Thursday 27 February

I woke this morning to yet more rain, which had me thinking that if Doncaster had had what we had last night then their ground must have eased - putting in doubt the participation of both Maypole Lass and Dawn Commander on Friday and Saturday. There was a big sigh of relief from these quarters when they stated that their ground was still Good, with the bulk of the wet weather now past them! All plans remain intact - ML will travel there tomorrow in the mares handicap hurdle , in which she gets a handy 9lb weight for age allowance and would have a good chance off of 10-1. Brendan Powell rides. DC, if all goes to plan head up there on Saturday for the £20k handicap hurdle. Silver Wren goes to Ludlow today - in a race won last year by the diminutive Grassfinch. It is a very warm heat for a mares race, but Stuart has been thrilled with her work lately and hopefully she can run a nice race. Genny Wren and Native Princess continue to recover from their breathing ops and both are fine - just a question of keeping their appetite up post op s that they don't lose condition. A decision about Benefit Cuts participation in Cheltenham will be made early next week - if Howard can get his aching bones to the pub for a meeting after his half marathon this weekend!!