We're still waiting for the warmer weather to arrive and one sign of that is usually the return of the swallows who nest in the yard over the summer. John thought he had seen them a few days ago but they haven't been sighted since so maybe they went back to Africa and told their mates not to bother coming for a while yet! At least things have dried up in this area and the ground is less of a mud pit than it was a month ago. Our first runner for the week will be over hurdles as Clenched makes her handicap debut at Kempton on Monday. She struggled a bit in novice races so hopefully this will be bit easier for her in handicap grade. The following day we will be at Yarmouth with a pair of runners. Silver Shamrock ran a very encouraging seasonal reappearance last week at the track and hopefully she can step up on that effort. It is a bit soon for her between races but this was an ideal opportunity and she has come out of that last race fresh and well. Spanish Mane will be having her first run of the season and, as usual, she will likely need the race to blow away the cobwebs. She can be relied upon to win a couple of races every year but she always needs a run or two after the winter to get back to full fitness. Smokey Malone is entered at Chelmsford on Thursday as it looked a weak race at the entry stage. We will monitor the declarations as I'm reluctant to run him because he usually runs flat if making a quick reappearance. He ran a great race at the same course to finish third last week so we will see how fresh he is before declaring. Saturday will see us with a pair of entries at Leicester. Zanagor's career has been stop-start due to injury so it is great to get her back on track this week again. She needs another run to qualify for handicap races which is where she will be seen to best effect so hopefully she can enjoy racing again and come home in one piece for the future. Macho Sun might have a quick reappearance following his promising run at Nottingham on Saturday. The one mile trip was a bit sharp for him but he ran on encouragingly looking like 1m2f will see him to better effect. We'll see how he comes out of the race before deciding if to run again. THREE TO FOLLOW TOP 10 Ian Wright - 8 Julia Feilden - 5 Jonathan Kinge - 5 Rob Weston - 5 Gerry Garrard - 5 Dave Morris - 5 Dave Allaway - 5 Paul Brierley - 3 George Evans - 3 Keith Till - 3 The team are back in full swing now and even though our large raiding party to Yarmouth on Saturday evening didn't bring home a winner, there was plenty of encouragement and they all ran as we expected. Alibaba fared best with a second place and we thought he would go close having dropped a long way down the weights. He has always been a better horse on turf compared to the all weather so it was no surprise to see him back to form on the green stuff. There wasn't a lot to split Notre Dame and Silver Shamrock in the one mile handicap with plenty of promise from the latter, looking like stepping up in trip will see her win a race. The turf season never really gets going properly until the Craven meeting here in Newmarket so it's great that it is finally upon us this week and we can wave goodbye to winter. We will have just the one runner at HQ with Larenta making her debut in the fillies' maiden there on Wednesday. It is likely to be a hot race with all the big yards represented but it'll be a good day out for her and she will learn lots from the experience. Two with better chances come the following day at Chelmsford. Corporate Raider had a busy year last season and had plenty of success with it so he deserved a decent winter holiday. He has come back revitalised and a bit fitter than most of mine have been out of the winter so he could run well on his first start of the year. Whatever the result, he is sure to come on for it still. Smokey Malone has no fitness concerns having run over the winter and he should have a good chance at the same meeting. As ever, he needs luck in running to suit his hold up style but he is very reliable and always gives us a run of our money. The weekend will see two runners at Nottingham on Saturday. It was a shame that the track's first meeting of the year was cancelled last month due to water logging as soft ground is exactly what Macho Son needs. Things have dried up a bit but hopefully there's still enough juice in the ground as he always runs well on his first start of the season. Heer's Sadie on the other hand will likely need the race that same day to blow away the cobwebs. She is a bit of a Brighton specialist nowadays so she will have bigger targets there later this summer. FOUR TO FOLLOW UPDATE Now there are some points on the board, here are the current standings at this very early stage: Ian Wright - 6 Julia Feilden - 5 Jonathan Kinge - 5 Rob Weston - 5 Gerry Garrard - 5 Dave Morris - 5 Dave Allaway - 5 + Lots on 1 point We got some great news this week that Moralisa is settling into her new home very well. She wasn't with us long before injury forced her retirement but I'm so glad she has settled into her new life with owner Debbie. |