Off the mark for the new season – and happily a lot sooner than last year!

 Myroundorurs has not been easy – either at home or at the races!! He pulls like a train and is very sharp as well. Soft ground is not for him so Andrew & Jane Nicholls have had a long winter waiting for him to have his preferred conditions! Getting him to settle over hurdles has proved impossible so a change of tactics first time over fences. Not a job for the faint hearted up the straight at Worcester with four fences coming up very quickly, but no better man for the job than Charlie, who was wiping the flies off his forehead by the time they went past the post the first time!

 Once they turned down the back he settled better and jumped like a stag – no one could get near him – still pulling going to the last he won as he liked by 20 lengths!! A great ride from Charlie and a very good effort from Myround and the team delighted to train a winner for such patient owners in Andrew & Jane. Sadly neither of them could be here but think there was plenty of encouragement from afar – there certainly was from Dickin HQ!!

Having just recovered our voices it was off to Stratford on Saturday evening with Jackfield (Jack Quinlan on board) – the horse has had a few placed efforts,  but a downpour prior to the race did nothing to get our hopes up, however we need not have worried as JF was always travelling well and ran out an easy winner.

 Great to have two early winners on the board and hopefully these two will follow up!

 Many of the string on holiday now and at last the weather warming up for them. Plenty of grass and those trim waistlines expanding by the day! Lovely to see them out and relaxing.

 The team now busy with power washing and general spring cleaning – no-ones favourite job, but it has to be done!!

New arrivals!

Delighted to announce the arrival of Dancing Daffodils first born!

 A bay colt by Native Ruler who stands at Batsford Stud, and who is himself a son of Cape Cross.

 Daffodil won 5 races for us and is a homebred herself so pleased to welcome ‘ Sweet William’ (who is very opinionated for one so young!!)

The other new arrival is a beautiful daughter for Chris & Louise Dickin who was born on April 22^nd. Careena Elizabeth Shirley.

 Huge congratulations to Chris & Lou  - and a little sister for Luca.

Weather still pretty inclement, and the grass not making much attempt to grow! Although there was a glimpse of sun on a couple of occasions!

 Grand National weekend and some great racing, unfortunately a chance for the ‘Great Uninformed ‘ to pop out of the woodwork and try and sound as if they know what they are talking about – and as usual failing miserably!  Back to hugging their trees again now no doubt!

 As always a story behind the winner – well done to Mouse Morris & Rule the World, an emotional day for them.

 The action for us on the other side of the country at Market Rasen on Sunday and the very likeable Under The Phone making the trek up there well worth while when winning tidily under Conor Shoemark. ‘John’ as he is called by Hollie who looks after him – ‘Walt’ as he is know by his owners – made virtually all and had the race put to bed as they turned in. An amazing leap three out caused a collective intake of breath by his loyal supporters and he won by a cosy 6 lengths, putting a disappointing run last time out, behind him.

 Great to get another winner on the board, and to get our season looking a bit more healthy! It was a very trying time up until the new year with no obvious explanation either, which makes life pretty tough. Recently though the horses have been running very well, (with a couple previously documented low points) which does make it easier to get out of bed in the mornings!!

Well done to The Tricksters yesterday, and well done to the team at home.

 Entries this week at Cheltenham and Ayr,  

What a weekend.

 A really busy Saturday with our monthly Open morning, four runners at Newbury and Harriet & I away in Norfolk for her first 3* competition! It was also Robins birthday so I think it fair to say I was not the most popular person around for not being here!

 Open morning busy this month – but as has become standard for the first Saturday of the month  it was raining!! A great turnout though – NH fans never put off by a bit of rain! Thanks as ever to Terry & Mandy Poulson who braved the elements again and warmed everyone up with coffee & excellent cakes made by Terry! The air ambulance tin is feeling heavy so thanks to everyone that donated towards this essential service.

 Hopefully these open mornings have given interested parties the chance to see what goes on in a racing yard (& Terrys kitchen!!) and to get involved in our fantastic sport.

 The team off to Newbury with Brian back at the wheel and he clearly has not lost his touch. Vocaliser not really seeing his race out and investigations on going there, Thomas Crapper out again after an encouraging run at Exeter a couple of weeks ago and looking fantastic in the preliminaries (BTO for Harriet T). Happily he had read the script and jumped for fun all the way, storming home to win by a couple of lengths. Great to see him finally break his duck over fences after some great runs in defeat.

 Given a super ride by Charlie he was screamed home by his enthusiastic, and very patient owners who have never lost their faith in him, and waited for both blood and ground to come right this season. Harriet & I managed to get the TV working in the lorry in Norfolk and with help from the dogs who thought it great fun to join in, were in danger of being evicted from the event for rowdy behaviour!!  SO delighted to have TC back on track – and for a good prize too.

 Timons Tara next up in the mare final and ran a blinder to finish fifth in a red hot race – very good effort from TT and Jack Quinlan.

 Black Country Boy then in the bumper and sadly picking up a nasty injury, which took the shine off the day for everyone. He is home though and will mend in time. Devastating to pick up an injury in a bumper, and very unexpected.

 Nerves in shreds over in Norfolk with the fences all looking mighty big! Great effort from Harriet & Bean with a decent test, one pole in the show jumping and one green error cross country but completing in their first effort was a great achievement.

 No runners until the weekend now and hoping that things will warm up a bit so that the grass will get going.

The week before Cheltenham always carries a feeling of anticipation and excitement, and for us nerves as to whether Thomas Crapper would beat the ballot – frustratingly he did not, so a feeling of deflation also in the camp.

 However the week also gave us another winner in Young Lou who finally lost her maiden tag! Lou has been placed so many times, but despite the knocking from the pessimists on RUK  showed great tenacity to win well, under a good ride from out new conditional Cathal Courtney. This was only Cathals’ fourth ride under rules and he followed plan A to the letter winning tidily for a 28^th winner for our legendary owner Cliff Beech and co owner Brian Wilkinson.

 Delighted to train another winner for Cliff who is SO patient with his horses, although waiting for all the babies to be old enough to run must have been frustrating even for Cliff!  Young Lou is a homebred out of the decent Wanna Shout who won several for us, and by Kadastrof – the legend lives on!

The previous day Cathal had ridden Tara Well to be third in a decent mares race at Sandown. Tara Well (by Kayf Tara) is a really likeable filly – tough as you like and was only beaten four lengths, having already run once earlier in the week in ground she hated to be 4^th at Lingfield. TW is for sale and will give someone a lot of fun. Debating whether to set up a new partnership in her, so if you are interested to give a call for details.

 Some Finish a bit disappointing at Leicester  to finish third. The ground again was horrendous, but I think three quick runs in tying to beat the handicapper caught up with him. Up 7lbs for first win then another 12 for the second – bloody hard on him, and surprise, surprise no drop for a sound beating.

 Another Kayf Tara (the progeny are having a wonderful Cheltenham) there are still a few shares left in the Some Finish partnership – a dual winner – what more could you ask from a horse to get involved with!

 Todays racing as expected will be top class, as it has been all week. Ruby showing what a magician he is, and many wonderful performances across the card. Vautour and Thistlecrack both very impressive yesterday, but Sprinter Sacre was the stuff of dreams in the Champion chase – well done to all connections – it was a fabulous performance and brought a tear to many eyes – including mine!

 The VP debate rumbles on, and whilst acknowledging that she has done amazing things to even get to the races at all – never mind today – the press frenzy is now getting really tedious and I hope it does not encroach on what will be a great days racing.

 Have a great day -

 Come on Cue Card!!

Delighted to be able to report another WINNER last Friday at Newbury. Get Involved showed a lot of promise on his first run for us but has had some wind issues since and we have been waiting for some better ground for him – a process that has taken some considerable time this winter!

 Having side stepped Ludlow last week we declared at Newbury but the ground then softened up again – very frustrating and caused not a little debate! Eventually we decided to run and the rest is history! Charlie gave GI a great ride and nursed him around until creeping into contention as they turned for home. He slightly fluffed his lines at the second last and was second after jumping the last, but I think the collective screaming from his supporters galvanised him and GI won tidily going away from a very game favourite in second.

Very pleased to win for the Point Of Attack partners who have had a bumpy ride after losing their lovely horse who the partnership is named after, in a freak accident in his box. We bought GI with lots of involvement from the group which was fun, but the mud has tested everyone’s’ patience again!! Well done to all of them and thank you for keeping the faith – this will be an even better horse over fences!

 Ironic actually as Some Finish & GI arrived on the same day so great win with them in the same week!

 Other runners at Newbury also ran well – Vocaliser back after a long break ran well to be fourth in a hottish juvenile race – jumped very well – needs better ground, and possibly just needed the race. Badgers Cove who is a great favourite in the yard had been off the track for almost two years with an injury, ran an absolute blinder to be fifth running on. So pleased to see him back.

 All OK after the races – always a relief!

 First day of eventing yesterday and a trip to Norfolk. The day started really well with both horses doing good tests and show jumping rounds – unfortunately it was all down hill from there when Tilt Du Chatelier & Harriet took a tumble at the water and Harriet’s day ended in Warwick A&E (battered but happily not broken!) They live to fight another day! It was a long way home!

 Tara Well off to Lingfield today for a first run over hurdles – Charlie rides and we hope the ground is awful!!

Very frustrating day at Towcester on Wednesday with two excellent runs from two very gusty and brave fillies But with TWO seconds!!

 We all hate second (which is better than third but more frustrating!!) but also feel that we should also be pretty damn chuffed with both Young Lou & Timons Tara yesterday who both ran really good races to be second.

 Both jumped exceptionally well and were just unlucky to come up against ‘one’ on the day!

 Both horses also won the BTO for Megan & Hollie – although you could not tell one end from the other when they came back in the conditions were so bad!

 Towcester excelling itself in the canteen dept again – the girls reporting that the service still dire and the food worse. Topped off with the manager refusing to speak to me although then eventually saw sense! Great PR!

 Come on Towcester do something about it.

 On to Leicester yesterday with Some Finish, who we bought after one of the Cheltenham sales last year. SF is by the prolific Kayf Tara and its taken a little while for the penny to drop with him. He actually ran a really good race last time in horrific ground at Uttoxeter and we were quietly confident that the slightly shortened trip would help him. He jumped much better (has had a tendency to jump right) but looked booked for third at the last, which we would all have been chuffed with – however about eight strides after he landed and was still  running on – the win suddenly looked attainable! Produced down the rail under a strong drive from Charlie, SF got his head in front and then ran away from the others to WIN by an easy six lengths. I think the collective screaming from supporters at the track and from various other locations around the country must have been what got him home!

 Still a few shares left in Some Finish who has now proved himself and will be better again over a full three miles – has to be good value so why not get involved with a friendly partnership and a really nice horse?

 Brilliant for the partnership and great for the team here after three seconds in a row!

 Its such a relief to get a couple of winners in as its been such a frustrating season for the team. The horses on the whole not running too badly but its no fun being in the placed position when all we want is winners! You certainly find out who your friends are at times like this and a huge thanks to all our owners & supporters who have ‘kept the faith’ – hopefully plenty of reward to come their way from now on.

 No runners till next week now – off to stimulate the brain at a ‘Backs, Balance & Biomechanics’ conference tomorrow which should be interesting as long as I can stay awake!

After a long drought it was great to get back in the winners enclosure at Ludlow on Wednesday.

 The horses have on the whole been running well, with plenty of placed efforts but with the win being very elusive!

Happily Timons Tara, who was third on her previous outing, put in a solid effort to win under Jack Quinlan for owner Mark James in the 2m5f mare’s hurdle. Annoyingly we had a protracted battle against an EPDS horse, and whilst we always want to win it never feels very PC to beat your other owners – even if the horse was trained elsewhere! Sorry John!

 TT was game as a pebble and fought hard whilst giving the second horse over a stone in weight – once in command after the last she stayed on really well and a step up to three miles won’t inconvenience her! Ground was terrible – it’s worse now that it’s drying out as its gone sticky rather than sloppy and its very hard work for everyone!

 TT came out of the race fine, as did Some Finish last w/e after a much improved performance. Perhaps rather an odd comment after he pulled up but with the ground virtually unraceable  SF travelled and jumped really well until just getting tired three out – Charlie had gone a right gallop on him whilst making all and as only one finished which really explains the race/ground! SF had looked very disinterested at Taunton the previous week, and the visor certainly sharpened him up! (Harriet D won the BTO)

 Kaddys Dream & Must Meet MrsGrath both ran in the bumper at Doncaster, and whilst the ground there the previous day was OK for Under The Phone who ran his usual solid race to be fifth (needs further now) and mixture of rain & snow meant the ground was pretty atrocious by the end of the day and both fillies struggled to get home in the conditions – both will be better on good ground.

