Definightly arrived at Capennelle at midday on Friday, having had a trouble free trip. He went for a trot in the afternoon and my travelling head lad John Da Costa, reported that he felt fresh and well.  Although the ground was apparently heavy on Wednesday it has now dried out to good to soft,  which is slightly disappointing but he has a good draw in stall 1 which is on the rails.  

Definightly is well on his way to Rome to run in the Premio Umbria Group 3 on Sunday.  He stayed last night in France and will travel through the Mont Blanc tunnel and on to Rome via Milan to arrive hopefully on Friday afternoon with some energy left.  As usual I find myself 'googling'  Italian Weather at least twice a day and hoping that the under foot conditions will be suitably soft at the weekend. To my surprise the clerk of the course in Rome does keep a daily record of the amount of rain that has fallen since Sunday.!  There would be quite a few more grumpy trainers here if the Clerks of the Courses didn't know exactly how much rain had fallen !

Another overseas  trip might be on the agenda for Definightly who could go to Rome for a 6 furlong Group 3 on Sunday.  Having won his first Group race in heavy ground at Maisons-Laffitte on 1st November, I had originally thought that he had done enough for the year but  the conditions in Rome should suit him and there are no other suitable races for him until mid May. He worked well over 3 furlongs on the grass this morning and he continues to look happy and enthusiastic.  He has been raised another 8lb to 114 by Stewart Copeland who is the BHA sprint handicapper, this rating takes him above Genki 111 and equal with Avonbridge. 

Sadly the rain never arrived and the wind had picked up  during the morning, so the ground according to Jimmy Fortune was riding 'too quick' for Clowance.  Nothing ventured  nothing gained yet again, but still a long way to go. 

Keys saved the day by winning the bumper at Ffos Las, which was my first  NH winner.  Paddy Brennan rode him beautifully and he was excited about him and he thought that he would have no problem following up with a 7lb penalty.  His next race could be on the AW at Lingfield on November 23rd. 

No rain at Capanelle so far by 10.30am but there is still a chance of getting some before Clowance's race at 3.05pm this afternoon. The ground is currently good to soft and soft in places and it can't be too soft for her, especially as she is dropping back in trip to 10 furlongs.  This is probably her last chance to win a Group 1 as I would imagine she will be retiring to stud soon.

Keys runs at Ffos Las this afternoon at 4.25pm, my first ever runner in a bumper.  I have no idea what level of form is normally required to win  but he is fit, bred to stay and his work would suggest that he is a 70-75 rated flat horse.  It would be an interesting double if his half sister could win in Rome.  

Good news from Rome, Clowance and Steve Raymont arrived after a trouble free journey at 2pm yesterday. She was ridden out during the afternoon and she will be doing a steady canter this morning as she is so full of herself and fresh.  We are keeping a close eye on the BBC Weather map for Rome, and if they are right we should have some rain on Sunday which will aid her chances.

Brunston is our last runner of the season (I think), as I am now not sure when the season begins and ends, maybe Racing For Change have arranged for it to go from Christmas to Christmas?  I thought Brunston's last race over 10 furlongs at Newbury a fortnight ago was very encouraging. It showed that he had recaptured his form from the Spring when he rather surprised me to win The Spring Mile at Newbury, it also looked as if he was crying out for a return to 12 furlongs.  As long as the ground isn't too soft (no rain over night) and he gets a good run through the race I will be disappointed if he doesn't run well.   

Clowance is now well on her way to Milan and she is loving being away from home, eating, sleeping and drinking but she's not on holiday yet.  As Richard Hughes is now not going to America I am hoping that he will be available to ride her again on Sunday in the Premio Roma.  

There seems to be plenty of aggro with the track foreman at Churchill Downs, regarding the amount of watering or indeed lack of it on the turf course.  Sir Michael will no doubt be doing plenty of whistling, dum-diddy-dumming and chatting to himself.  Most of the Breeders Cup card sadly looks to be particularly uninteresting to UK racing fans, with the exception of the mile and mile and a half turf races. 

It is fairly disappointing that both Godolphin and Ballydoyle haven't been able to find a horse to run in the mile and half turf with only 8 declared runners, and 7 if Workforce doesn't run,  they must have had so many horses too choose from?  It's a great pity that  some of the American tracks are reverting to a traditional dirt surface and giving up on the poly track and pro-ride.  Europeans will always be at a huge disadvantage running on dirt and I can imagine the Breeders Cup becoming less competitive again in the future, maybe it will help the Champion Stakes at Ascot ?

Definightly returned from France having travelled through Tuesday night and looked surprisingly well last night at evening stables. He eats well and he had only lost 5kg since he left home on Friday, which makes it much easier to plan more trips abroad in the future.

Clowance left this morning for Rome, it will be a long journey for her but she took her trips to Ireland and France without a problem last year.  She is travelling in a 6 Horse LRT box so there will be plenty of room during the journey for her to move around. They travel through the Eurotunnel, then on to Troyes were they spend the night before travelling 9 hours to Milan on Thursday.  She will have a canter on Friday morning and then continue her journey of 6 hours to Rome. All being well, she will get the opportunity to canter again on Saturday morning on the racecourse, she certainly doesn't need to do any strong work but she can get quite fresh so it's important to keep her on the move.

 The going was heavy at Capannelle racecourse on Tuesday after 36mm of rain but the forecast is for dry weather for the next few days, and I will be praying for more before Sunday afternoon.  Clowance loves/needs the soft and it will be even more important as she is dropping back in distance to 10 furlongs for the first time, since she won a listed race at Newbury as a 3 year old. She will be supplemented for the Premio Roma Group 1  tomorrow so we are taking a bit of a gamble, but a victory would make her a very valuable brood mare and there are no other races for her in 2010. There is a first prize of 135,000 euros and in the past it hasn't always been seen as the strongest Group 1.

Clowance worked on the trial ground this morning in preparation for a possible trip to Rome for the Premio Roma Gr 1 on Sunday, and she remains in good form and her race at Newbury has definitely ' brought her on'.

After all the excitement of the Hanagan/ Hughes battle for the title it was a bit of a damp squib yesterday at Wolverhampton and it wasn't aided by Knockdolian (Hughes) who was a disappointing favourite for us. Richard now has a mountain to climb to win the championship unless he has a magical day at Kempton.  Knockdolian needs still more time and Richard reported that he still feels very weak but eventually he will get there, let's hope he's right.

Clowance worked on the trial ground this morning in preparation for a possible trip to Rome for the Premio Roma Gr 1 on Sunday, and she remains in good form and her race at Newbury has definitely ' brought her on'.