- Friday, 10 February 2012 07:56
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I was very saddened to hear the news that Josh Gifford passed away yesterday morning at the age of 70. Josh was a real mans man. When I was playing table tennis exhibitions on the Isle of Wight I can remember the owner of a small holiday camp called Arthurfield Bay telling me stories of the cricket team Josh brought over to the Island to play the locals every year. Fred Norman, the owner of the camp said the bar takings were always the best of the season when Josh's cricket team were on the camp! I can still picture their team photo on the wall of one of the bars and they all looked like they had a good time. Josh was a great old fashioned trainer who will be sadly missed by everyone. A racing legend.
- Thursday, 09 February 2012 08:03
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
No jump race action in England today but we do have Southwell on the flat and a jumps card at Thurles to look forward to. Unfortunately I have to report that tomorrows jump race fixtures at Kempton and Bangor have also just been abandoned because of the weather. The good news is that Kempton will instead run a jumpers bumper card, this is some flat races for the National Hunt horses so there will be some interesting action to watch. David does not have any runners but it is great the racecourse have put this on. Southwell are planning a similar day on Sunday so at least some of the jumpers will get a blow out. It looks like Newbury on Saturday could be the next jumps meeting and what a way to come back with a bang, with some fascinating races in prospect!
- Wednesday, 08 February 2012 08:07
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
On the Gallops
Only one meeting has survived the weather today and that is the all-weather meeting at Kempton. Already Doncaster and Huntingdon have been called off for tomorrow. Taunton officals are currently out looking at the track. They have some covers down so they are seeing what things look like underneath. It suddenly turned colder again down in the west country last night. I thought we would definitely race at Taunton tomorrow but now I am not so sure. An update since I have been writing this is that unfortunately Taunton has been abandoned for tomorrow. It is -4c on the gallops at 7.30am. Meanwhile things look slightly more positive in Ireland tomorrow. They say there are no reported problems at Thurles. It is great they have managed to re-arrange the Musselburgh fixture that was abandoned the other day. This is due to take place on Saturday and entries close today. Fingers crossed we may get some jumping action this weekend.
- Tuesday, 07 February 2012 08:13
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Barton Stacey on the Gallops
Just two all-weather meetings today at Wolverhampton and Southwell. I am sorry to report that there will be no jumping action tomorrow either as Ludlow and Carlisle have failed their morning inspections while the other meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Lingfield was already abandoned yesterday. Lets just hope the mild weather is coming for the weekend. Newbury is a card we definitely want on. David has Grands Crus entered and Nicky Henderson's Sprinter Sacre could run in the Betfair Super Saturday chase, that is not to mention the other great races on the card. I am praying for good weather as I am having withdrawal symptoms! Fingers crossed I think Taunton will be the next Jumps meeting ot go ahead on Thursday. I don't want to put the mockers on it but although temepratures were low it did not freeze last night at Pond House and we would race here today. We are literally only a few miles from the racecourse so as long it does not get too much colder in the next 48 hours they will hopefully be okay to race.
- Monday, 06 February 2012 08:17
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Schooling Over Hurdles at Pond House
It is great news today that we have some jumps action to look forward to this afternoon at Ayr. David does not have any runners but it is just good to have some racing back on and fingers crossed the weather does not disrupt the rest of the week too much. I like some of the sarcastic comments about the all-weather racing that have been made. Its nearly all-weather as long as its not snowing, heavy raining or icy! On Saturday at Wolverhampton it looked more like a scene from a christmas card! They managed to run some of the races but in the end they had to call it off half way through, which I think was the sensible decision for all concerned. I see Bryan Smart is having a go about the Kempton meeting that was abandoned yesterday. He said it has cost him two lads expenses overnight and diesel, well in fact it has cost the owners biut I know what he means! I say send the bill to Kempton racecourse and make the tracks pay the bills.
- Sunday, 05 February 2012 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Unfortunately there is a total wipeout of racing across the country today, though at least there is some decent action at Punchestown. Fontwell was called of yesaterday while Musselburgh abandoned this morning due to a frozen track. The all-weather meeting at Kempton that was only put on because of the anticipated weather problems has also actually been abandoned! 6cm of snow has forced officals to call it off. David had no intended runners today but the hard work still goes on at home in preparation for when racing action does resume. Thankfully Pond House escaped any snow which does make it easier to get things done around the yard. It did snow for quite a bit of the morning yesterday but then the rain came as temperatures began to warm up. Unfortunately things did not happen quickly enough for our local point to point to take place and racing there was abandoned after an inspection yesterday afternoon. It was due to take place at Blackforest Lodge near Exeter and our stable amateurs Mikey Ennis and Kieron Edgar were due to be in action. I have heard they are thinking of rescheduling the fixture for next Saturday 11th February so keep an eye out for more details of that if you are a pointing fan.
- Saturday, 04 February 2012 08:04
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Barton Stacey & Terfels Toscar
Unfortunately todays racing at Ffos Las has been lost to the freezing weather. Despite the covers being down on the entire course for a few days the frost has penetrated underneath and temperatures are not expected to rise quickly enough to allow racing to take place. I think it is great they have made an early decision, so well done to clerk of Tim Long and his team as now everyone knows what they are doing. Our horses had just been loaded on the lorry to set off but they did not leave the yard! I have no doubt Ffos Las was giving the meeting every chance as Dai Walters who ownes the course also owned the favourite of the Welsh Champion hurdle and he was strongly fancied to win this afternoon. There is a slight possibility the meeting maybe be rescheduled to take place tomorrow but no decision have been made as yet so when we have more information about this we will let you know. You would think that maybe one day some courses may come up with a way to keep the tacks raceable. What about underground heating, heating like they have at some football pitches? This is probably a silly idea as it would be extremely expensive and may not even be possible! How about a cover that you can blow up? We can get onto the moon but we cannot invent something to keep the ground raceable, I am sure someone is on the case!
