Saturday 7 February

A great run today from Cloonacool. He ran a stormer to finish fifth in one the best novice hurdles run in the UK this year! Giving 10lbs to most, he finished just 11 odd lengths behind the very impressive winner, and it was the perfect prep run for a tilt at his target - the Imperial Cup next month. Josh was thrilled with the run, and all looked good off a mark of 130 for the Sandown heat. Cloonacool did have a small cut to the back of his leg after the run, and the vets looked at it at the racecourse. It looked nothing, but they felt the best course was to take him to their clinic just a few miles away where they have all the facilities to repair the cut and keep the wound free of infection. We left our boy there, and returned without him - but rest assure he is in the very best of care. As I type the vet has just called to say that he has done slightly more damage than was first thought, and he is going to operate on Cloonacool this evening, as this is the best course of action to facilitate a full and speedy recovery. There is always a risk to these proceedures as with all large animals, but fingers crossed he will be fine. I will update everyone when I have more news. A good day that has ended not quite so well, but I am sure all will be fine in the end.