In this ever-changing world in which we live in

Plans, plans, plans.  Last weekend we planned to have four runners, only declared three and only ran two.  But that was OK because the two yielded two pleasing runs.  White Valiant ran a nice race to finish fifth at Fontwell on his hurdles debut on Sunday, which was pleasing; and Kryptos won easily at Thirsk on Saturday, which was very, very, very, very, very pleasing.  It was straightforward for him and he seems to have come out of the race very well, so he and Nicola can head north again tomorrow, to contest at Class Two handicap on Doncaster's St Leger card.  It'll be an honour to compete on a Classic raceday, something I don't think I've ever done previously.

He will be against better (and older) horses, but he'll only have 8:03 to carry and he doesn't look out of place in the field.  Initially the plan had been for him not to run until Newmarket at the end of the month which would mean having three weeks between races, as had been the case after his runs at both Chester and Salisbury, when he needed each time to have a bit of an easy time afterwards to bounce back to his full self.  This time, though, he was full of beans right from the outset, hence the change of plan.  So it means that I'll see my fourth St Leger, having previously been at Doncaster for the wins of Touching Wood, Snurge and Encke.  Whom will I see etch his name into history tomorrow?

This coming weekend has turned out rather similar to last weekend in that this time too we'll have fewer runners than originally planned.  Hope Is High was meant to go to Bath tomorrow and Sussex Girl to the same course on Sunday, but the problems which have come to light with the turf on the bend at the course mean that neither race will take place.  And then we'll only run one of our two entrants on Monday.  Kilim can go to Brighton to see if she can follow up on her win there last month; but we won't take Delatite to Worcester.  There's a bumper at Sedgefield 15 days later, and he can go there instead.

Happily, neither Hope Is High nor Sussex Girl needs to wait too long before having another chance to run.  With Sussex Girl it was straightforward as there are two suitable races at Chelmsford on Thursday evening.  With Hope Is High, however, we have had a bonus opportunity, and it is totally thanks to the public-spiritedness of ARC that this is happening.  Her race at Bath was to be the Final of the Bath Stayers' Series, for which there have been qualifiers run through the summer.  (She ran in two qualifiers, winning one and finishing fourth in the other).

This Final has been very much something for connections of horses such as her to look forward to through the summer.  Consequently it was a big disappointment (for a small number of people) when it had to be abandoned.  It was also disappointing for Bath, because it was the centrepiece of what was to be a big day for the racecourse, Gentleman's Day, which now isn't going to happen.  So it was a shame that the race was off the agenda, but it was nobody's fault.  C'est la vie.  Happily, while there was obviously no obligation on ARC (the racecourse's parent company) to reschedule the race, the management has decided to do so, and it will be run at another ARC racecourse (Yarmouth) on Thursday.  Good on 'em.  Much appreciated

So Hope can go to Yarmouth on Thursday, which is great.  There's a further bonus in that this means that we'll be having a runner at the Yarmouth September Meeting (now known as the Eastern Festival) which is a big deal among smaller owners and trainers in this part of the world, and a big thing among East Anglian racegoers.  It's always nice to have a runner there as it's a big and very happy occasion (one year we even managed to have two winners at the meeting, Picot De Say and La Gessa, albeit not on the same day) so now we'll have a runner at the meeting, which wouldn't have done otherwise.  Let's, as always, hope for the best.

And a further silver lining to what initially seemed to be the cloud of the problems at Bath is that we shall be able to open on Sunday for the Newmarket Open Day.  I would have felt obliged to go to Bath if Sussex Girl had been running, despite the fact that I think that the Newmarket Open Day is a very good thing and that one should support it by opening one's stable if at all possible.  But the plan to go to Bath had meant that we were not on the list of stables to open - but now, no Bath so we'll be open.  The forecast isn't very promising, but you'll get a warm welcome if you call in to see us, as you will do in any of the open stables if you pay them a visit.