NEWS

Monday 8th March: A retrograde step with the weather as temperatures plunge back down to -6, taps freeze and horses come home from exercise with icicles on their whiskers. No sign of any daffodils yet either. They're jibbing until things warm up a bit. Warm enough in CARPENTRAS'S box as she is backed for the first time and taken on a mounted tour of the yard.

Friday 5th March: MELTING BOB returned unscathed from her Wednesday evening engagement at Kempton. CARPENTRAS is intoduced to a jockey.

Shock and Awe: CARPENTRAS and the lion tamers

Tuesday 2nd March: CARPENTRAS is unmoved when the roller is replaced by a saddle today. Back in her stable she is 'bounced' and is fairly unmoved by that too.

Moving on: CARPENTRAS complete with saddle

Monday 1st March: Declaration made for MELTING BOB for the maiden at Kempton the day after tomorrow. She will be reunited with Shane Kelly who has ridden her on both her racecourse appearances so far. There are 13 in the race and she has been dealt a poor draw at number 2.

MELTING BOB: heads to Kempton

Thursday 25th February: MELTING BOB has a floodlit entry at Kempton next Wednesday. She'll be contesting a one mile maiden race on the right-handed polytrack course.
We have made good progress breaking in TWELFTH MAN over the past ten days. He has been an extremely nervous candidate and we have been adapting the breaking in process to suit his needs. If you follow the stages on our 'How To' page, (click here for direct link) you will see that the roller is normally applied outside in the lunge bed. This fellow was having none of it. Instead, we used a softer roller and put it on in his stable (very loosely!) and walked him up and down the barn. Gradually, over days, we tightened it until it was tight enough for lunging. Then we lunged him and hey presto...no problems. Now he has the normal roller on complete with pad and side reins. He has lunged with one rein behind his back legs and should soon be ready to turn and drive.

That's the way to do it: TWELFTH MAN plays the game

Sunday 21st February: Best laid plans thwarted. Southwell has been snowed off and we remain at home. There is now a page ready for BREWERS BOY in the horses' section for you to learn a little more about him. (click here for direct link)

Friday 19th February: It was all well at the stalls so JOHANNA DEE gets the nod for Sunday. She joins 7 others over a mile at Southwell with Shane Kelly doing the steering.

Monday 15th February: An entry for JOHANNA DEE at Southwell on Sunday. This is a mile maiden for fillies and if she goes she will be down at the starting stalls this week. Coincidentally, you will now find in the 'HOW TO' section a guide to schooling through the stalls! (click here for direct link)

JOHANNA DEE (left): Southwell on Sunday?

Friday 12th February: We have names for the two year olds; it's official, the passports have arrived. The Val Royal ex Molly Brown filly (pictured below) is to be known as CARPENTRAS (click to find out more) - a small town in French Provence that boasts its very own racecourse. Billie Blue's Domedriver colt is her last produce and brings her offspring to a nice round dozen. He, consequently, has been named TWELFTH MAN.

Tuesday 9th February: Whoops! It's the second week of February already. Barn cleaning has filled spare time over the last ten days and the horses have today been moved into refurbished accommodation. This hasn't put a stop to routine activities and the show rolls merrily on.

Val Royal ex Molly Brown: now she's driving beautifully