It's St Swithins Day

It’s a very overcast morning and we did have a little shower first thing, however, the forecast is for it to remain dry at least for the next few days. It’s St Swithins day today and the old saying is that if it rains today, it will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. We have done good canters with the horses on a variety of polytracks and all has gone well.

What a weekend of sport. There was the best cricket match you will ever see, culminating with England winning the World Cup and one of the most amazing tennis matches ever played in the men’s final at Wimbledon. Both highlighting a fantastic sporting weekend. We also saw a brilliant July Cup winner in Ten Sovereigns and Japan won the Group 1 in France. Two more stallions destined for the Coolmore rota.

It was disappointing that Zac Purton didn’t break the record for winners in a season in Hong Kong. His 10 rides on the last card of the year only got him two winners and he was two short of the 170 winner record, but an unbelievable achievement nonetheless. I would be amazed if anybody got anywhere near that in the future.

It was interesting to see the £1m Ebor mentioned in the Racing Post today in that it is now a race that just top horses can compete in. Yes they can, but it is most disappointing that the smaller owners and trainers now have no hope whatsoever of winning a big pot. The money on show in these prestigious handicaps has now gone out of control and only the top owners have the wherewithal to pay the entry fees and compete. Whether that is right for the game or not is for you to judge but, in my opinion, it takes away a lot of the excitement. We are beginning to get a bit like the Grand Prix racing in that the same people just keep on winning.