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After the excitement of Sunday, Dundalk is back on the agenda. Oneoveryou runs in the 5 f sprint handicap at 6.30. Chris Hayes rides. There’s little enough to say. Her chance is obvious. She’s as likeable an individual as you could hope to deal with. The tongue tie is on and hopefully she runs her race. I’d say things will quieten for a few weeks then before a few will start to come online once the ground improves towards April end. Have to keep kicking

Tomorrow is the opening day of the flat season here in Ireland and it’s a day we’ve been looking forward to for a while. It’s quite a big deal for a small outfit and hopefully they do themselves justice.   Conditions will be a little different from skipping around Dundalk and the theory of being fit from the all weather could be tested.     Dianthus is first in the Madrid handicap, a 7f event for 3 year olds only. She’s a big raw filly that put together a couple of good runs last backend. But for getting a little lonely in Gowran on her 2nd last start she could have her maiden won. Had that happened she’d be running here having won her last start and a mark 7lbs higher. She has been working well, looks well but has a terrible draw in 14. This filly has made the winter shorter and I’m really looking forward to getting her started.   The Lincoln is next and we have 3 for it. It may appear as if I identified all the horses in the yard with a rating above 80 that stay a mile and just entered them. It’s kind of what I did do but I’m happy to run each of them for different reasons.  Beach Bar is the easiest to make a case for. He has been fantastic over the last 6 months, he’s well drawn and has handled a cut in the past.  Oxygen requirements will be high here and hopefully he has the cop on to conserve a little for late on. He still has room with his mark and is well drawn in 2. He’s a grafter and I think he can run better than last time.   Captain Cat arrived 3 weeks ago. He’s a huge, tall, grumpy Giraffe. Formerly top notch, his recent efforts wouldn’t get him involved but on the off chance he rediscovered his engine, it’s worth giving it a go. He’s nice and sound and healthy. I haven’t put any pressure on him. He’s stuck in 2nd gear at present and he’ll need to get out of it fairly rapid to get involved here.   Maths Prize has his first run for us. He was bought 5 months ago. He’s an unassuming type that was thought a lot of in Roger Charlton’s at one stage. His work is good, he appears to be nice and healthy and with 8 stone ( Sean claims 5) I’d like to think he’s entitled to run well. The testing ground would be a concern.   We’ll be keeping the heads down, going through the process, getting these horses racing and trying to get a winnner. Fingers crossed for s good start

While Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins are tearing up Cheltenham we’re Dundalk bound with 2.   Aegeus runs at 6.30 over 12 furlong. His effort last week gave him a stay of execution. He has one foot out the door but he ran a bit better than of late in finishing 5th. This is 2 grades down and he is well drawn in 2. He seems well in himself and has just had the week freshening up and it’ll be interesting to see if he can get involved. Colin Keane rides, a huge plus. We’ll see.   Beach Bar runs in the last and renews rivalry with Jon Ess and Reckless Lad. The general consensus is that Wayne stole the race the last day and tomorrow will prove that or not as the case may be. Beach Bar is definitely still Irish Lincoln bound and with the way he is at home, it seems the right thing to let him run and give us an easy 9 days to Naas on the 25th.   Those opening few days of the turf are at the forefront of our minds, trying to pull everything together to have a few runners. These are the hard days, grafting horses, getting them away to work, combating the weather, keeping them healthy. Everyone’s in the same boat. Exciting times.

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.

Back to Dundalk tomorrow night after a few weeks off. Beach Bar runs in the mile handicap at 6.30, Wayne Lordan rides. 8 run and we’re drawn 8. Lovely. We’ll have to see what Wayne can do from there with one of the hardest pulling horses in training. He appears well and should be fit but it’s hard at the moment with frozen gallops and waterlogged fields to keep him in a routine. He thrives on a routine. Exercised and out in a field before the rest have finished their breakfast. Once the weather improves I think he will improve and hopefully we can start to find the other stone between where he is now and his lifetime best. We’ve had a busy few weeks. Completing an additional 6 boxes and there’s 18 riding out. Small numbers but 6 times more than this time last year. A few new faces, a few old ones and fingers crossed once the season starts proper they can stay healthy and take plenty of racing. More numbers has it’s challenges. Seperate to the increased workload, mornings take a bit more thought. David O’Meara emphasised the importance of training small numbers as if they were part of a bigger group. It allows for numbers to increase without having to change a routine that works. Hopefully we’re succeeding, the next 3 months will tell a lot.

