It has been a while since I have put pen to paper. Life has been hectic with not a spare moment, writes Joey Ramsden.
We had a fantastic Met day and Justin Snaith’s tally was quite remarkable. He had a huge amount of runners but it was still a spectacular achievement and well done to him.
I must say that it hurt a little to get beaten a short head in the Cape Flying Championship by my good mate, Brett Crawford.
Fatty (Brutal Force) pops his head in as Gulf Storm finishes strongly
Many short heads have gone my way and Met day has usually been lucky for me. However, during the past few years, short heads have not been going our way.
But we had a few good seconds. Coltrane had a minor setback a week before his run and this might have cost him finishing that bit closer in the J&B Stayers race.
We need our horses to be fast and effective, too!
I am very much looking forward to running all our stayers this weekend. It is good to have a few of them as we have been a bit short of staying horses the past couple of years. There is nothing better than training a really good stayer and it always gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.
There are a number of sales going on. It must have been tough for the TBA this weekend. They had to take on Valentine’s Day, Soccer Super Sunday, the International Cricket final and Six Nations rugby.
I know sales dates are formulated far in advance, as is the racing programme.
Racing, judging on the size of our fields, is going to have to start being a lot more flexible and so is a certain sales company.
CTS have proven that they are flexible and the opposition is going to have to start doing the same if they want to keep going.
It is not just about the trainers being at the sales and buying horses: one needs the potential owner there as well. Sadly, there was just far too much world class sport to ignore.
Thankfully the weather has started to cool down a little bit here and I think the horses are enjoying it. Coats are still shiny as we head into our last feature race weekend.
As I said earlier, we had a good record in the Chairman’s and other staying races, including the PE Derby, and I love to win these. Fingers crossed we can sign off on a winning note. All three of our runners must have a lively chance.
I am off to London for a few days and will then head to Australia for the Melbourne Premier Sale.
I’m off to London for a short stay
It is a lovely sale to attend with top quality yearlings on show. I just hope it is not too hot as the weather seems to follow the sales around.
Thankfully, Cape Thoroughbred Sales are held under cover and with air conditioning – a huge plus factor when viewing yearlings.
It is time to start following the Joburg programme.
We could well be taking a couple up for the sprint races. I am very much looking forward to getting my old friend, Red Ray, back. It will be an emotional reunion.
Red Ray – he is coming home!
The family have been good to me and let’s hope the big fellow comes back as good as ever. I am certainly excited at the prospect of training him again.
I will be having a quiet couple of days in London and I cannot express how much I am looking forward to it. The past few weeks have been particularly hectic. Once I head to Australia, it will be nose to the grindstone again with many yearling to view, something I particularly enjoy.
Colonel Avo will be steering the ship while I am over the water.
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