 A few changes at Dickin HQ as Kelly has gone off to work in an office! She has been doing an accounts course for a while now and whilst it was not a great time to change direction we wish her well in her new job, and look forward to seeing her dressed up in her smart office gear!

 Holly has taken over Kelly’s position at Hill Farm, and Harriet Turner is now in charge of all of the racing tack.

 We have a great team here, and they have been brilliant even though the winners have been eluding us, it’s a great testament to them that they are all working away even when the going is tough. So a big thanks to them all.

A blast from the past here last night in the shape of Darren, who is leaving Banbury to head back to London, it was his birthday too so' Happy Birthday Darren - 38??'

 A lovely Sunday lunch last w/e with Andrew & Jane Nicholls, a thoroughly enjoyable day and nice to catch up with some old friends and meet some new faces, as well as enjoy a delicious lunch!

Open Morning tomorrow – do come along and meet the team, but bring waterproofs as the forecast does not look very promising!

Firstly, Thank you for all of your Christmas greetings, cards and donations to the lads & girls Christmas fund – they drank a good deal of it in the Huff Cap just before Christmas and there were a few headaches evident the day after! The tree is down, the needles hoovered up, and the New Year has come in with a glug!

 They say it never rains but it pours – and currently we seem to be under a continuous deluge!

 Ground conditions horrendous everywhere, and the horses not really loving any of it. We have even stopped turning out for a few days as the whole place is like a bog, and after a quick wallow the horses are standing at the gate waiting to get back in!

 Plenty of runners over the Christmas period and some good results – plenty of places, but frustratingly no winner.

 Tara Well ran a blinder in the bumper (BTO for Harriet Turner) at Uttoxeter, to be second behind a hot pot of Hobbs’ – the race run in a monsoon like storm – she beat the third horse 17 lengths and skipped through the mud very easily. She will be a real fun horse for someone, and is schooled and ready to run over hurdles – and is FOR SALE to stay in the yard and if sold before she runs next will incur no training fees until she wins! What an offer – do call for further details.

 Timons Tara also ran very well the same day to be third – jumped and travelled really well – just could not quicken in the ground but only beaten a few lengths. Holly and Harriet T doing sterling work in horrendous conditions.

 Three at Warwick the same day – Young Lou running very well after a long lay off to be third – she fluffed her lines a bit at both of the last two hurdles or would have given the winner a run for his money! Myroundorurs and Kaddys Girl both hated the ground and will do well once we get something less like a swamp to run on.

 Thomas Crapper ran much better at Cheltenham in a very hot race – again on very unsuitable ground for him, Wildmore Boy behaved himself well which was a huge step forward after the end of last season when he was losing he plot at the races badly! He is another who will appreciate better ground.

 Garrahalish went to Sandown on Saturday expecting soft, good to soft in places and was greeted with heavy soft in places! The day was a wash out and Gary ran well to be fourth – not sure there can be much track left as most of it was stuck to the horses and jockeys as they came in! Three and a half hours to get home in more rain made for a very long day!

 Some Finish ran well at Leicester and should have a rating tomorrow –

 Not too much action this week unless the ground has a quick turn around. Anti Cool has entries at Huntingdon & Doncaster.

 Happy New Year from all of us here

A very belated entry to the blog - entirely due to the pressures of a last minute Christmas! We only have 364 days to get ready for it each year, but every year its a last minute rush! The cards that were written are still sitting on my desk - early for next year??

Apologies for lack of Christmas greetings but we hope that you all had an amazing Christmas and Santa brought everything you wanted.

I am just hoping he brings some winners and soon!

I will get in quick with wishing everyone a Happy, and most importantly a Healthy New Year!

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us this year - when the going gets tough you certainly find out who your friends are.

Thank you most especially to all of our fabulous owners who trust us with their precious horses - and to our team at home who have worked away all through the Christmas period looking after the four legged team, all with a smile (and the occasional headache!)

