We keep trying!

Well, we don't seem to be quite there with Hope Is High yet, although perhaps that's being harsh on her (or me).  She was probably just out of her depth in Class Three company yesterday. She didn't run badly, and I was probably just being unrealistic in expecting her to be competitive in a higher grade (and off a higher rating than she has ever been placed off) than she usually contests.  But, despite being drawn wide, Nicola managed to get as satisfactory passage through the race as one could have hoped for, so it was disappointing that she couldn't run on in the straight.  We'll get there in the end (and it also took her a bit of time to hit form last season, despite starting that campaign 25lb lower than she started this one) so I'll still be full of hope (more so than one could sensibly justify) when she goes back to Class Five somewhere next time.

Still, it was a pleasant enough day.  It's hard to enjoy a day at the races completely if your horse doesn't run very well (unless you're not expecting him/her to run very well) but Chester is a lovely place in a lovely part of the country, so there were plenty of positives.  And they pay appearance money which just about covers the day's expenses (ie hire of the horsebox, diesel, staff expenses, entry fee, jockey's fee) which is a massive help.  And they give you (very good) free food.  And free drink (although that's a perk which one can only enjoy to a very limited extent if one has to drive home afterwards).

My greatest irritation during the day, even more so than realising that Hope Is High (shown in the first paragraph shortly after yesterday's race, and then in the second paragraph relaxing today) was out of her depth and that I had masterminded a pointless outing, was the journey into the racecourse.  And this isn't the first time that I've had this happen, either.  We know that the traffic at Chester on racedays is appalling, but one takes that into account.  I started at 4.30 to be able to leave at 6.45, and we drove over the bridge adjacent to racecourse at 10.30.  However, even though we were probably only 800m from the racecourse stables at that time, we didn't arrive until 10.55, courtesy of the racecourse's traffic scheme, the unhelpfulness of the traffic marshalls and the racecourse's minimalist policy on sign-posting.

We are always told that the draw adds an undesirable element of uncertainty into the racing at Chester.  Well, it does - but that's nothing compared to the lottery of the fact that on a warm or hot day a portion of the runners will have sweated and worried their chances away in the latter stages of the journey.  (It wasn't really a problem for us yesterday as Hope Is High is so sensible).  The problem is that when the horsebox is 400m away from the racecourse stables, one isn't allowed to drive it down the road to the stables, but instead is sent on a long, complicated and slow-moving detour.  (And this happens on racedays only - on any other day of the year one can just drive down this road).

It's madness, but I'm working on it, and I hope that common sense will prevail and that it won't always be the case that Chester makes the approach to the racecourse far more convoluted for the horses than it needs to be.  (No problem where the people get sent, but making the horses' journeys any more fraught than need be is ludicrous).  We'll see.  More immediately, we'll see how we go this week, during which our two entries have both been declared to run at Brighton on Tuesday.  Parek (Sussex Girl, pictured here this morning with Jana; and also in the previous paragraph, hanging out in the sun at midday today with Kryptos) and Roy (pictured in the third paragraph, lairising this morning with Das Kapital) are set to run in consecutive races on Tuesday evening.  Hopes will naturally be high!