Much milder

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer."

Albert Camus.

Mike putting on his boots before going on the gallops

A very bright morning once the light came up, and we are nearing the shortest day of the year which is tomorrow. Michael Bowring arrived on time after an early start from Sussex to see his horses canter on the Heath. Thank goodness everything went well, as sometimes when owners come things don't go quite as planned. We were reminiscing about one of Mike's old horses called Celtic Caber, who came from Ireland and we very excited about him. Unfortunately he didn't come up to scratch and only ran once for us before we knew our fate and found him a good home where he won a point to point. It's amazing when we look back and great to know that so many horses find another career after racing. You will find plenty of these in our 'Where are they now' section. In fact today we have had a card from the owners  of Tortola telling us how well he is doing, and coincidentally they are relations of Mike.

Heading off for a canter

You always want publicity which attracts people to our industry and it was good to see Wayne Rooney has bought a horse. We are very lucky to have our own celebrity owners in Mystic Meg and Dame Judi Dench, both of whom love their horses and have had plenty of success. If Racing for Change had a idea how to get publicity and attract people they should be looking in this direction. There is nothing like owning a racehorse for the pure excitement and involvement in the sport.

Mystic Meg's Astoscarlet 

Dame Judi's Smokey Oakey leading some yearlings

There are many historical places in Newmarket which nobody sees or understands. The picture below is of a post which stands on the corner of Sefton Lodge on Bury Side. It has a signpost which swings out when the Limekiln gallop is open. It is activated by an old fashioned mechanism i.e. a person! The Limekilns are only open in dry weather conditions so the arm has been in much use this year.

The Limekilns post