This week saw us making the decision to retire Indian Tomahawk. It was a big disappointment for all of us, his owners and the girls in the yard. We had a wonderful 6 months with him. He was a tremendous character and I’ll go a long way to find one as tough as him. Training has been many things but a slightly unexpected side has been the friendships you make. We had a few great days in Dundalk with “the Kerry crowd” and one night over Christmas they did their level best to murder me. Speaking of friendships, Aegeus is on thin ice. He needs to show something tomorrow night. He’s well but no better than he always is. I’m convinced there’s a day in him but unless he can threaten tomorrow, it’ll be down to someone else to prove me right. He needs an end to end gallop, I think that’s key. Then we have Beach Bar and That Is The Spirit. Very different types. You’d be looking forward to That Is The Spirit in the mornings, a gentle soul, a pleasure to do anything with. Beach Bar? Not so gentle but to be fair to him he has endeared himself to us lately and it’s easy to make a case for him here. His last run was good and this trip probably suits better as it puts him on his head a bit and it looks like there’ll be plenty of pace. He’s drifting away up the ratings, hopefully he can stay going. That Is The Spirit has his first run for us. Bill Esdaile insisted this was the horse for him having admired him in his UK career. Friends of mine from my amateur (?) days in Westmeath took the remaining 50% and it’s exciting to have him. I’m not sure the handicapper was overly lenient with an opening mark of 97. It’ll be interesting to see how he goes. At the Horses In Training sales last backend,these horses with current, high end form from a good yard were making less than horses that had plummeted in the ratings. He may have to come down a bit but there’s still a lot of power there.

Friday night and another trip north. Just the 1 runner this week and after having our wings clipped last week it feels like enough. Touching on last week Indian Tomahawk pulled up sore after his run and was feeling sorry for himself over the weekend. He’s improving rapidly and was straight into his usual post race routine of a week in the field with his tiny pal Toots. 2 of the others never showed up and Alcatraz was eye-catching!! He runs tomorrow night and this could be the story again. If I had a penny for each of the remedies (some questionable) that have been suggested I could resurface Dundalk myself. The mile will lessen the impact of his slow break but the favourite could be a Stakes horse building up a head of steam. It’s an interesting race with just 9 runners. The turnout for these higher value races this winter has been low. 8 turn up for the €25k 10f race preceding ours and 6 for the opening sprint. Beach Bar cost £5,500 and Alcatraz cost £6,000gns. The argument that low grade horses are all some owners can afford just doesn’t add up. It’s crazy logic. If someone gave you a horse for free, it’s going to be massively expensive, very quickly if it can’t get in to races and be competitive. I didn’t find either of those 2 horses so it’s not some veiled compliment to myself. They’re there and there are people who can (for a fee) find them for you.

