Monday 17 November
It was Mattakings turn to have a spin today, and after his very encouraging chasing debut at Huntingdon a couple of weeks ago we were half expecting a decent run from our enigmatic 5 yr old at Leicester this afternoon. Infact he was made favourite in the morning papers! Leicester is not the most populated course on the planet, and there were a few top trainers in attendance yesterday, who, not having witnessed the delights of the Oadby track for a few years were wondering why they were back!! I will say it was bloody freezing, a sign that the winter is really here, and according to the forecast - only a taste of things to come later in the week!! Matty once again looked amazing in the paddock, Mick Fitzgerald, working for At The Races said he was the stand out horse in the paddock, and a really nice model. He was once again turned out looking A1 by Rachel, thanks for all the hard work that the girls have done for our horses over the last few days. Sam had the ride, and as the tapes went up, he adopted his usual outside pitch and just settled Matty into a rythmn. It was clear the pace was very hot so Sam just let the leaders get on with it, and was jumping around in mid division and travelling well. They negotiated the tricky downhill fences on the far side and were travelling well when disaster struck at the tenth. Matty tried to put in an extra stride where there was not enough space to squeeze a bible page, breasted the fence, turned a somersault and landed squarely on his shoulder, giving Sam a really nasty fall. To compound the horror, one of the horses following could not avoid the incident and jumped straight into our boys laying prone on the landing side. Happily for all, everyone got up. Matty cantered back, and Sam got a lift back. Matty seemed unscathed apart from a slight over-reach, and will hopefully be OK in the morning. If all is well he will have a few days in the field with Bobby to get over his ordeal. Bobby, by the way is bucking around his field this morning, so he is feeling well after his TV appearance!
