Diamonds on a ring of gold

Another busy week.  July Week, so it goes without saying that it's a busy week for someone living in Newmarket.  I'm writing this early evening on Friday and I'm very tired, so I'll be going to bed early tonight.  The working day tomorrow will start early (we're starting at 5.30 during this hot spell) and finish late (I'm working for ATR in the evening, and last Saturday we didn't go off air until midnight) so it would be handy to be in bed before 8.00 this evening.  We'll see.  I actually feel that I could fall asleep right now, and it's not yet 6.00, but I have a few things to do before turning in.  Including writing this.

We've had two runners this week: Roy third at Brighton on Tuesday and Hope Is High second at Yarmouth on Wednesday.  It was another mighty and very happy occasion with Roy, whose current fame is rather special.  Sean Boyce's ATR feature on him, which was first aired that day, is excellent and I thoroughly recommend it - and I'm not merely saying that because Roy and I are both in it!  He ran his race again, but (as we knew in advance) he just isn't quite a Class Four horse, whereas the pair who finished clear of him clearly are.

I would hope that both he and Hope won't have their ratings changed because of those performances, because a rise of even a pound for either would mean that their intended next races would have to come off the agenda.  But they shouldn't be raised for that: he was third of five, seven lengths behind the runner-up, while she was second of four, decisvely beaten, three and a half lengths behind the winner.  Those two outings meant that Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days which ended with late nights.  Well, Tuesday was a late night, while Wednesday wasn't an early one.

The other days have also been busy.  The July Sale has been on and, while I haven't been much involved in that, I did spend some time up at Tattersalls on Monday, Thursday and today.  I did bid on two horses, both three-year-old Juddmonte home-breds.  I was under-bidder on one (Phobos, who appears to be heading to Michael Blanshard's stable) on behalf of an owner and bid on my own account for another (Principia, who was bought by Michael Appleby).  They'll be going into the tracker so we can gradually find out whether they were the ones who got away or whether we dodged a bullet.  As always, time will reveal much, if not all.

Sadly, though, three events have overshadowed all others within the racing family over the past seven days: the deaths of John Dunlop, Tommy Cuthbert and Laura Barry.  John Dunlop and Tommy Cuthbert were both very special men, each a true gentleman who stood at the head of one of the nicest families in racing.  John Dunlop was one of the country's most liked and respected trainers throughout his hugely successful 47-year training career, while Tommy Cuthbert must have been training for nearly as long: he was already training by the time that I started following the sport closely in 1977, and he saddled his last runners (Yair Hill and Red Forever) at Ayr on Sunday.

Tommy, though, will have attended the races more often this century as farrier than as trainer, in his role as the ever-cheerful, ever-friendly, ever-calm farrier at the Scottish racecourses and at Carlisle, Hexham and Newcastle.  We don't have so many runners that far north nowadays so I hadn't seen him for a while - but he was the sort of person you could go 20 years without seeing, and then be greeted by him as if you and he had been having a friendly chat only the previous day.  He often used to say that he doubted that he'd renew his license the following year; but he always did, such ageless horses as Exalted and Edas turning out again year after year, popping up and winning yet another amateurs' race with Helen just when you thought that they had been in the veteran stage for so long that they'd be just a run or two off retirement.  I'd guess that any horse trained by Tommy Cuthbert would have had a lovely life.

I never had the pleasure of knowing Laura Barry, but that was my loss.  When someone has died, one always hears people saying how nice they were, prompting one to wish that one had known them when they were alive.  With Laura Barry, though, I haven't just been hearing such stories today: I've been hearing them since about the time a few years ago that I first heard of a very promising apprentice called Laura Barry who was starting to ride a few winners.  Right from the outset, anything you ever heard about her was always good.  A shining star has clearly been extinguished today, someone who brought joy to those around her and who ended up proving that she was as courageous as she was kind.  To her loved ones, and to the Dunlop and Cuthbert families, I offer my sincere condolences.