It was good to pop in at the Brisbourne Open House day on Sunday to share a festive drink or two and taste the famous Brisbourne Goose. Mark was doing a fine job in his familiar role of barman making sure that the large crowd of owners and friends were rarely without a drink for long.
While in the area myself and my wife Linda popped in to Kinsale Stud at nearby Whittington to take a look at Dr Mathias and our latest purchase Sumner. Matty has done well during his short holiday, he is now eating well again and putting some condition on as well as developing a very cheeky character. He should return to training in the first half of January.
Sumner has had plenty of time to recover from a tendon injury in October 2008. His previous owner, Lisa Hales, has no interest in flat racing and therefore made him available for private sale, I felt he would be a useful asset next summer as he is still lightly raced and should prove useful over middle distances on fast ground. There is still a small share available in this good looking bay son of Xaar.
I would just like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and thank all members for their continued support throughout the last year.
This winter is proving to be very quiet for us this year, especially after the fun we had last season with New Star who was recently sold to stay in training with Mark Brisbourne. The Last Bottle will be our only runner over the winter as things currently stand, he came out of his recent race very well and has tightened up for that run but we could well expect that it may take another run or two before he is sharp enough to show his best.
It is hoped that Ludlow is able to go ahead without any problems on Thursday as a few members of Shropshire Wolves are heading for a day out at Shropshire's only racecourse for a day which is usually very well attended.
After putting in a lot of effort at White Hart Lane on Saturday I can understand Mick McCarthy feeling the need to rest a player or two but you cannot help but feel sorry for the fans who spent hard earned money at an expensive time of the year to travel to Old Trafford and watch Wolves reserves. Hopefully a win on Sunday at home to Burnley, who have not been travelling well this season, will see him forgiven by those who felt a little bit cheated tonight. Saturday will see The Last Bottle return to racing when he contests the 1m4f maiden race at Wolverhampton on Saturday evening. A long lay off following his injury in October 2008 is going to be a lot to overcome but will hopefully give him a decent re-introduction to competitive racing. Greham Gibbons will ride the son of Hawk Wing in a race where 12 of the 16 entries have decided to take their chance.
I managed to get up to North Yorkshire on Monday to see our yearling purchase by Refuse To Bend. He certainly looks a fine stamp of a horse and has already been gelded broken and ridden away. Hopefully I will have a photo for the site shortly.
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