Saturday gallops

Lots of work riders down at the yard on Saturday, so the whole string were able to be exercised in two lots.
Most horses were ridden at a medium pace twice up, and now that any lingering side-effects of last week's Equine Influenza vaccinations have subsided the work load of the horses will take a step up next week.

Lot 2 on Saturday make their way to the top of the gallop

We're not far away now from our first runners of the season, maybe a couple at Kelso in a fortnight's time. Depends on how the faster work goes but a few owners have popped by this week so we poured over the Racing Calendar. Well, the on-line version anyway.

Eternally Yours (Rebecca) leads Stainsby Girl (Pinky)

You can see a video of the 2nd lot of the day here

A piece of sad news

It's never easy to report, far less experience, but we were all saddened at Dodlands at the start of October when our young novice hurdler The Boo Box collapsed and died on the gallops.
A lovely natured gelding, he will be missed by all.

The Boo Box

And finally....

Looking ahead to racing, a couple of pieces of admin to catch up on.

Big Bad Dream will race in the colours of The Brave Lads Partnership. The syndicate of local owners had Onecallaway last season, a lovely filly but not quite possessing the ability to make an impact, while a couple of seasons ago the courageous Hartforth won 5 times over hurdles for the lads. 

TD9 Racing's young Shantou filly has been named Lady Villanelle.
Villanelle is, of course, the slippery assassin from the recent BBC Series 'Killing Eve' who conversely is about the only character in the series that she hasn't killed.
Older readers may recall another psychopathic female assassin from the BBC Series of the late 70s Blakes7, called Servalan. Played by the late Jacqueline Pearce, she made the series compulsive viewing for kids and dads alike.
Servalan - the horse - is a dual winning Listed sprinter in training with Jessica Harrington, and there is also a winning 2 year old called Miss Villanelle in training with Charlie Hills.
Hmmmm. Maybe naming a filly after a dangerous woman with a touch of evil is the key to success. Now I wonder if the name Priti is available....?