Gas Monkey has undoubtedly been the star of the show this season and he made it four wins for the year when notching another at Newbury on Saturday. He has gone up over a stone in the weights since his winning streak began but he had a little more improvement left in him to get his head in front once again for the N.E.T. Racing Club.

The Club have now enjoyed their best ever year with regards to winners and the fun that members have had from just a £200 per year membership is fantastic. Newbury is a lovely racecourse to attend as an owner and plenty of members had the chance to enjoy their day.
Gas Monkey is their star and he was given a lovely ride by amateur jockey Sarah Bowen who settled him nicely behind the leaders and bided her time before hitting the front a furlong from home and winning a bit easier than the half a length margin suggests. Anything he can do for the rest of this season will be a bonus but hopefully there is still some more fun to come.

Good days like this certainly make up for the bad ones which there are plenty of in this game. I left Yarmouth on Thursday evening very deflated after some disappointing performances from our runners. They all had various excuses though so we had that as consolation and I'm sure they will all bounce back next time.
Alibaba's fourth place at Windsor last Sunday was very promising though and he looks as though he should be winning before the year is out. We don't have many two-year olds capable of winning as we tend to buy ones which will improve with age so it would be great if we can get a juvenile winner on the board just to show that we can win with them given the right ammunition!

I had loads of entries this Tuesday but the ground and other factors mean that we have ended up with just two runners now.
Lily Bonnette showed a bit more ability last time after her debut and she still has more to come but this looks a very hot race with all the big boys in it so we will use it as some more experience for her and she will also qualify for handicap races after this.
Tallulah's Quest will be heading to the seaside with her and hopefully she can build on her last run which followed a year off the track. She got pretty tired that day so should be fitter now and can hopefully finish a bit closer.

The nights are starting to draw in now and Newmarket hosted it's last music night of the year last week which means the inevitable end of summer. There's still a bit of racing left on the July Course though and we will be there next Friday with Winter Snowdrop. She has been ultra consistent and can hopefully run another respectable race.
Alibaba will be our only entry at the weekend as he could be at either Beverley or Goodwood on Sunday. They are very similar races so we will see which looks the easier and where has the softer ground. If he can build on his good run last week then he should almost win.

It's not long until our owners' trip to Burghley Horse Trials on Thursday 5th September and we noe have a couple of spaces free after some late drop-outs. We will be leaving the yard at 9.30am and returning at 5.30pm. Burghley is one of the world's best three-day events and there's loads to do at the venue aside from seeing some world-class riders and horses. The cost of £40 includes the return coach trip and entrance tickets. If you would like to join us please email birkettbloodstock@gmail.com.

​Ann Buy 146
Linda Weston 129
Leonard Wain 129
Jim Stevens 127
Mark Jackson 126
Andy Condon 124
Pam Smith 122
Darren Jeal 116
Dominic Lisle 116
Sue Morris 113
Rob Weston 113

We were set for a busy week and it certainly was one but thankfully all the horses were in great form and we had a fantastic result with Spanish Mane getting her head in front at Yarmouth on Wednesday evening.
You may remember that both she and Shelley took a crashing fall at the same course in April, a fall which meant Shelley was injured for two months. Thankfully the horse was perfectly fine but her races since then had been very disappointing as she didn't show her old spark. However, a change to front-running tactics this time did the trick as she dug deep in the finish to win the race in a photo finish with Shelley in the saddle.

The result was the perfect reward for the horse's syndicate of owners who never lost faith in her and rightly thoroughly enjoyed the success - some even had a little bet on her at 33/1.
The story seemed to catch plenty of attention in the media as we got lots of TV coverage (which you can watch HERE) plus the Racing Post wrote a lovely article about it which you can read HERE.

​It was a very successful week all round as most of the other runners ended up in the winners' enclosure with New Expo and Noble Account running great races down at Brighton whilst Exning Queen, Winter Snowdrop, Approve The Dream and Telekinetic did the same at Yarmouth.

Not everything went to plan though as on Wednesday we had runners at three different meetings so had to share a lift with another trainer to get Boxatricks to Kempton. Unfortunately their horse box broke down 20 minutes after leaving down the A11 so they were stuck at the side of the road for three hours as back-up was sorted and the authorities closed the road to allow the horses to switch horse boxes. Obviously by this time it was too late for the horses to get to the races so they had to turn around and come home! Thankfully no one was any worse for the experience and the horses behaved impeccably well.

As you will guess, this week will be a bit quieter as most of the yard ran last week but we still have a few entries, including a few horses who might run again quickly but we will see how they are and what their races look like.
Miss Green Dream has a couple of entries, one at Beverley on Wednesday and Yarmouth the following day. She likes firm ground so that will decide where we go but she is in top form at the moment and ready to win so fingers crossed she gets her ideal conditions.

Sea Shack is also entered twice on Thursday, at Beverley and Lingfield. He doesn't mind some juice in the ground so a trip up north might be on the cards but we will see which race looks the easier option for him. He has had a bit of a break after a busy winter and spring and the time off seems to have recharged his batteries and enthusiasm. He is quite a stuffy horse so will probably improve for the run but he is handicapped to be competitive now.

We have lots of entries at Yarmouth on Thursday but, like I said, some of those ran last week so we will see how they are feeling first.
Spanish Mane is entered again and will have to carry a 5lb penalty if she does run so we will see how much she goes up in the handicap on Tuesday morning before making a decision. Exning Queen is also entered in this race and the step up to seven furlongs looks just what she needs after again missing the break and finishing strongly over six furlongs last week.
New Expo is the other entry that day and like the others we will see how he is feeling after a good run at Brighton on Friday.

Gas Monkey ran a bit flat at Newcastle last time after three consecutive wins so we will be looking for him to bounce back at Newbury on Saturday. He is in a lady amateur riders' race so should get a fast pace to chase and is back over the course and distance he won over two runs ago so hopefully he can get a similar result.

​Ann Buy 134
Andy Condon 122
Linda Weston 117
Leonard Wain 119
Jim Stevens 116
Mark Jackson 114
Pam Smith 112
Sue Morris 111
Rob Weston 111
Darren Jeal 106