SATURDAY – WOLVERHAMPTON

6:00 Novice

Mickydee (Rossa Ryan)

He took a bit of a backwards step at Salisbury last time but the ground was quite soft there so we’re having a crack on the All Weather and we’ll try and ride him a little more patiently. He’s been in fine form at home and could go well.

8:30 Novice

Big Wing (Rossa Ryan)

He was ready to run last backend end but we never quite managed to get him out and we’ve had our fair share of problems with him this season as well, but he’s a pretty smart horse who works very well and we’ve had a nice clear run with him so he goes there ready to do the job if he’s good enough.

We’re at that stage of the season when we can take our feet off the pedal slightly as most of the horses have had their last runs and go into winter hibernation. As we all know it’s been a very strange year which was cut short and after not knowing when things would start back up again we eased up on them but when it did, everything seemed to come up very quickly and we had to try and make the best of what wasn’t an ideal situation, but we still enjoyed a very good season and managed to pick up some decent prizes on the way including with Happy Romance who was an absolute star. Her win in the Super Sprint was particularly sweet as it was another success in the race  we have a great record in and I was delighted for her owners who are newcomers to racing and it was certainly a case of beginners luck! She capped her season with a great run in the Cheveley Park Stakes where I don’t think she was particularly in love with the track as I thought she was coming to win when she hit a few of the ridges which cost her, but she is still a very high class filly and has so far amassed over £207,000 in prize money which isn’t too shabby! She’s finished for the season and will more than likely return next year in something like the Fred Darling at Newbury before a possible crack at the Guineas, but that’s a long way off.

Chindit & Etonian just could not operate on the ground in the Dewhurst and are finished for the year now. It wasn’t just soft, or heavy, it was bottomless and in hindsight we probably shouldn’t have run but the good news is they are both absolutely fine and have come out of the race in good form. They are two very smart colts who will be back for the Classic trials which will probably be the Craven and Greenham.

We deliberately decided not to run Fancy Man again after his win in the Ascendant Stakes at Haydock as he’s a big horse who still has plenty of growing to do and it seemed a nice point to stop him when we did, but he could be a proper Derby horse and I’m looking forward to next year with him when he could start off in the Fielden Stakes at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting.

It was good to see Ouzo win at York last week and he has come out of that bouncing so I might find another race for him but if not, he’ll have a holiday and Beat Le Bon will head to Dubai for the Carnival at Meydan.

I haven’t spoken to Jeanette McCreery with regards to the future of Billesdon Brook but she may head to Hong Kong for their big International meeting at Sha Tin in December if we get invited…

No decision has been made concerning Anna Nerium and whether she’ll be retired but Cloak Of Spirits may have run her last race, although it hasn’t yet been confirmed by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.

Sadly things didn’t go to plan for Threat this season and he failed to recapture his excellent two-year-old form so he has been retired and sold to stand at Stud in France. Mums Tipple will certainly not be heading to stud as he’s been gelded and we’ll try and get him back to his best for next year because I’ve not entirely given up on him.