Friday & Saturday racing review

Starting at Kelso yesterday where the going was heavy and the weather chilly and blustery.

Hopes were fairly high that Dali Mail would give a good account of himself in the Class 3 novices handicap chase. But it was not to be.
After his fall at Ayr last time, Dali Mail was less than foot perfect at the first fence but Callum was ready for any slight mistake and soon gathered the gedlign together. He travelled well in the rear for most of the race which was run at a brisk pace despite the testing conditions.
Still in rear, he made a slight mistake at the middle fence down the back straight but made nice progress to be on the heels of the leaders jumping 3 out.

But turning into the home straight, it became clear that Dali Mail was struggling and he dropped quickly out of contention to finish a well beaten 6th.

He's the highest rated horse in the yard this season, so a run like this is a bit of a body blow to us all at Dodlands. He seems fine physically, but we'll get him fully checked out during the week.

Thank goodness such days come only once every 4 years........................

Spirits had been raised a little bit on Friday at Doncaster when Stainsby Girl ran a fine race to finish runner-up to Miah Grace in the Class 3 mares handicap hurdle.
The mare has been quite lit up both in the paddock and during the race in all of her bumper and hurdle races so far. We did feel that she was settling slightly better but had thought about various types of head gear, ear muffs etc. to help but left them off.
Led up by Laura (Arnott), Stainsby Girl was perfectly behaved and walked round the pre-race paddock ring, ears pricked, alert but calm.

Our hopes that this was a good sign were confirmed during the race as she settled fairly well in front as the tapes went up. Alongside her most of the way was the odds-on favourite Miss Heritage but Stainsby Girl's slick jumping was always nudging herself ahead. 2 out, the pair were strongly challenged by Miah Grace and running to the last there were just the pair in it.
Miah Grace quickened well on the run in but our mare kept on to finish 2 lengths adrift with over 4 lengths back to Miss Heritage in 3rd place.

A pleasing performance from Stainsby Girl who is progressing nicely (although, sadly, not a much as her Hexham rival Miah Grace!).
Chestnut with a white face, she has a lovely personality but as The Trainer keeps reminding everyone, she's one tough cookie!

The grey Dali Mail leading the chestnut Stainsby Girl