25 June 2020
It has been a sweltering couple of days....we have even been riding out early to try and get the horses ridden and out before the real intense heat gets to you.
Yesterday was a first very busy morning of the season with Brian Hughes, Aidan and Paul all in, so we jumped the Summer team. They are mostly handicappers so thankfully it went without a hiccup and they can now look forward to the racecourse.
I see that entries have just closed for our first jump meeting next week at Southwell. I thought there would be 100's of entries, but I see a couple of races have less than 20 entries and the low grade handicap hurdle and Novice hurdle have 66 and 43 horses entered respectively. As ever there is always a big demand for lower grade handicaps in the Summer months. I have entered Fanfaronade in the Novice hurdle and Beyond the Clouds in one of the good handicap hurdles and on first glance there are the usual trainers with plenty of entries plus a few others. It certaily looks competitive and it was bound to be after 3 months of no racing.
I see that there is a proposal for owners to be allowed back racing soon. I hope they can get back to support their horses as soon as possible. At present the proposal looks a little strange with owners having to keep apartand segregated from anyone involved with the horses. If this is how it is planning to be it definitely won't work and you will only upset and anger the owners, however I am sure the BHA will rethink this and as long as they all get properly screened and health checked like we all have to at present I see non reason why they can't be more interactive when they get to the racecourse....
