Friday 25 September

Everything went very well in Lambourn yesterday morning. Ogee and Bobby Gee were schooling on their artificial surface and both went very well. Sam was up on Bobby, and he was very pleased, Bobs was good when he got in close and when he was long ,so it was a successful exercise. Ogee went very well too with his regular pilot Jimmy Macarthy in the saddle. Now it is just a case of getting the schooling ground at Fences Farm in a state that facilitates schooling on turf. This is going to mean a hell of a lot of hard work for Stuart and the team. I managed to get the use of a water tanker yesterday, so it will mean lots of trips to and from the schooling ground to get some moisture into the turf so that it is fit to school on. A big thankyou to Richard and Pete Brown of J.C Brown (Stagsden), for the use of the tanker, and if any owners are reading this - maybe you would like to take a trip to their excellent Butchers Shop at Manor Farm in Stagsden and spend a few quid as a way of saying thankyou, because judging by the weather forecast if Stuart does not water this ground they will be unable to school for another 3 weeks, at least if they get them schooled at home they should be ahead of the game when the horses are ready, and the courses are fit. Take a look at Browns ( no relation) website www.brownsofstagsden.co.uk - their produce is excellent!!