Plenty of runners over the last few days, and another Open Morning.

 Runners first, and plenty of positivity from what we have run – several places but the number one spot proving elusive at present which is frustrating!

 Warwick saw Vocaliser make his hurdles debut – he pulled like an idiot for the first mile – but jumped beautifully – cruised to the leaders but blew up two out as a result of his early tanking. He is a stunning horse and showed enough to get us all excited. I believe there are a few shares left so do get involved.

 Tara Well ran in the bumper and ran a blinder to finish sixth only beaten ten lengths by the winner. She is a tenacious little character, and tough as you like. Schools really well and will now go hurdling. She will be lots of fun, and if you are looking for a fun horse you could do a lot worse than her! She is for sale.

 Towcester last Thursday and a typical Towcester wet one!

 Myroundorurs back from a break and a wind op – very strong for a circuit, but jumped well and made up ground strongly to the third last – then his long break just caught up with him up the steep Towcester hill. Delighted with the run though – he is schooling well over fences as well so lots to look forward to.

 Kayf Tiger jumped much better and the penny stating to drop. The Lion Man jumped two – slipped really badly on the turn away from the stands – nearly fell on the flat and that was game over, Charlie jumped a few more fences to get his confidence then pulled up. Kaddys Girl hated the ground, but travelled well for a long way until hitting the hill. She will be fine another day on better ground.

 The girls excelling themselves with BTOs – they won four with runners in only three races! The judges could not split the two of that ran in the same race so gave it to them both! Well done Holly Kelly & Cerys!

 The Towcester canteen still dire – slow service, cold food – watch this space for improvements!

 Ludlow with Under the Phone who ran a good race to be fourth, jumped really well. Timons Tara behaved much better and ran Ok; Jackfield ran a hugely improved race to be third under a good ride from Hannah Watson. Very wet at Ludlow and a BTO for Holly with UTP.

 Open morning dawned in a monsoon! Having said to the team not to worry as no one would turn up in a torrent we were amazed that about 25 hardy souls braved the weather to come and see the action! Terry & Mandy Poulson here again to help make drinks and Terry also supplying some very professional looking cakes! Thank also to Holly’s Nan as she also provided some equally yummy cakes as did Julie Vennvell.

 Do hope everyone enjoyed their morning despite the downpour! Thanks for coming! We have raised £100 for the Air Ambulance from the two mornings so far – a great cause.

 The next one is on December 5^th – do tell your friends and come along and see us. What better Christmas present than a share in a racehorse!

Our next OPEN MORNING is this Saturday coming, so do tell your friends and come along and meet the team here at Alne Park.

 The gates are open from 9 – 11. Entrance is free – we are hoping to raise some money for the air ambulance from donations if possible.

The horses will be exercising at 9.30 and tea, coffee and a few fattening goodies will be available! Just hope it’s not as foggy as today!

 Not much to be seen up here today, in fact I think the team are having trouble seeing their horses’ ears the fog is so thick!

 A busy time since the last blog, but not too many runners.

 Thomas Crapper ran rather under par at Cheltenham, but a combination of being hampered by a faller, no real gallop, top weight and a post race blood that could be a lot better explains a lot!

 Desroaches ran poorly at Stratford, but came back with a horrible over reach, which was bad enough to have stopped her and Spurned Girl ran a solid race at Uttoxeter to be sixth – she jumped really well and is coping much better with all the preliminaries now, although Kelly still looked pretty warm when she let her go to post!

 A couple of the new partnership The Songsters called in to meet their boy before Cheltenham. Jenny Fitzgerald and Rhona O’Connell hopefully enjoyed their visit – I was sad to miss them as I was in Somerset with Harriet at the last event of the season.

 Tilt Du Chatelier who was very moderate as a racehorse, had a change of career when Harriet took him over to find him an alternative career. The pair have had an amazing season going from BE90 to CIC1* in twelve months. His first international was a credit to them both finishing 12^th out of 100 starters – a fun weekend, and proud of them both. Great for a horse that was so difficult in training to take to another discipline so well. A great advert for the retraining of racehorses.

