Thursday 2 July

Yesterday I revealed the ground breaking news that we were in a heat wave, and that it was BLOODY HOT!! I went on to say how Stuart had to be on the ball with Kikos at Uttoxeter on Sunday, and the implications for the horses in hot weather - then came yesterday afternoon and Worcester. Racing went ahead as planned, but after the first a horse was overcome by heat and dehydration, and collapsed on the way back to the stables,things took a turn for the worse. The correct thing to do in these situations is to get the animal as cool as possible as quickly as possible - and so hundreds of gallons of water were poured over the sticken horse, which emptied the water butts that would normally have sufficient supply for the whole meeting. The problem was refilling these butts, and with the process proving to be so slow it was decided that racing could not continue without this vital cooling off water and racing was abandoned. It does seem very odd that more water was not made available on what was forecast to be the hottest day of the year, simply having a tanker, pre filled with water that could be used to fill the butts would have meant that racing could continue, a little more forward planning could have saved a lot of red faces. I agree that racing should not take place when there are increased risks to both horses and humans, but although not at Worcester yesterday I cannot imagine that it was hotter than Uttoxeter on Sunday and they coped well enough. At least Daurica was saved a wasted journey, but I do feel sorry for Fiona Kehoe who had lorry trouble for a start - had Stuart take her to Worcester, and then just walked Checked Shirt around the paddock for an hour in the heat of the afternoon - all with little chance of having her costs paid!!