Harry prior to departure.
Overcast and damp for most of the morning.
A hectic but enjoyable weekend for the team. We held our annual staff party on Saturday evening which involved a BBQ, a bucking bronco and some dubious dance moves.
Bleary eyes duly followed on Sunday morning, but most of the staff were able to shake off their hangovers to compete in the sports day organised by the Racing Centre.
After a slow start in the early events, the team managed to stay on strongly to dead heat in the 4x100m relay, while Harry and Hannah took gold in male and female 100 metres respectively.
Hannah also took silver in the long jump, with Tegan and Lauranne occupying the same position in the 200m and the 400m, while the tug of war team made it to the final but were out-battled by Cheveley Park.
Most of the staff now have sore legs, arms and muscles that never seemingly existed before. We have a few genuinely lame ones hobbling around the yard and a few might need headgear next year.
Two runners at Wetherby this afternoon. Mustatrif makes his debut in the seven furlong juvenile maiden and we’ll know more about him after this.
Pyla runs in division two of the mile handicap which is pretty long on numbers but probably not packed with quality. She ran her best race to date at Lingfield last time and is only 1lb higher now. The ground will suit, the draw has been kind and we are pleased Hayley Turner maintains the partnership.
We made eleven entries for Saturday spread across five meetings. The action still comes thick and fast, but we are short of top-notch stuff in comparison to the Saturday just gone.
1-0 up in the Ashes with the experts reminding us that the old enemy haven’t won a series here for 14 years. Is there a sweeter note on which to end?
Back tomorrow.
Ed.