Sunday 23 February

Molly Childers did it again - produced another fine run to add to her wonderfully consistent tally of results. Molly finished second in the valuable mares chase in Warwick on Friday, putting in a cracking round of jumping in ground as deep as she has ever encountered. Molly has now won or been second on 13 of her 24 starts under rules, add on a further 4 third place finishes and four fourth places and it tells you what a star she has been for her owners, and the team at Fences Farm. In fact she has only finished out of the first 4 on 3 of her career starts for The Ravenstone Partnership, and on one of those occasions she jumped into the back of a rival and almost came down. When you factor in that she has problems with her breathing and never has a day off as she is very prone to tying up (cramping), it just goes to show what a tough and resilient mare she is. She has come out of the race well, and if Bangor On Dee ever resurfaces from the floods that have engulfed the track over the last week, she will head there for another mares chase in a months time, before signing off for the season in Cheltenham in April. On Friday morning I was in at Fergal O'Brien's Ravenswell Farm near Andoversford to see Yauthym. Yauthym looks really well, and has certainly benefited from her short break away from training. She is now back 'in harness', and is being readied for a run in March. She looks to have improved physically, and the trainer ensures me there is more to come form her in the future, so everything looks very rosy for her at the moment! Land League is almost ready to run again, but the ground will need to dry up considerably for him. Figarella Borget is back cantering, and she is another that needs a sounder surface, so although she has had a couple of set backs in recent weeks, she will be on the go again in the spring. Classic Ben is over the respiratory infection he was suffering from when he last ran earlier this month. He could have an entry back in Sandown in a couple of weeks or wait and see if he gets a run in the Midlands National. A decision on this will be made later this week. Queenohearts, San Seb and Our Bubba continue to recuperate from injury at The Elms Stud. Go Millie Go is doing likewise at Fences Farm. Getaway Mixie is also still at The Elms recovering from injury, and is well. Hi Ho Silva Lining is also well, but he is being caught out by immaturity, and starts to struggle when his work is upped to near maximum effort. The likelihood is that he will be roughed off when the weather turns for the better, and given the time he needs over the summer, before returning to training in the autumn. Blue Bikini is back in good order, and after her brief spell on lighter duties, she has regained her appetite, and is on good terms with herself, hopefully she will be able to make her debut this spring. Most of the store horses that we have to sell for our investment syndicates this spring/summer have been inspected by the sales companies, and I am delighted to say that they have all got slots in the sales that we wanted them in. All they have to do now is get there in one piece, with clean vet certs, but if they do, I think we have very nice horses on the team, that should do very well. We certainly have 'Sire Power', with horses selling by very fashionable sires in Crillon, Coastal Path, Saddler Maker and No Risk At All. We also have a lovely 3 yr old by Manduro heading to the sales as well. I continue to search three countries for more horses, in particular, a hurdler to run through the summer for a new syndicate - and hopefully I will have some good news on this in the very near future.