30/8/21

Unfortunately more members of Team Feilden have been struck down by Covid which is making life tough in the yard with limited numbers but the rest of the team are still doing a great job. This delta variant seems to be rampant but thankfully my team are fully vaccinated so those who have the virus aren't too ill and just need to do the quarantine period. Hopefully we will be a full team again shortly as Sophie is due to return from her broken hand soon too. Despite this we have managed to get the horses ridden and cared for to the usual high standard. 

We started and ended the week at Yarmouth with a visit to Kempton and Chelmsford in between. The N.E.T members had a few runners last week with Dilly Rosa and Shifting Gold running last Tuesday and Engrave running on the Sunday. Shifting Gold ran a promising race and holds an entry at Chelmsford on Thursday but I think I will wait until the following week where there is an apprentice race at Leicester. Engrave doesn't really act on the turf so I wasn't too disappointed with her run and think these turf runs should put her on song for her return to the all-weather. 

At Chelmsford we had Saray Prince and Hot Romance. We have come to the conclusion that Saray Prince does not fancy being a racehorse so we have taken the decision to retire him. He has already been rehomed and I am sure he will love being a riding horse. Hot Romance was only out for her third run but we learned more about her and hopefully she gets a nice handicap mark. 

Oud Metha Bridge, Spanish Mane and Heer's Sadie ran at Yarmouth on Sunday. Oud Metha Bridge ran a good race and may benefit from a change of headgear. Spanish Mane could have done with some more pace in the race but she ran credibly and Heer's Sadie ran a very similar sort of race to last time but I think the higher grade might have just caught her out slightly. 

For the week ahead we have Mrs Meader at Haydock where she will be partnered by Ross again. She was unlucky to lose first place in the photo finish in her last run at Windsor so hopefully things will go her way this time. Ross knows her inside out and they have formed a good partnership. On Friday we have two entries at Kempton in Sir Gregory and Takeustothemoon.