Avertor runs at Goodwood today and I  am hoping that the blinkers work as well as they did with his close relations Avonbridge and Patavellion, he has been just a tad disappointing this season so far. 

I was joined by Barry Hurley of Seasons Holidays this morning who came to see his filly Clowance work . Rather like Cityscape we have been very frustrated not to have been able to run her on soft going since April when she ran on ground that was too quick for her. She now has a couple of opportunities to win again before retiring to stud at the end of the season.  She has always been a high class performer ( Group One placed three times), but she has had her problems in the past and she needs soft ground which has been in short supply until recently. She could run in the Pride Stakes at the weekend at Newmarket but I suspect that with the drier forecast the ground will be too quick for her. Yet again more patience and still more patience required... frustrating !

I was really pleased with Sea Of Heart Break who was ridden by Steve this morning. She has such a good attitude and she is a real trier having won 3 times this season already.  She puts her head down and gallops with such enthusiasm, she has an entry on Friday at Newmarket in a 3+  fillies Listed race over 10 furlongs. She will need to improve again to have a chance on the ratings ( she is rated 92) but her form is encouraging and if she doesn't achieve ' black type ' this season I hope that she will return in 2011.

Another great effort from Genki to be beaten narrowly by an improving filly. I have to take issue with The Racing Post report  '' Genki more consistent since head gear fitted''.....when ?  In his last 10 races, 5 times without head gear, he has been beaten on average 2 1/2 lengths with one exception when he ran badly (with head gear) in this year's Stewards Cup, on ground that was desperate.  In fact in 25 career starts he has only been out of the money 5 times, there are very few sprinter in training as consistent as him.  I stick up for my friends and reporters need to do their research....

Definightly arrived at the Curragh having travelled well and eaten up during his 12 hour journey. The ground should be to his liking so let's hope he can ' bring home the bacon'. 

Off to Newmarket on Sunday to buy some more Genkis just in case anyone is feeling flush and would like a share in a yearling ?

Clowance out at exercise, she will be having her second appearance of the year later this month

Genki has become one of my best friends, he has all the charm and character that you could ever ask for from a racehorse. He is a real trier and tomorrow he needs to prove that he can win his first Group race, his record so far is from 24 races 6 wins, 12 places and over £200,000, so a proper star in the yard. He looks a million dollars but he needs a secure surface to run on and I hope the ground at Ascot is not too loose. My old mate Dandy has worked his magic on Redford and he will be a tough horse to beat especially with Richard Hughes riding with such confidence....what a pity Richard has to miss a week as he could have won the jockey's championship.

Definighty will probably be rerouted to the Curragh on Sunday to run in a 6 furlong Listed race worth £ 22,000 where he should have a better chance. He leaves here at 5am  today (Saturday) and should arrive at the racecourse by 5pm, he is due to be ridden by Kevin Manning who knows every inch of the Curragh.

 Al Kazeem ran a race full of promise as I had hoped he would do.  He is a big, strong and imposing colt who can only improve next year and it was pleasing to see him travelling up with the pace before tiring in the closing stages as expected.  If he comes out of his race well, I would like to run him again before the end of the season.

Yabtree ran his normal race to finish in the middle and I will be asking the handicapper to justify his current mark, sadly some horses never seem to have much chance.

I returned yesterday having spent many hours walking round the Tattersalls sales paddocks searching for yearlings to buy.  I did eventually manage to buy a very attractive colt by Rock of Gibraltar for one of my existing owners and it will be exciting to see how he progresses in the next few weeks.   The sales seemed to be either feast or famine and it was noticeable that the majority of pin hookers were losing money. At the top end of the market there seemed to be plenty of money for good looking and well bred yearlings and I think that overall the standard looked very high, if only I had some money to spend !  

Al Kazeem is at Newbury in a two year old 8 furlong maiden at 2.45. He is a lovely big colt but he is still rather weak and I would expect him to tire in the ground. His future will be as a three year old but I am hoping for some encouragement today.

Yabtree  has been a bit disappointing recently but he was probably unsuited by the undulations of Epsom last time.

My fears that the ground might be too soft for Significant Move were unfounded and he kept on bravely to win well., He should be popular at the Horses in Training Sales at Newmarket and may run again before then if I can find a suitable handicap for him.

Starshine ran well to finish 4th but she needs a more galloping track and to move up in trip again, there might be a suitable race at Ffos Las in two weeks.

Knockdolian was a bit unlucky not to win although the winner won well in the end. He was badly drawn and he has in the past raced a bit too freely, so he was ' dropped in' and he then had to sit and suffer in a slowly run race. The gaps didn't appear until the race was nearly all over but he ran on well to finish second. There ought to be further improvement to come from him in time as he is a big scopey horse. 

 With Significant Move we seem to be running out of opportunities as there are so few maiden races around and unfortunately I don't think the ground today will be in his favour.

Starshine is now qualified for handicaps but has been disappointing to date, but I am hoping that a step up in trip will see some improvement .

Knockdolian has been disappointing so far but seems to be working nicely and I hope will run well this evening.

 I have decided not to send Avertor or Starshine to Warwick as they would be unlikely to be suited by the very testing conditions. I have also decided that Knockdolian will be better suited to running at Kempton on Wednesday evening. Our only two possible runners are at Windsor and both Waterborne and Sergeant Troy are backward two year olds that won't reach their full potential until next year.