Blog

We head to Ballinrobe tomorrow with one. It’s our first runner there and I’m looking forward to it. It’s a track that gets lots of support from it’s local community and tomorrow should be no exception given the current heatwave. Bianca Minola had a busy May and a comparatively easy early June. This was the obvious race for her, from a good bit back, in the hope that conditions would be testing. They won’t. A senior jockey told me they tend to produce ground on the kind side however. I generally think flat racing is best on as quick a surface as is safe but I won’t be complaining if the sting is gone out of it tomorrow

• Bianca’s first 3 runs for us were terrific and I wasn’t overly concerned about the 4th. They went slow and she tanked a little and when they quickened she was either a bit flat footed or her earlier exertions told. She has been in great form since and worked well on Friday. It doesn’t take a huge amount of imagination to picture her competitive. It’s worth keeping in mind this high value staying handicap and her Navan one. Both restricted to fillies and neither massively competitive. 9 and 8 runners respectively, I hope they’re there next year.

I owe Bianca plenty. She cemented my relationship with her very kind owner. On the back of her May efforts he has sent me an Oasis Dream 2yo filly and purchased Dianthus to stay in the yard. Amazing the way things go. You’re nothing if not lucky, I suppose. Sorry about the format. I can’t fix it. ???