21/06/20

It was great to have the time to enjoy watching Royal Ascot this week and in hindsight holding the meeting was the right thing to do as it broadcast horseracing onto the world stage and hopefully attracted some new fans to the sport. The action on the track was exceptional and my highlight was seeing Hollie Doyle get her first winner at the meeting. I have followed Hollie's career from an early stage and she has been brilliant on the few horses she has ridden for me. As well as being a great rider, she is also a lovely person who hasn't let the success go to her head and always has time to say hello to everyone. At least another girl riding a winner at the meeting will keep my neighbour Gay Kelleway quiet as she has been telling everyone that she was the only person to do it for the past 30 years!

We've got a quiet week with runners and just some entries at the weekend.
On Friday I've got Gas Monkey entered at Doncaster and Newmarket and where he goes will depend on where the best ground is as we're set for a scorcher of a week in the coming days. He needed the run for fitness last time and he probably still needs to drop a couple of pounds in the weights until he can win again.

On Saturday we will have a couple of entries at Lingfield. Noble Account ran well there last time and it is well known that he has lots of ability but doesn't tend to show it on the track. The hold-up tactics we tried last time seemed to suit him but it does mean he needs lots of luck to win. They probably didn't go fast enough early on for him last time so a bit more pace in the race will see him finish closer.
I'll also have Ride and Prejudice entered there after she passed a stalls test two weeks ago. It has been almost a year since she last run thanks to her stalls issues and the lockdown but I hope we have got on top of her problems now and that she can finally start a race!
Also on Saturday I may enter Divine Queen at Newmarket. She showed promise on her first run for us earlier this month and she will be qualified for handicap races after this run.