Sunday 2 February

In early February 2019 we celebrated hard - Classic Ben had just held on with grit and determination to land the Classic Chase in February - we were all over the moon! Little did we know, that we would have to wait a fraction under a year to visit the winners circle again! After 12 months of huge frustrations - with long term injuries, short term injuries, and retirements it was Molly Childers that ended the long drought on Friday afternoon in Catterick. Even this win was not without huge incident, as she looked booked for second until the leader got the last all wrong and fell, leaving her to come home in front and land the spoils. A few of her owners made the long trip north, and were there to collect the prize. Molly has been a great mare for them, winning just short of £50,000 and consistently finishing in the money. She has her problems, and is a very tough and genuine mare to keep on wanting to push herself through her problems. As ever, when we get a winner we want another, and we were hoping the London Bus effect would come into play in Sandown yesterday. Having waited so long for a winner we hoped that 2 may just come along at once, as Classic Ben went off favourite for the Classic Chase in Sandown once again. Sadly it was not to be, in a deeper race, and on softer ground he ran a fine race but could only finish fifth of the 10 strong field. Both he and Molly seem fine after their runs and will be out again in a few weeks, with a possible tilt at the Midlands National on the cards for Classic Ben should the ground be suitable. Elsewhere, Yauthym has an entry in Ludlow on Wednesday - and we will how she is early next week to see if she runs or not. She has come out of her run in Doncaster in good order, and has earned a BHA rating of 121.At Fences Farm, Figarella Borget, Go Millie Go and Our Bubba continue to recover from injuries. Land League is enjoying a quieter spell, and will be back when the better ground returns. Blue Bikini continues to go well in her work, but Stuart will back off of her for a few days as she just showed the effects of a few hard weeks in her work yesterday. Not unusual for a young filly, and she shouldn't be held up for long.The same applies to Hi Ho Silva Lining - who like Blue Bikin is just showing the effects of hardbwork, and is on lighter duties for a while. Queenohearts continues to recover at The Elms, along with Getaway Mixie, who will hopefully be rehomed in the near future, and San Seb, who, after recovering form a recurrence of the injury he suffered just over a year ago, has now been 'un retired', and will go back into training later in 2020.