main concern simply because I don't think that that's the primary potential cause of falls; I'm more concerned with riders failing to keep their mounts straight, allowing them to shift out or in when not sufficiently clear of the horses behind them. That's far and away the most dangerous form of interference, and that's really what the stewards should be doing an awful lot more to discourage, for the safety of horses and jockeys in general.

But I've had enough of politics on this blog for one week, so that can all wait a while. Instead, I'll just ramble on a bit about how the day's gone. It's King George Day, of course, so at the moment all eyes are on the Big Four at Ascot: Workforce, St Nicholas Abbey, Rewilding and Nathaniel. I'm very much in Workforce's camp, but we'll know in a few minutes' time. They are four lovely horses and any one of them would be a worthy winner as they all go into the race with rock-solid credentials. However, you don't need me to tell you about what's going on at Ascot: this blog is more concerned with what is going on here. That's obviously a lot less important in the great scheme of things, but it's closer to home ... Oh dear (writing half an hour later) we've just seen the race and all our nightmares came true as one Rewilding (seen in happier times, just after beating So You Think at Royal Ascot last month) broke down fatally. Truly shocking and very, very sad. Such things have happened before and will happen again, but such a stark reminder of the dangers was just awful.

I'm now continuing this the next day, and will write as if answering the question, "Apart from all that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?". Well, the answer is that, leaving aside what happened elsewhere, things were rather pleasant here. Having had such a magnificent early summer, I suppose that we can't be too surprised that, as the middle of July arrives and as summer is supposed to be starting in earnest, we seem to be arriving in autumn. Our blackberries are ripe out the back and the past few mornings we have seen the autumnal resumption of heavy dews as the nights cease to be warm. And that's over and above the fact that we have had intermittently plenty of rain. Tuesday evening saw the heaviest storm in which I've been caught for many years. The rain, albeit that it only lasted 20 minutes or so, was intense and forced its way in in several places, including into the house and into stables where there is not usually a leak. One crack of lighting, accompanied by simultaneous thunder, was very and frighteningly adjacent, the upshot of which is that we have had no electricity in the yard since then; things could be worse, though, as our neighbours in Beverley House have several electrical items which have given up the ghost altogether since the lightning strike (which, unfortunately but unsurprisingly, I failed to photograph). So this appears to be autumn - but yesterday morning was a delight. As I hope the pictures which are dotting this chapter will show. We were lucky enough to have William here, accompanied by his nephew Jamie (seen in this paragraph's first photograph, riding Asterisk with William on Kadouchski and Sara on Alcalde). Jamie had been here for a full morning earlier in the week, but yesterday he could only manage one lot, still perhaps emotionally worn out by his trip to the cinema on Wednesday to watch the Harry Potter movie - "emotional stuff"! William gave us his usual sterling service up at the Links, putting Kadouchski over fences on the AW strip (as this paragraph's second photograph shows) and Asterisk (pictured with Sara and Alcalde, then jumping the hurdles on the grass) over baby jumps, AW hurdles and normal hurdles on the grass - a luxury which we wouldn't usually enjoy in the middle of July, but which was an acceptable option after the rains earlier in the week had left the grass less firm than normal for the time of year. When Kadouchski will make his steeplechasing debut remains to be seen - it could be at Hereford in the middle of next month, but that would obviously be dependent on the weather, especially as Hereford took such a hammering in the winter that I would be very loth to run any horse on it currently if there was any suggestion of firm going. Asterisk likewise has yet to have a hurdles debut planned for her, but both should jump well when they do begin the next phase of their careers. That schooling session took place first lot, and thereafter we had the usual morning with a smattering of gallopers, some canterers, some trotters, some great views over the Heath such as the final photograph in this paragraph (taken looking up Long Hill at approximately 9am) and some brahmaizing from the dogs in the warm morning sunshine. Gus is doing such a good job of keeping the two greyhounds young - and in keeping us amused, because one really could just watch him all day (assuming that one had nothing better to do, of course). They really enter into the spirit of his lairizing, and Bean in particular is brilliant at allowing him to chase her. Of course, they're probably not too disappointed when he decides it's time to take a break to gnaw on a bone (or carrot, or sponge, or glove, or ...) as it gives them a chance to recover. It's not just we humans who aren't getting any younger!



Looking forwards, we have an interesting week of runners stretching ahead of us. Batgirl (seen enjoying some hay in the field with Ethics Girl this afternoon) goes to Yarmouth tomorrow for a five-runner race over her preferred course and distance, seemingly in good form. She obviously has to bounce back from an abysmal run at Newmarket so it would be wrong to go there with high expectations - especially as an even more notable course specialist, her old rival the bang-in-form Rough Rock, is in the field - but she's bounced back from bad runs previously, so let's hope for another creditable run from her. I won't be doing the driving on the journey to Yarmouth tomorrow which will be good as on Tuesday I have to front up before the Inspector who is deciding the fate of Lord Derby's Hatchfield Farm development appeal; I will be putting forward the Town Council's view (which favours rejection of the appeal, the council having backed the original decision to refuse Derby's application) and I can spend the journey working on my presentation. It seems as if the appellant's legal team are as aggressive towards presentations which do not support their view as if their client was on trial for murder, so I best be well prepared before I go before the lions. So that ordeal will take up much of Tuesday - and then I will have time to recover before heading to Epsom on Thursday, when Hannah is due to ride Hotfoot (pictured in the field today) in an apprentices' race. She, likewise, needs to bounce back from an atrocious run last time; but she too seems well. Then next weekend we should have Ethics Girl running on the Saturday and Silken Thoughts (pictured today firstly on her own and then enjoying some hay with Ethics Girl) on the Sunday; Ethics at either Goodwood or Newmarket, and Silken Thoughts at Newbury. Both ran well last time so, although those venues obviously imply competitive racing, each has earned the right to keep that sort of company. Let's hope that we're still saying that they belong at these smart meetings after they have run at them!