Lots To Do!

Even though there is no racing now until Boxing Day, life around the stable still goes on very much as normal.  With 100 or so horses around the place that need to be looked after as well as exercised there is plenty for the staff to be doing.  Meanwhile, David will also be mulling over who runs where over the Festive season - there are eight meetings with declarations closing today and the stable has entries at six of them!  When he has finished with his running plans, David then needs to sort out which jockeys will be riding where (and there is often a shortage of jockeys on a Bank Holiday) and finally when all that is decided, arrangements need to be made to transport the horses to the races and the logistics of getting to multiple meetings is an art in itself.  To the casual racegoer who opens their racecard on Boxing Day they will give little thought to what has gone into getting these horses to the races and the work involved behind the scenes.

The Bank Holiday meetings are often a good opportunity for some of the less established jockeys to pick up a fancied mount or two.  The top jockeys cannot be at every meeting, although if you see one at one of the smaller meetings it generally means they have a well-fancied ride on the card somewhere.

I see there are letters in the Racing Post today calling for Kauto Star to be retired from his new career in dressage.  Jenny Lupton who is the President of Equine Rescue, France says 'Surely he has done enough and should be retired to Ditcheat for a well deserved retirement?  Why can't the people involved see this?'  While it is true that his appearance at Olympia certainly left something to be desired, I am not sure that just turning a horse out in a field at the end of their racing days is the best thing for them.  Horses can get bored as easily as people can so why shouldn't they do something to keep them occupied and happy after their racing days are done?

*****

Chelsea continued their good form last night with a 2-0 victory over Stoke...David will be pleased.  I still don't really know why he supports Chelsea but they certainly look like the side to beat this term.  Most of the top teams could do with a decent centre-half, but not Chelsea - John Terry is still the best in the Premiership.

*****

I found out yesterday that I have kidney stones - I have been in so much pain with it that it feels more like steak and kidney stones.  The doctor gave me a suppository - I couldn't swallow it, so for all the good it did I may as well have stuck it up my bum!  The old ones are the best, but seriously, what would we do without doctors and stable staff?