Red Cadeaux, who was confirmed for the Hardwicke Stakes, having a roll.
Not too cold but a little overcast.
I hope you all enjoyed an excellent weekend. It was non-stop at this end with a strong Australian theme. The wonderful Gai Waterhouse, who is over supervising her Diamond Jubilee contender Wandjina, visited the yard on Saturday and like all of our Aussie guests, she was delighted to meet Red Cadeaux.
We entertained Gai’s fellow countrymen and Royal Ascot rivals when the owners of Brazen Beau dropped in yesterday, while Rod Fitzroy, former chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, and his wife Paige joined us for dinner on Saturday.
Two runners this afternoon. Island Authority makes her debut in the mile and a quarter maiden at Windsor and she is entitled to need this initial experience.
Hanno has been installed as favourite for the mile and a quarter handicap at Nottingham and we think he is still reasonably well handicapped following his Brighton win. Pat Dobbs suggested he was well worth another crack over this trip and this looks a mediocre contest – hopefully the ground won’t be soft.
Only one declaration for Wednesday but Red Avenger unfortunately did not get in the Hunt Cup.
Another mad Saturday lies in store with six domestic Flat meetings. We made entries all over the place, including Times Up in the Queen Alexandra, while Zarwaan was confirmed for the Wokingham and Red Cadeaux was confirmed for the Hardwicke on Saturday.
Mrs D and I are heading to the London Sale this evening before having dinner with Mr Arculli – an excellent way to begin what promises to be a superb week.
Finally, I thought Channel 4 did a superb job with their documentary on Henry Cecil and Frankel that was aired on Saturday evening. The story was beautifully told and really captured the peerless nature of both the trainer and the horse. It was a real feather in their cap.
More tomorrow when the action begins in earnest. Ed.