Purple_N_Gold_Kempton

This afternoon there are three flat cards at Brighton, Ffos Las and Hamilton.  Surprise surprise, the best prize money on offer is once again in Ireland as Roscommon host a mixed card.  The stable drew a blank at the weekend although I thought that Purple 'N Gold (pictured above) ran a cracker at Sandown on the flat on Saturday.  He looked an unlucky loser when a fast finishing third, beaten only a short head and a neck...another 20 yards and he would have won.  He has proven to be a really good buy from a claimer and looks set to go up a few pounds in the handicap for this.

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street_entertainer_nottingham_web

We landed back on British soil yesterday afternoon and it is a busy day for the yard today with no less than five runners at Newton Abbot for the second and final day of their valuable late summer fixture.  Decoy, Street Entertainer (pictured above) and My Brother Sylvest take in the feature race at 3.20pm - a race that the stable have won a couple of times in recent years with Raslan.  It is a competitive race as you would expect for the money with a couple of Jonjo's coming here on a roll, but all three of ours appear to have chances.

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Shoegazer_Newton_Abbot

We fly home today after our week in Italy - it has been an enjoyable break but I have been missing my racing.  I am looking forward to seeing some of the action from my local track Newton Abbot as they kick-off their big two day fixture this afternoon.  There is also jumping at Market Rasen and flat action from Sandown, Chester, Beverley and Bath.  Shoegazer is the stable's only runner at Newton Abbot while we have two runners on the level at Sandown with Purple 'N Gold and Togiak.

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  Lola_Galli_head_oval

Well, it's our final full day in Tuscany as we fly home tomorrow.  We had a nice, peaceful day yesterday as George and Angie went off to visit Florence for the day!  We have managed to stay in touch with the action on Carol and Leanne's I-Pad's, although there was a mild degree of panic yesterday as our internet connection froze mid-race.  Much as I have enjoyed my time in Italy, I don't think my liver will take much more punishment and I am looking forward to getting into my own bed once again!

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tuscany_2013

It's day five in Tuscany and there are a few sore heads this morning!  Despite being far removed from anywhere (down four miles of dirt track) we managed to have a lads day out yesterday and found eight tempting looking bars.  In fact, by the end of it all David's three year old son Jack could walk better than most of the party!  There are a couple of days of our holiday remaining but Martin and I are already packed - I'd like to say that is because we are super organised, but by now you probably know that that is completely untrue and it is actually our lovely wives who have prepared us.

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happy_bday_simon

I can't start today without wishing Simon Crockett a very happy 50th birthday!  I can't believe that he is 50...he looks much older!  Simon's arrival wasn't the only notable thing to happen 50 years ago, indeed today is the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's awe inspiring 'I have a dream' speech.  We will have to go out and celebrate with Simon who is currently with us on holiday in Tuscany with his long suffering wife Susie...the trouble is, he is so old I don't think we will be able to give him the bumps!  Anyway, many happy returns Simon (pictured above right, in a bar surprisingly) on your special 50th birthday!

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Bathwick_Man_Towcesterweb

Unfortunately we drew a blank with our two runners yesterday although they both performed creditably in defeat at Bangor.  While Purple 'N Gold could only finish last of three in the novices' hurdle he was still in with a chance when clattering through the last two hurdles.  When you consider the winner, Franciscan was a useful flat horse that was rated 12lbs superior to us on the level and our fellow had to concede 6lbs to him, he has probably run a decent enough race.  They were certainly motoring turning in and his normally fluent jumping was not up to it's usual standard on this occasion - even so, he looks more than capable of winning again over hurdles before too long.

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