All 5 of our runners yesterday finished in ' the money' including a winner at Warwick. In the last 14 days over 80% of our runners have been placed so the horses are running well but the lack of rain is becoming a big worry to a lot of racecourses as well as trainers, since the beginning of March we have only had 5mm !

Deceptive showed her inexperience and she didn't handle the undulations in the straight at Chepstow but ran on well to finish 3rd. St Oswald was a little out paced but ran well to be beaten a length in 3rd and he will be better suited to 7 furlongs.  At Windsor Marzante didn't really help his jockey in the closing stages by running green and finished 4th and Goldtrek ran well but unfortunately just got tired in the closing stages having hit the front 3 furlongs out to finish 3rd.  Sergeant Troy probably won a weak race after the favorite was withdrawn in the morning and one of the runners was carried wide by No Larking (Refuse To Bend ) again on the bend, but he's a nice colt so should continue to improve I hope. 

We have runners at three meetings this afternoon, Windsor, Warwick and Chepstow.  Deceptive runs for the Queen in the mile and a quarter maiden at Chepstow at 2.45pm, she is a big strong filly who was rather weak and backward last year but should show improvement now that she is going up to 10 furlongs. Todays race looks very open and I am hoping she might sneak into the first three. 

St Oswald runs in the 3.45pm, he is in good form and should have a good chance, but there is a possibility that 6 furlongs might be too sharp for him and his next race is likely to be over 7 furlongs. 

St Oswald

At Warwick we run Sergeant Troy in the three year old 0-70 handicap at 4.40pm. He was very unlucky in his last race when carried wide on the bend at Windsor and it looks a competitive race but I am hoping that he will run well. 

Sergeant Troy

Marzante runs in the feature handicap at  Windsor this afternoon with William Buick at 3.55pm where I hope he will run well. 

Marzante (nearside)

Goldtrek runs in the 4.55pm, also ridden by William Buick, she is a lovely big filly and I hope is still improving, but like quite a few of my runners she has been held up by the persistent firm ground and she may still be a little heavy.

Goldtrek (USA)

Sea Of Heartbreak ran another brilliant race and yet again showed improved form to finish a good second in her first try in a Gr3, she should continue to improve as she was quite heavy and had a good blow for half an hour after the race. I was however slightly disappointed by Primevere as her work with Sea Of Heartbreak had been so encouraging but she didn't really  enjoy the very fast ground and returned home this evening with sore shins. It is also possible that as she shows plenty of speed at home that her best trip may turn out to be over 8 furlongs, the Oaks would now look unlikely.

I was thrilled and a little frustrated with the way Proponent ran hitting the front with a furlong to run but then easily passed by a well handicapped horse who is expected to be stakes performer later in the season. Please Mr Handicapper don't raise his rating as any horse as consistent as him does deserve to win occasionally.... 

Proponent should love the fast ground and is running on a course that suits his style, but he has been a victim of his own consistency. He has now run 27 times and his rating varies between 90 and 97 (today 95) and he did in fact win this race off a rating of 90 in 2008.  I would expect him to run another good and consistent race but he has a habit of finding two or three to beat him, but fingers crossed for another good effort.

Tomorrow we have two runners at Newmarket, both fillies that I love to bits. Sea Of Heartbreak runs in the Group 3 Dahlia Stakes at 2.35 pm and according to the ratings, she will need to continue to "lift her game" even further than she did last year. In 2010 she started life on a rating of 70 having won her maiden the previous Autumn at Wolverhampton. She did tremendously well last year winning three of her races and ending up with a handicap rating of 103 after running a close fourth in a competitive fillies Listed race at Newmarket in October over 10 furlongs. She is a real trier and should love the fast ground and I will be thrilled to see her run well but I imagine she will benefit from the race.

Sea Of Heatbreak

Primevere makes her second start in the Pretty Polly Stakes at 5pm having won her maiden at Kempton in October and in the process apparently breaking their two year old course record.  Her work has always been encouraging and I am pleased with the progress that she has made during the Spring and I hope that she will like the fast ground.  Its hard to assess the race with so many lightly raced fillies in opposition but I am hoping and expecting her to run very well. I think she will stay the10 furlongs but there must be some doubts from her pedigree of her staying 12 furlongs although she is by Singspiel.

Primevere 

 Camberley Two runs tomorrow in the first race at Salisbury a 6 furlong maiden race. To date he has shown very little form but at last the penny seems to be dropping and I am expecting him to show much more promise tomorrow, but he would appreciate going up in distance in the future.

Camberley Two

I thought Excavator made a very encouraging debut at Bath yesterday, he was extremely fast out of the boxes and travelled well until just tiring in the closing stages to be beaten by a more experienced colt.  It is a bonus when horses can handle fast ground and he should be capable of winning a race over 5 or 6 furlongs during May. 

I have got no runners today but  Proponent will be heading off in the morning to Newmarket to run in a race that he won three years ago when the prize money was 25% higher !   He ran a very encouraging seasonal debut in the Spring Cup at Newbury and he is being reunited with Frankie Dettori who won on him at Newmarket in October 2009.

Proponent (Ire)

Korithi got very tired having raced prominently in her race but the experience will have done her alot of good, she blew hard after the race and lost 20 kilos.   Thistle Bird has always been a slightly complicated character regarding the starting stalls but she went in first and behaved extremely well although she was surrounded by several horses that were all misbehaving. She was installed for over 8 minutes which for a highly strung filly on her first visit to the races was much too long. I was pleased with the way she ran, staying on to be a well beaten 4th. She will probably run over a mile again but gave me the impression that although her dam ran over 6 and 7 furlongs, she may be able to go up in distance.

Excavator runs this afternoon for the first time in the 3.40 pm at Bath.  He is a gelding that I bought at Doncaster Sales in September and he has shown plenty of speed, although his family is full of stamina. The ground will be fast but he is a good mover and I hope will run well.

Clowance was a possible runner in France on Saturday in The Prix Ganay but yet again we have been frustrated by the lack of rainfall, the ground is currently good and only a few showers are forecast in the Paris area .  Her next possible race weather permitting will be at York in The Yorkshire Cup on the 13th May.

We have got two runners this evening at Kempton with Korithi in the first division at 6.20pm and Thistle Bird in the second division at 6.50pm.  Korithi is a good looking and strong daughter of Oasis Dream from a good Juddmonte family, her dam Zante won a Listed race over 10 furlongs at Salisbury.  She has always been a very laid back character and a rather lazy worker but I would expect her to show promise and improve after todays race.  Thistle Bird is a daughter of Selkirk out of a tough race mare that won several Listed races over 6 furlongs when trained by Nicholas Clement.  Like Korithi I would hope that she would show promise but also to improve for the race.

I was very pleased with the way Cityscape ran at Sandown yesterday just tiring a furlong out to finish an honorable second to Dick Turpin who is a very high class and consistent Gr1  winner.  I must compliment Andrew Cooper and his team for producing such beautiful ground to race on, having walked the course I was convinced that it would be safe for Cityscape.  He trotted up well this morning and he should be a fitter horse should he get the opportunity to run again in the next few weeks with the Lockinge remaining a possible target.