 More visitors from C&D Tours last week, with Stephen Toms here on Friday and three members of Marshall family here on Saturday – hope they all enjoyed their visits! Stephen having a less good weather morning on Friday when along with Terry & Mandy Poulson chose the wettest day of the week to come over!

 Annoyingly The Lion Man was balloted out of Ascot on Saturday, a race which we had had in mind for a long while! Entries at Warwick and Towcester this week.

New venture at Alne Park

Many of you will know that the Dickin family have moved house – only a short distance up the drive, but it was still a mission!

 As we are now in Alne Park house we are able to offer B & B in the form of two beautiful en suite rooms.

 This is obviously a new venture for us, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss to be able to offer this facility in such amazing surroundings.

 Hopefully this will suit owners who live further afield, and also anyone who is wanting to stay near all that central Warwickshire has to offer – including a morning on the gallops to see the team in action.

 For more details please call Claire on 07979518594 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Nice to get back to the races at last, with two runners at Warwick last Tuesday.

 Garrahalish back to his old self and running a really solid race to finish third giving weight to both of the first two. He jumped soundly and finished running on. Charlie thought the track was definitely not for him as he found it too sharp but that he felt back to his old self. After two muggings at the end of last season it was a relief to see him enjoying his race and he remains in high regard. No doubt about the trip now - we always thought he would stay for ever but having been brought down at the festival and then sick after his last run we did not have confirmation of that until this run!

 Be My Witness jumped well but always looked a bit out paced around this track and finished fifth. Not a bad run but she needs to be able to travel better to back up her good jumping.

 The string looking well and are all not far off a run – the weather may interfere this week though as it set to be warm and dry so no doubt we will all be moaning that the ground is too firm!

 The new members of the family are thriving – five puppies is a lot to handle for Milly but she is doing them, really well.

 A couple of new members of staff have joined us this week and we welcome Daniel and Gosha who have come from the Northern Racing College, but hail from Poland.

 Nice to see Graham & Lyn Knight here last week to see Twycross Warrior who will be making his racecourse debut shortly.

 Party night here on Saturday when a fund raising ball was held on the lawn to raise funds for the Stratford Cancer & Eye hospital – a great night when around £50k was raised for a great local cause. Judging by the cars left the next morning I would imagine there were a few sore heads the next day – happily a short trip home for us!

Our first ‘Open Morning’ this Saturday so do come along if you would like to come and see the action – gates open at 9am, no entry charge – come and enjoy seeing the team in action.

A very early start yesterday morning with a lorry arriving from Ireland at 4.30am! The newest addition to the team in the shape of a very exciting three year old colt called Vocaliser. A winner for Jim Bolger on the flat as a two and three year old he is for a new partnership called The Songsters. The group is fronted by some existing owners of The Tricksters partnership and there are some shares still available – do give a call if you would like to get involved. Vocaliser will be aimed at juvenile hurdles this time, with the possibility of taking in some flat runs along the way.

 Another new addition is a super filly – as yet unnamed - by Kadastrof out of Symbiosis who is the dam of a good horse called Kingfisher Creek who is rated 131. The filly is going really well and her owner/breeder is looking to put together a small group to enjoy her racing career. Again do call the office for further details.

 The gallop refurb finally finished, and some new drains in to help with getting the water away during deluges! A lot of work involved in getting it just right but so vital to keep the facilities in A1 condition, and pleased with the results now.

 Charlie is as usual and joined by David England, Ben Poste, Chris Ward and James Martin - great to have the extra help – especially at this time of year when the horses are in maximum work.

 The Venvell family here last weekend to see their horses, and a lovely evening with Nigel and Jenny Thick last Friday to celebrate Storming Harrys’ super win. The Bridge at Bidford becoming a favourite place to eat, and to be recommended!

3^rd August

 Resurfacing the gallop began last week with just over 166 tonnes of new woodchip being laid down on top of the older chips. The job is almost done and with new drainage also being installed the gallop will be in brilliant condition all winter. The arena is also having a refurb, so our already great facilities will be in tip top order!

 On Friday the 24^th Kayf Tiger ran at Uttoxeter in a National Hunt Flat race, he travelled well for much of the race but just got a bit tired in the last couple of furlongs, he will come on for the run. Ideally he ran a fortnight too soon, but without travelling as far as Perth, options were very limited and we were pleased with his performance, particularly as the first 3 home look like being very high class horses. Also well done to Megan for winning yet another best turned out!  

