Winter felt just around the corner as the horses returned in thick fog after their morning's work.

Truly Asia finished riderless in his last race at Leicester having slipped and unseated Steve Drowne on the bend. He finished the race with his ears pricked and winning as he liked so lets hope that that would be good for his confidence !   He has been a bit disappointing so far this season although he ran a good race at Doncaster when he was denied a clear run and a bit of give in the ground will suit him.

Waterborne ran a satisfactory race staying on up the straight and with more racing, I hope the penny will drop as at the moment he is still very relaxed about life. He will probably run again fairly soon and then maybe be gelded before returning next year.

Waterborne runs at Warwick in a 7 furlong Maiden today. He is a big lazy colt who I am sure will improve with time but 7 furlongs round Warwick might be a bit too sharp for him.

Definightly seems to love Goodwood, winning his second race of the season there.  I didn't think it looked a very compeditive race with some of the runners perhaps not suited by the ground or out of form. The blinkers certainly seemed to suit him although it looked as if he may have gone too fast in the first 2 furlongs.  Always great to win but did we need to win by so far !  ?  The handicapper might get a bit carried away but there are several opportunites for him to run again before being reassesed including the Ayr Silver Cup with a 5 lbs penalty.

DEFINIGHTLY is a course and distance winner and  wears blinkers today for the first time which I hope will bring about an improvement as his last run was disappointing.

BATED BREATH had eaten up this morning and lost 8 kilos, which is his normal amount, trotted up sound so no real excuses.  I imagine he will not run again this year as there are no races left where he can compete against his own age group.  With patience I hope he will develop into a good horse next year.

SPOKEN ran a great race to be beaten four lengths to finish 5th, his outside draw meant that he had to race wide for most of the race and under the circumstances ran with great credit.  His gelding operation has definitely helped him as there was a stage when I doubted his resolution but Steve Drowne reported that he ran a very genuine and brave race.  It was a very fast run race and under those circumstances 8 or 9 furlongs may have suited him better.  As he loves fast ground he would be a suitable horse for Hong Kong or America.

BATED BREATH walked off the horsebox sound after  his journey from Beckhampton and I saw him trot up prior to being saddled and he seemed to be in good shape.  Perhaps we could blame the slow run race but he was a bit disappointing.  

Spoken has been been sent on the long journey to Beverley for a rich prize which as you would expect has meant that it is a competitive three year old handicap. He has been much improved by gelding and cheekpieces but from an outside draw and with other several other potential front runners in the field, it looks to be a pretty tough assignment.

Bated Breath was found to be lame at evening stables last night and my vet Alastair Welch and the blacksmith Jerry Baker were on the scene immediately. It was discovered that he had an abscess in his near fore foot, which has been drained and poulticed overnight. Jerry was pleased with him at 5.30 am this morning and he trotted up in hand sound so he has been sent to Newmarket. The situation will obviously be monitored and if I am happy with him before the race and Richard Hughes is happy with him cantering to the start, he will run. In an ideal world I would like the ground to be a little faster but he did seem to cope with the soft ground two weeks ago.

Lucy Limelites got her career off to a great start by winning first time out, she was always up with the pace and kept going in the soft ground to the line. We were lucky as there were several non runners in the morning including the favourite which was withdrawn at the start. She is a sweet filly who has plenty of stamina in her pedigree so I hope she will improve with time. The second div looked to be the better race but to my surprise it was a slower time.

Sergeant Troy ran a pleasing race before getting tired in the slow ground which was against him. I got the impression looking at the competition that it was a decent race which could produce plenty of winners in the future.  

Significant Move was placed again but beaten by a better horse, maybe stepping up to 10 furlongs next time will be to his advantage in a maiden at a smaller track will produce a win from him. He seemed to manage the ground but had a good blow afterwards, so he might improve a 'tad' for the race.

Avertor... nearly but not quite good enough and no real excuses, he travelled like the winner for most of the way only to find one better. Perhaps 5 furlongs might have produced a different result on such slow ground...trainer error again.  It will come right for him one day !