Blog

We head to Dundalk with 4 for tomorrow evening’s racing and it’s great to be back after last week’s whiteout. Kevin Blake detailed the impact the weather had on most in racing in his excellent weekly Attheraces article. It’s worth a read.

  We managed to get back to light exercise on Sunday and built from there. It’s less than ideal for tomorrow but most will be in the same boat. Hopefully that’s it now and we get some proper spring weather in the coming weeks. Getting horses into paddocks as part of their routine is good for everybody. They love it and it feels good doing it. We took 2 away to work today, Dianthus and Maths Prize. Excitement building for Naas and the opening day of the turf.   On to tomorrow. Oneoveryou has her first start for us in the opening sprint. She’s drawn 1 (nice) and Chris Hayes rides. I have her a month and don’t know her very well. She arrived in immaculate shape, moving beautifully  and with good recent form. The angle for improvement isn’t obvious.  On the basis that she was race fit coming, I have put her in our routine and hope that’s sufficient.   Alcatraz and Arc Royal face off in the 7f handicap and one’s chance is more obvious than the other’s. Alcatraz is drawn 10 ( not nice) and Billy rides. He’s very capable and some day he’ll get his act together. That draw leaves little room for manoeuvre and with his tendency to break slowly he’ll need a share of luck. Arc Royal is drawn 12 (mother of Jesus) and Wayne rides. Wayne is going to be Best Man at David Haddrell’s wedding after his Beach Bar exploits and hopefully he can get this guy to show a little more. Arc Royal is grafting away hard at home and taking it all well. It’d be great to get him back on track and running well.   Aegeus in the 12 furlong handicap to finish up. He’s drawn in the stable yard and Tom Madden rides. It’s a final throw of the dice I’m afraid and may smack of desperation. I swore the last day was it but he coughed for 10 days after he ran and was entitled to a last go. He’s infuriating in that I don’t have any that move as well as him, eat as well as him and he should have done some little bit by now.   Fingers crossed something clicks. One last winter winner would be nice and leave us set fair for the turf.