Saturday 25 April

It was a lovely day in Lincolnshire today, with beautiful weather, and a large and not too rowdy crowd, although it was best not to stray too far from the Owners and Trainers bar. Kikos was napped at every turn on the racecourse. In the pre racing talks that the pundits do over the public address - one of them said that he had seen Kikos coming into the racecourse and said he looked fantastic and tipped him up to everyone. So the pressure was on. Yet again Alice turned him out looking a million (despite suffering from flu-like symptoms, not swine flu we hope)! and she scooped the best turned out award again. Well done to her and thanks to all the staff who have worked so hard and turned our horses to such a high standard all through the season. Sam gave Kikos a peach of a ride,they do have a great deal of confidence in each other, bouncing out in front they travelled away at their usual high cruising speed which meant that most of the field had trouble keeping up. Kikos once again fenced really well - all he does is travel and jump, and there were only 2 in it as they entered the home straight. Neck adn neck they went all the way to the line, jumping in unison all the way up the straight - it really was a thriller to watch, but unfortunately we just got run out of it in the last 50 yards to finish second. This was without a doubt his best run, he was stepped up in class and still had them all at it, so there will be more races to be won with him. He just does miss that finishing kick, but he can still burn them off with his cruising speed, and very accurate jumping.His form figures now read F22445122 - he has only finished out of the money twice in 9 starts, and would have won on his seasonal debut when he fell, so it really has been a great season with him. Everyone present seemed really pleased (rightly so) and enjoyed a good day out. It was some ride AP gave Hennessy to win the 'Whitbread', most folks in the Owners and Trainers bar at Market Rasen who saw it on the TV just looked at each other and said 'How did he do that!'. A true great, and a joy to watch.Kikos photos are courtesy of 'Lil Sis Photography' Thanks for that!