Dingle time

Whilst you shouldn't wish your time away, I'm very much looking forward to this weekend as it sees John and myself make our annual trip to Dingle in the west of Ireland for the country's big pony racing meeting. Over the years we have sourced a number of small racehorses for our friend Tommy in Ireland to run in these races and he has done very well with them - this year he is hoping to have three runners at the meeting.
There is a good group of us going and the people are so friendly that it's always a great time...even with the inevitable rain!

Before that though we have a busy week.
On Tuesday, Dakota City heads to Doncaster sales and he goes there as a fit and sound horse who should give someone plenty of fun in more races. We have done well with him but he hasn't been showing much interest in his last few races so a change of scenery should perk him right up. He is related to some good jumpers too so could do well over hurdles, something we have not tried with him.

Then on Wednesday we go to the races proper and will be hitting Brighton's three-day festival hard with a load of runners.
On the opening Wednesday, we could have up to five runners, depending on who gets in their races.
Sure to get a run are Silver Alliance and Go On Gal. Silver showed some more life at the track last time and the unique nature of the place seems to bring the best out of him as he is getting a bit lazy in his old age. He'll have the blinkers back on and can hopefully come with a late run.
Go On Gal has run some of her best races at the course too so I hope a return there can see her bounce back to form after some unusually below-par runs from her. She is in good form at home so I don't see why she shouldn't.

Go On Gal (Gemma) & Silver Alliance (Tess)

Also a likely runner on Wednesday is Terri Rules. She has run two good races since being switched to handicaps and the step up to six furlongs looks ideal after running on over a furlong shorter last time. How she handles the track is a bit of an unknown but she seems pretty versatile.
One horse who loves the place is Spirit Of Sarwan and hopefully he can get a run in the Brighton Mile that day. This has been the aim for him for a long time as the uphill finish really suits him. He will have a pair of cheek pieces on to wake him up and I hope our belief in him can pay off.

Spirit Of Sarwan (Adam) & Candesta (Sam)

Our fifth and final entry on the first day at Brighton is Limerick Lord. He has done really well physically since having a spring break and his first run back on soft ground was pleasing enough. The track should suit him, as will the step up to seven furlongs. Should he not get in, he is also entered there the following day in a similar race.

Limerick Lord (Ross)

Also entered on Thursday and sure to get a run is Majestic Moon. He loves his racing and has been kept busy this summer. Unfortunately we had weather more like winter at Ascot last week and the soft ground really didn't suit him. It should be a bit firmer at Brighton this time and he will run his usual honest race, if handling the track.

Majestic Moon (Sarah)

I must say a big thank you to Chris Shirran who arranged a very fun and entertaining quiz for N.E.T. Racing Club members at Yarmouth last week. He came up with some Club-related questions that not even I knew the answers to and it was rather fitting that Maureen Case was the winner of the inaugural Kevin Case Memorial Trophy. Great work Chris and hopefully we can all do it again next year.

​FOUR TO FOLLOW LEADERBOARD

​John Chalklin 63
Ken Campbell 61
Ros Taylor 61
George Evans 59
Clare Peacock 58
Kevin Case 55
J Rogers 50
Trevor Mather 49
Christine Sparham 49
John Tucker 48