We have rosettes!

It's all change again at the yard.

Just when I think things are settled (we have name plates outside each stable, that to me means horses are here to stay), I turn up at the yard to find that Laddie has gone to spend the summer in Gloucestershire, and in his place is a filly of Wesley's who may be with us a week, a month or the whole summer (nobody knows!).

So it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Lily The Pink, or Pinky:

Pinky is a three year old filly by Immortalized (same sire as Maverick and Olympic) out of the Splurge Hanover mare Talavary Splash. As you may have noted from the photos, Wesley likes to take off his horses forelocks, which now makes sense as to why he was so keen for me to get rid of Big Mac's! I wondered why he was egging me on the whole time...

Anyway, all I've noticed about her so far of any note is that she has a terrible habit of scraping the floor by her door whenever she's not getting any attention/it's feeding time. It reminded me why I prefer working with geldings (although Melinda is the exception, as she's turned into a lovely young lady). 

In other news, the shavings are working a treat; mucking out is now a breeze. This has resulted in two drawbacks though - firstly, I'm not getting enough physical exercise (therefore I must eat less cake) and secondly I'm not at the yard for as long. You may think this is a good thing as I have more free time, however as I'm paid by the hour it means I'm diddling myself out of money! There MUST be a way to drag the job out for longer...

On Wednesday I met The Boss and Julie at Walton racetrack, in Evenjob. I had to work during the day but as the first race was at 5.30pm I was able to get there before the draw had taken place and the qualifiers had been run. They had brought Jingo, Big Mac and Sammy, and Mervyn had brought Hamish in his box. Due to the number of runners the maidens were split into two divisions, so we were lucky that Julie could make it and they'd remembered the second sulky, as Jingo and Big Mac were in the same race. They were to run in the first, Hamish was in the second and Sammy was in the eighth and final race.

Cue the first race - I sent Julie out on Jingo first and then The Boss out on Big Mac. Mac was drawn three on the gate, and Jingo tucked in on the rail drawn six. The rain had poured down about an hour and a half before the racing started, and the track had become very slippery. As a result, The Boss chose not to go out of the gate too fast, although Mac challenged the inside horse for the lead into the first bend and subsequently for the rest of the race, stuck two wide the whole way. Jingo remained on the rail throughout however coming into the last bend on the first lap his legs almost slipped from under him and he lost a lot of ground. Sensibly Julie sat quietly and let him find his feet and then paced along quietly at the back of the field. Mac refused to give in and fought the leader the full race, but unfortunately the extra ground covered by travelling on the outside cost him and he managed a respectable second place. Julie let Jingo go coming up the home straight to finish and passed a number of horses, catching the eye of my other half and pleasing Julie at the same time. He came back to the lorry full of beans as he hadn't had the chance to tire himself out fully.

The Boss returned triumphantly and claimed that he'd always told Julie he was on the better horse! It was then that I heard the announcement over the tannoy that McKelvie is for sale :( after his impressive (and surprising) run, I really hope he isn't sold because I think we could really have some fun with him, especially as it's Cilmery coming up next week. Obviously the run hadn't taken enough out of him either as he proceeded to spend the rest of the evening bucking and kicking by the side of the lorry. All he needs to do now is unleash this fire on the racetrack next Wednesday :)

It was all systems go in the second then as I sent The Boss out on Hamish. His last run was below par considering his impressive runs last summer, however as I washed Mac down I could hear the commentator saying he was sat in second place and running on well. When The Boss came back with another blue rosette I couldn't have been happier! Hamish had raced and raced well, and we were all very pleased with him especially considering the track wasn't suited to his low-action.

There was a long gap to Sammy's race, so I took a few entries for Cilmery races and passed them on to Mrs B who was camped out by the secretary's box. Time flew by and before I knew it the eighth race was upon us. Sammy was drawn one off ten yards behind a horse known for flying out of the gate, however he couldn't quite manage the almost impossible task of catching the gate horses and he finished in fifth, not fading but not going forwards either. Hopefully he'll be off the gate next week for the first time this season and we'll be treated to his usual tenacious attitude!

I then hit the road to Scotland with Smarty to attend a funeral the following day, so I wasn't returning to the yard for the remainder of the week. 

Whilst up in Scotland I attended another race meeting at Haugh Field, a lovely grass track in Stirlingshire. I clerked for Smarty and the partnership worked like a treat again :) the racing was good but I must admit, I think our grass track racing down in Wales/English borders is better! It helps that I know the horses down here anyway...

Full results from Walton (12th June):

Race 1

1st Blue Streak
2nd M C Kelvie
3rd Ithon Kiwi
2.13.8 2 1/2 & 3 1/2L

Race 2

1st Vyrnwy Terror
2nd Bucklands Foxy Boy
3rd Blackfield Bling
2.14.3 3 & neck

Race 3

1st Mill Road
2nd Wellfield Elvira
3rd Frisco Mick
2.12.3 4 & 1/2L

Race 4

1st Hurricane Howard
2nd Ystwyth DT
3rd Wellfield Alfie
2.12.4 1 1/4 & 1 1/2L

Race 5

1st Afan Sir Ivor
2nd Wellfield Wally
3rd Rhyds Panache
2.12.5 1 1/2 & 3 1/2L

Race 6

1st Wellfield Ghost
2nd Ithon Ghost
3rd Wellfield Rocky
2.08.9 3 1/2 & 5L

Race 7

1st Wellfield Ernest
2nd Meet N Greet
3rd Young Will
2.11.9 1 1/4 & 1 1/2L

Race 8
1st Meadowland Tom
2nd Brywinsthatslife
3rd Rhyd N Write
2.10.5 3/4L & 1L

So there we have it, less than a week until Cilmery races and what is, for us at least, one of the most important meetings of the season. All systems go to get the track up, racecards printed and food for the sponsors tent prepared!

Over and out until after Wednesday,

Sarah (#1 Groom and Clerk extraordinaire)