We’re rounding off the week with the customary trip north. We have 4 going, a first for me and a yard clearout (practically). It would be nice to think a couple could run well. Indian Tomahawk and Aegeus take each other on amongst 12 others in the mile 65 handicap. Indian Tom, the more easily fancied of the 2, has a poor draw in 13. Wayne will have an awkward job charting a ground saving passage from there and getting him in contention late on. He’s canny mind you and he could just manage it. The horse is a hero and if it’s not tomorrow night he seems as if there’s plenty of life left in him. Aegeus is adequate, always adequate, adequate at home and adequate in his races. He didn’t run badly last week and is in good form but he’s starting to wind me up a bit. He’s got an OK draw and we’ll just have to see. Alcatraz runs next in the 7f 85 handicap and he is very well in himself. He made a clown of himself the last day throwing away his chance at the start. He was eye catching thereafter and if he can get his act together early he should be competitive. I have just concentrated on getting him in to good habits at home and his conduct has been excellent, hopefully it translates. Arc Royal runs in the last over 6f. He appeared to be completely lost over 5f the first day. He passed a few late on and all in all it was an Ok first effort for us. Normally ours build on their first run but this lad spiked a temperature 3 days after he ran and was a little under the weather across the Christmas. He’s in terrific form now, really well in himself and I’m looking forward to seeing him again and kicking on with his campaign. This week there has been focus on the staffing issues facing the industry and however bad it is elsewhere it couldn’t be much worse than Limerick. Right now it feels like the biggest obstacle to growth and there’s no obvious solution. I have 2 unbelievable girls working for me but their preference is to work with the horses on the ground. Good riders are impossible to come by. Something will turn up, I hope.

Heading north again tomorrow for round 2 of Dundalk 2018. It was great to get off to a good start with Indian Tom, Alcatraz was irritating to say the least. He’ll have other days hopefully. Two lads running tomorrow couldn’t be more different. One is awkward as bedamned and seems to have thrived since he came to us. The other lad is very straightforward and his best form is from before we got him. Beach Bar first. He had a charmed passage the last day under a brilliant ride. This is very tough and realistically, at the weights, he is battling with the remaining 3. He seems very well and with the field size and prize money it’s no harm having a go. Aegeus is next and he has been gelded since his last run. As a full horse he was in no way coltish but was obsessed with his gut and nothing impacted him, including his exercise. It had little or no effect on him. He’s still lackadaisical, going through his routine like a metronome. It’s his first go in this grade so it’ll be interesting to see how he runs. They’re talking about bringing back the start time for Dundalk to allow stable staff to get on the road home earlier. I hope they don’t, as it stands we get all our morning jobs completed before setting off and any changes would put further pressure on us raceday morning. There was mention also again of a Tipp all weather track. The absolute priority should be replacing the existing surface in Dundalk and then talk about putting on more racing there. I’m in no way convinced we need more low grade racing. There’s tons of horses in that bracket. They’re not being catered for admittedly but they are either competitive and can protect themselves from the balloting system or they can’t. Reducing prize money and increasing the opportunities is not the way forward. Time to pull the plug maybe…..

Starting 2018 back to zero is a little daunting. We send 2 to Dundalk tomorrow to try and get things moving for the new year. The Christmas period was a nice opportunity to switch off a little and regain some perspective and Beach Bar’s win helped with that. Alcatraz runs in the 7f rated race and I’m looking forward to seeing him again. I thought he ran nicely the first day and Gary was pleased with him. He appears to have taken that race well. Ideally he wants to go a mile and if he jumps slowly (as is his wont) then he’ll be vulnerable having to slot in especially if they don’t go quick. He’s a horse I’m mad about but he has a terrible win record which is surprising as his exercise is as good as anything I have had.   Indian Tomahawk runs in division one of the 65 extended 10f handicap. He’s very well and would be dangerous if he can get out anyway quick from his draw in 1. He has been contriving to throw away his races by jumping poorly. I had him as fresh as I could have him the last day to try offset that tendency. It didn’t, he fell out of the stalls and had to go wide again. If he can get to the first bend forward of mid division then he should be competitive.   I’ve come to the conclusion that you need everything to fall perfectly for you on these Dundalk trips. You can go there with the right horse, right trip, right mark and not get involved. Beach Bar is a good example of that. On his 2nd to last start they went a sensible gallop causing him to pull too hard amongst horses before getting stopped twice finishing a well beaten 8th of 10. 2 weeks later they go a million miles an hour and it was as if the race was carefully choreographed for him. We’ll try and take the rough with the smooth and if we can run them enough the chances should come. Here’s to a 2018 with the occasional winner and a bit less worrying.