It was very sad to read yesterday that Kieren Fallon has retired, he rode one of the greatest fillies I will ever train, Ouija Board. Two of my most memorable days racing were winning my first English Classic when Kieren rode Ouija Board to win the Oaks and when he won on her in The Fillies and Mares at Lonestar Park in the Breeders Cup. I will forever be grateful for all he did for her and not just her but other horses I have trained too. Kieren was a very talented horseman who had a terrific will to win and the many tributes that have been made on news of his retirement are testament to how good he was. It is very sad that a terrible illness has forced him to retire and I hope that he gets better soon and I wish him every success in what he does in the future.
We worked a lot of the horses on the Limekilns this morning and I was happy with how the horses went. Most of the yard are running well but we are frustratingly having a lot of places. We are running a lot of two year olds this week and as you would expect the ones that are making their debuts will improve for the run but I hope to introduce some promising types at Newmarket.
We had two runners yesterday and Michael’s Mount returned to form when second at Ripon, unfortunately he ran into an improving type but this run confirmed that a softer surface is important for him. Dutch Uncle was too keen early on in the race and then he got struck into so we will draw a line through his disappointing run, the ground was softer than ideal for him too.