Easy week

I can't remember it happening before but the flat racing calendar this week sees a whole seven days with no racing which gives everyone the chance to spend some proper time at home and catch up on things which is a good idea. From now until the start of the new turf season in March, all flat racing is on the all-weather and very likely to be under floodlights as more and more evening fixtures sneak into the fixture list. I can see why it is done as it provides day-long betting fodder for people but it does make life tough on those providing the sport as a full morning is worked before then heading to the races with a late return guaranteed.

Anyway, we don't have to worry about that for at least a week and we can be happy with the recent results from the yard. War Empress was a huge eye-catcher at Kempton on Wednesday when she finished a very unlucky fourth on her handicap debut at Kempton. It was her first try at two miles but she seemed to stay it very well and should win next time granted better luck in running. Sea Shack was another to land some prize money when filling the third spot at Southwell on Saturday evening. It was his first go at the track and he clearly handled the unique surface there very well.

Progress has been a bit slow on the new block of stables we are building as the wet weather this week kept the roofers away but hopefully they can crack on with things over the coming week and they seem optimistic that it won't take long to finish. We have a good few horses on their holidays at the minute but they'll need a roof over their heads when the weather turns nasty so it should be ready in time for then.
We said farewell to some horses this week as they were sold at the sales. Any Smile was bought to race in Germany, Telekinetic to run over hurdles here in the UK and Boxatricks has been retired to one of his owner's yards. Exning Queen was another to move on and she is beginning a new career as a polo pony. It is sad to see familiar faces leave the yard but you have to make way for the fresh talent as we continue to improve the quality of our stock.

We also said goodbye to team member Zoe who has decided on a career change after three years with us. Zoe will be a familiar face to many of you as she went racing very regularly and led up plenty of winners. We thank her for all her hard work and wish her the best in her next chapter.

Team Feilden say goodbye to Zoe

The yearlings continue to progress at a rate of knots as they go about their work very enthusiastically and are always keen to keep improving. We've made little video from their work this week which you can view below: