Monday 19 February

Yesterday we suffered the polar opposite ends of 'racing emotions'. We had a great buzz when Chandos Belle got her season back on track with a gutsy run to be a close third in the mares handicap hurdle. She had disappointed on her last outing in very very deep ground in Leicester, and so she got to have a go on much better ground yesterday, and it really mad a difference to her. She jumped and travelled great, but just missed the last 2 flights which checked her momentum, but stayed on strongly from the back of the last to finish her race off very well. This was a trappy handicap, and she should surely go close next time! We were thrilled with her run, and entered the paddock to see Apasionado make his long awaited return in good form. AP had suffered a near fore injury last year, but it had healed well, with a very precise recuperation regime set out by Brett The Vet, and carried out by the guys at the yard. AP had been in great form at home, and looked very much as if he had improved! His homework had been very good. AP jumped off great and Josh said he thought, 'What a chaser he will be', but after a circuit he started to struggle, and after a bit of a barging match at the end of the back straight Josh pulled him up at the entrance to the home straight. It was soon clear that he wasn't sound, and Josh jumped off of him. He was lame on his off fore, and it looked like a bad injury. The vets at the course did a great job, and he made the trip home last night, but unfortunately when he was scanned first thing this morning, it was clear that his injuries were very serious indeed, and although every effort would have been made to save his life, it was with great sadness that we made the decision to have him put down. Veterinary advise was that he would not recover from his injuries sufficiently to have any quality of life in the future - so there was no other option. Such a sad end for a very talented horse, who gave us some great days - thoughts are very much with his owners, and all of the staff at Stuarts who had done such a great job with him. He will be missed by us all. It has been a tough couple of weeks.