Oh dear - we had a very good time at the fur and feather party and didn't get to bed until after 3am so somewhat jaded the following day. We didn't make complete fools of ourselves as there were some very interesting costumes on the night and a great time was had by all.
It was mothering Sunday the next day and my parents came for lunch and then we had a little walk around the fields - the weather was lovely but there is still a chill in the air and the grass is really struggling to grow. It would be lovely to turn the youngsters out but there just isn't enough grass yet.
This morning we got up early and took Red and Frog to Towcester for a racecourse gallop as they had racing there the day before and they then open it up for the local trainers to use. We had Dickie Barratt, who works for Caroline Bailey booked to sit on Frog as he was there anyway with Caroline's horses - it was a beautiful morning which was somewhat spoiled by a horrible accident - I was walking Red around the parade ring waiting for Dickie and Doug was leading Frog around when a loose horse came galloping straight into the ring - I saw it coming and blocked it's way so that it couldn't run up the track towards the main road, it then veered off into the horsebox park where we assumed it would stop as that was where it had come from and there were other horses there, Suddenly all the traffic screeched to a stop on the main road (A5) - the horse had galloped around the back of the car park and then for whatever reason turned up the other track and headed off on to the road crashing into two cars, going through a windscreen of one. Poor Caroline and Gerald (the trainers of the horse) were in hot pursuit but by the time they got to the horse it was too late, the horse was in a very bad way - luckily none of the car passengers were badly injured, just somewhat shocked. The horse was taken straight to the vets, but is unlikely to make it. It's so sad as it is a french horse and was very difficult to break in -we used to compare notes on it and Frogs bad behaviour, but lately it had shown real ability. They had worked really hard to make it come good and now it is highly unlikely it will ever prove how good it could have been.
After the drama, Dickie and I had a really good spin around the racetrack - Red took a serious hold and fairly bowled along, but I was delighted with Frog, who caught her after the hill and ran on really well. Neither of them hardly blew and Dickie was really impressed with the Frog. After that I then decided to enter her for this weekend's race meeting at Whitfield. We will both be so nervous when she runs as she has been such hard work and a complete reprobate - we absolutely doubted that the day would ever happen when she would be grown up enough to actually race in public!! We have also entered Jake and Harry. If I'm going to be nervous about one I might as well be nervous about three...