Equus – I enjoyed this well organised event
We missed out on last week’s blog but it was a fantastic Equus Awards; really well run. Thankfully there were not too many speeches that dragged on for too long, although the drummer could have been brought in a bit sooner every now and then, writes Joey Ramsden.
It was probably mostly the right results along the way although from my side, there was one questionable one.
However, there is no point in crying over spilt milk. It was a great event, and well attended.
Barry Hilton was excellent and has proved himself to be the premiere comedienne in this country. Yes, even better than the great Trevor Noah.
Mike Bass – wishing him well
On a personal level – and I am sure everyone agrees with me – the phenomenal recovery of Mike Bass has been nothing more than heart-warming. The man must be made of steel to even be around and hopefully on the road to recovery after all he has been through.
Only his immediate family know what he has really been through but the bits and bobs that we have heard makes for a truly remarkable story and a measure of his courage. We wish him everything of the best on his road to recovery.
On the racing front, not much has been happening.
We had the Johannesburg Two Year Old sales which ended up with mixed results for everyone. Horses are much like paintings; people will only pay what they are worth. That was proved yet again in Johannesburg.
There are no sales for a couple of weeks so we can get on with the business of training the horses. We are all in the middle of vaccines and trying to work our way around them. It is not easy but we seem to be winning and I am looking forward to pulling out some of the better horses in the next few weeks.
This was always a time of year we were able to go away but having two beautiful school going girls means our holidays are now restricted to school holidays. This means exorbitant air fares if one wants to go anywhere. From someone who travels extensively, it is great to see so many new airlines coming in which will hopefully give the established few around a run for their money. Let’s hope the squeeze is not put on them and they are forced out like so many before them.
We have had loads of fun this year with our babies.
We have brought them in earlier than usual, mainly due to the fact that the spelling farms are choc-a-block full and not able to take them.
Felix Coetzee – top man
So we have been using the services of Felix Coetzee.
He has been to more Monty Roberts courses than possibly Monty himself. I have to say that the youngsters he has worked with have all passed with flying colours. It is great to see them trotting along and hacking in a straight line and being impeccably behaved. The proof will be in the eating in a few months time.
Not much else going on and have had plenty of couch time in what has been a remarkable weekend of sport. England’s capitulation on the cricket field was no real surprise. However, the two wonder stories of the weekend was the magnificent Usain Bolt retaining his crown and beating devil incarnate Justin Gatlin truly was a fairy tale. He has to be one of the greatest athlete’s ever seen. He certainly is one of the best showmen.
Jessica Ennis-Hill’s remarkable heptathlon result (from a biased Englishman) was also heart warming, having only conceived a year ago. To come back and compete at that level and then win gold is truly special.
As for the football, it was a weekend best forgotten for West Ham supporters.
I received the usual digs and probably the right one from Jehan Malhebe, saying that West Ham looked relegation material. I would not argue with him. I am starting to move my allegiance towards Crystal Palace who are magnificent to watch, along with Leicester City, whom I really enjoy. Manchester City look the premier team this year and are a long way clear of the rest. Mourinho, not having had the best couple of weeks, will have to dig deep.
Back on the racing side, York was a great television spectacle.
Training legends front row – William Haggas and Sir Michael Stoute – that’s me playing hooker
Anyone who has ever been there will know what a special place it is. Royal Ascot at York was truly a memorable event a few years back. The racing is top class and the sights and sounds of the race goers, particularly some of those beautiful Northern lasses, really is something to see.
William Haggas, who has been a great friend of South Africa, put in an amazing training performance, winning five races of which some were Listed or Graded. As a Yorkshireman himself, I know he takes great pride in winning there. He must have had a few headaches along the way last week. What a performance from him and his team and his wife, Maureen.
Well, that’s it for this week.
I hope a few more exciting things happen so I have more to report next week. Sadly, with no racing here midweek, it might be time to pull out those rusting golf clubs and show the world how bad I really am at the game!
Read the whole story on www.joeyramsden.com
