Hello again.....
....and trust you are well. Not the easiest of times for racing enthusiasts, or indeed anyone worldwide.
The 2019-20 National Hunt Season ended abruptly mid March, in tandem with the whole country. Racing did pick up again from early June by which time the NH Season was scheduled to finish anyway. We very seldom have 'summer jumpers' in the yard although there were two flat horses that raced during the summer with See My Baby Jive going close a couple of times.
But this is the first Donald Whillans Racing update for some time.
The Pandemic has had such a devastating impact upon Ireland and our own
nations, that our occasional irreverent take on the racing world and life
in general was just not appropriate.
Still, 6 months down the line, life goes on. Whilst racecourse
attendance will be severely restricted for some time, it is fervently
hoped that British & Irish Racing can continue to provide, via media
coverage, a platform in which to participate and a spectacle for us all
to enjoy.
It's end of September, and we've been quite busy during the summer.
Apart from the usual disinfectant work on the boxes, and general sprucing up
around the yard, large sections of the gallop have been re-surfaced.
And now, all 20 boxes which make up Dodlands Steading are full, team
members are in situ and the NH string are on the gallops.
It's rare for us to have a 'jumps' runner before November, but if the
ground is soft(-ish), we may just have a couple towards the end of
October.
Of course our web team have been active in recent weeks and there have been updates made to our main pages -
- Horses in Training including individual horse profiles
- Stable Staff
- Jockeys
But the main change at Dodlands Steading is that during the summer
Callum announced his retirement from race-riding.
He will concentrate
fully on his role as Assistant Trainer, which he combined with race-riding for the last couple of seasons.
This, and a few other reflections on current times, are touched on in
the Dodlands Steading Pre-Season
Preview for 2020-21. Recommended reading!!!
And, a little late, but our 2019-20 Stable Review is also available.
