Thursday 21 January

Another chilly morning! Brett The Vet in this morning to scope a few. Smart Exit was found to be full of mucus after his last run, despite scoping 100% just a couple of days before. He was scoped last week to make sure he could be prepared for a tilt at a handicap chase in Chepstow tomorrow. He was clean enough to have an entry, on the basis that he would need to be 100% when scoped today. He wasn't quite there, and with more rain forecast down there tonight, he was not declared. He will be fine in a couple of days, and will have entries in 7-10 days. Cloonacool, who had a speculative entry in Leicester's meeting next week, will miss this, as he needs a short course of antibiotics to clean up a low grade respiratory infection as well. He will miss Leicester, but he will have an entry in the Grade 2 Lightening Novices Chase in Doncaster on Saturday 30th. Savingforvegas was 100% and is free to take up her engagement in Leicester if we feel the opposition is OK, she will be entered on as well, with several options open to her over the next few weeks. It is a tricky time of year, with the wet, and now frosty weather playing havoc with fixtures. It is tough to plan where they go to give them the best chance of winning, as with plenty of meetings being lost, the races become deeper. The only way round it is to enter everything, to give yourself the best chance of finding a chance of adding to the winning tally!!