Sunday 17 January

A really fresh morning yesterday - the first of the winter. Still not cold enough to firm the ground up at Fences Farm, so it was a good trudge up the hill for Steve Pakes who visited for the first time yesterday. Steve lives in Sussex, and has a share in a few horses, and recently added our winning juvenile hurdler, Sneaking Budge to his 'portfolio'. After a brisk walk to the top of the hill, Steve got to see SB do two good canters, along with Cloonacool, Savingforvegas, Pine Warbler and Smart Exit. Bold Conquest just did one and a half canters. All appear in great order. Smart Exit has an entry in Chepstow next Friday (22nd). We will see what the ground looks like, and he will also be scoped again on Thursday before we commit to running him. Bold Conquest is only doing the minimum, and will run again in mid February to March. This will allow to continue on into the spring/early summer, where he should encounter his more favoured better ground. Stuart was up in Wetherby yesterday, where his only runner was found out by the very testing conditions.