Nothing else really matters

We had a disappointing trip to Kempton on Tuesday (ie three days ago) but that's not the end of the world.  It would be a miracle if that were to prove to be our only disappointment of the year.  Solitary Sister ran a very moderate race, but she seemed clearly to be unsuited by the right-handed track, so we'll go back to Chelmsford a week tomorrow (I hope) and I'd hope that she can resume racing satisfactorily there/then.  She seems to have come out of the race in good shape, and can be seen in the next couple of paragraphs coming off the canter along the side of the Heath (yesterday) and cantering up Long Hill (today).

The last time I ran a horse who, to my eyes, was as unsuited by the direction was Kadouchski (who, we learned, needed to go right-handed) at Chelmsford on 25th of September 2008, when he finished a distant sixteenth of 16.  He had finished fourth of 12 at Kempton on his previous run and, reverting to his preferred way of going, he then won his next two races, at Leicester and Sandown.  Too much, I suppose, to hope that the same formula can work again this time, but one can dream!  (For the next eight days, anyway).

It turned out that 5.45 at Kempton was a great time and place to be racing as we had an uninterrupted drive down there and an uninterrupted drive home.  Still, that's no guarantee that lightning would strike as perfectly if we were to repeat the exercise.  The other way in which it was perfect timing was that the 'meaningful vote' (whatever that means) was taking place in the House of Commons as we were driving home.  I found a talk-radio station which was covering it (very well) and it was enthralling.

It was very clement at Kempton, but we've had a very wet day since then (Wednesday), a very cold day with no frost but a biting northerly wind (yesterday) and a hard frost (this morning) since then.  We are, though, in the middle of January so that's only to be expected.  However, whatever is or isn't happening in Westminster and in the skies, politics and weather don't usually kill you.  Overshadowing everything else in the racing world has been the tragic death of Natasha Galpin (and her mount) in a fall in Iain Jardine's string.  As we are unfortunate enough to know, this is the worst thing that can happen in a stable.  By comparison, nothing else really matters.  May she rest in peace, and we sent our condolences to her family and friends.