 On the 30^th Storming Harry headed to Nottingham to run in a 2 mile flat race, his first time over a longer trip and were pleased with a vastly improved performance. He finished 5^th only beaten a short distance.  He had some problems after his last run which explained the poor run, acupuncture from Fiona Georgetti has helped him enormously, so  thanks to her for all her help.

This week we also had Harriet Turner start as a full time member of the team; Harriet has been with us part- time since coming for work experience a year ago and we are pleased to welcome her on board! Zach Sparrow has also joined us this week – so great to have a strong team complete for the season.

 Good to see  Albert and Angela Thompson, Nicky Preece and Julie Venvell here last Saturday to see Some Finish, Get Involved and Bally Lagan who all look well after their summer break. 

 Nearly all the horses now in and its great to see all the heads over doors again, another trip to Ireland this week on a mission to find another star – a busy day with several nice horses to see, and a day of backs as well. Always nice to see the Irish friends and a busy couple of days.

Action stations again at Hill Farm! The holiday makers – equine & human returning to work – refreshed and slightly chubby (equine!)

 We managed to sneak off for a week to see if we could help out the Greek economy in Kefalonia. A lovely week with the family, very relaxing with plenty of sun, nice to be away but equally nice to get home and make a start on the new season.

 The horses have had a great summer, with plenty of grass and not too many flies until recently, which has worked well as they are pleased to be in in the day away from the biting monsters (such painful bites from such small creatures), they are currently going out in the evenings when the flies have gone elsewhere (where do they go??)

 Most of the team also back from their summer breaks refreshed and ready for action. Ceris Biddle joins us as a new team member. She lives locally and has been our super Saturday girl for a couple of years – great to have her full time now.

 No doubt most people will have seen the article in last weeks RP re Restless Harry leaving us. A big blow for the team, and hard to understand when no reason given by the owner, devastating for Holly who has looked after him so well for so long. Of course we wish Harry all the best, and mostly that he stays safe. We will miss him immensely.

 However they say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and it has been amazing how many messages, tweets and phone calls of support we have had, so thank you to everyone who has been so supportive, it means a lot.

 It’s onwards and upwards from here, and we have a nice team to go to war with. Lots of youngsters who are now handicapped, and some babies who were getting educated over hurdles who are now ready to go chasing. Exciting times, and can’t wait to get going again.

 Thomas Crapper, Garrahalish, Bally Lagan, Dontminddboys, Anti Cool, Myroundorurs, Tara Well. Some Finish, Get Involved, Blackcountry Boy, his brother ‘BabySpider’ all back in, Graham

and Lynne Knights’ Cockney Rebel three year old back for some more education, and a new Kadastrof filly arriving today. Under the Phone, the Lion Man and Dans Quest also making a start, whilst Kaddys' Girl goes off on a short break (she ran rather disappointingly last week but came in season the day after the race)

 Lovely to have Badgers Cove back from Mr Beech’s where he has been having an extended spoiling – he has swapped with Young Lou who has gone home for a break and no doubt the same treatment!

 Be My Witness finished fourth on her first run over fences yesterday – jumped well and fine today. BMY also turned her hand to flat racing last week, when stepping in at way beyond the eleventh hour as a replacement runner for Chris Dickin in the charity race at Ascot. Chris’s intended mount was unable to run at the very last minute, and so ‘Spice’ was drafted in to make sure Chris’ amazing efforts in preparation for the race (lost 2 stone, endless early mornings to ride out before work and raising an incredible £5.5K!) did not go to waste. As a 94 rated jumper against a load of much higher rated flat horses she was always going to have her work cut out, but gave Chris a great spin to finish fifth.  He really enjoyed the experience and thank to everyone who came and supported him on the day.

 Ascot sales last week and Dance For Livvy, Presenting Paddy and Windy Miller have all gone off to pastures new. We wish their new connections all the best and hope they all do well in the future.

 A happy lunch last week at the Manor in Moreton in Marsh to celebrate Alan and Anna Varey’s (Batsford Stud)  Ruby wedding anniversary. Many congratulations to them and also thanks for a delicious lunch!