Wednesday 22 october

Mattaking will now have his winter holidays. He has come out of his race well, and will go to winter quarters before we have to clip him, and therefore will be more comfortable and warm as his winter coat grows through. At the other end of the racing scale Crystal Capella will also now head off for her winter break. Speaking to Mrs Robeson yesterday she said the at she asked Sir Michael Stoute when was the last time he trained a horse to win 5 on the bounce and he could not remember - but thought it may have been Shergar!! High quality comparison indeed!! All is well elsewhere, Cyd Charisse is off to the vets tomorrow to get a progress report, and Rousing Rob will make the trip with her to have further tests on his niggly problem. Having had a good look through the entries, it looks as though the Novices Handicap at Aintree will be IB's favoured option at the weekend, so let's hope they do not get too much more rain.