Wednesday 13 August

Things are kicking on a bit now! Stuart called yesterday to say that the first group of horses to return in early July had just had their first canter. It is a week earlier than he had anticipated, but as I saw on Saturday - they are so fresh and well they needed to be doing a bit more than the walking and trotting they had been doing. For a start the canters will be very gentle, and restricted to the flat top of the gallop, but it will not be long before Stuart steps them back down the hill, to ask them to do a bit more. The start of the season feels just around the corner when they start cantering!! Also 'Kicking On' is our new venture. Last week I formed a sister company to Nick Brown Racing - called Olney Bloodstock. This will be a Bloodstock Services and Syndicate Management Company, that will take over the running of the syndicates currently under the banner of Nick Brown Racing. The 'Club' horses - Dawn Commander, and Cloonacool will remain under the Stewardship of Nick Brown Racing. In the future, Nick Brown Racing will function as it was originally intended - ie, to Syndicate horses. Olney Bloodstock will be a separate business, that will purchase these horses for the syndicates. This will make accounting a lot easier, and will put Nick Brown Racing onto a more professional platform. I firmly believe that there is a big future in Racehorse syndication, particularly if the syndicates, both large and small are run professionally and with integrity, and hopefully by arranging our operation in this way, we will be able to continue to offer the very best of services! It will mean no material change to members, but a new Olney Bloodstock website will be on its way within the next month, and there will be a blog on that site as well. In other news I was contacted by a journalist yesterday, who has been asked to write a piece for Country Life no less, about racehorse syndication, and she asked plenty of questions about syndicate formation and management, with regard to the future. Last year it was the Sunday Telegraph, this year Country Life!! Hitting the big time now!! Me in Country Life - who'd have thought it!!!