We are back to dismal weather again, but at least the grass gallops were perfect for our last piece of proper work with Jake - He worked with Ponty Pandy and Ben who has just been named 'Whither Goest Thou' (The commentator is going to love that one!) I was on Ben, who is full brother to 'Intimate Whisper' and was very pleasantly surprised how well he went. This is good as he now has to fly the flag for his sister, Whisper, as she is sidelined for the rest of the season with a tweaked tendon. Very frustrating as we thought she was going to be our stable star this year, but at least it is a minor injury and she will be back in force early next season. Jake worked very well and now we just have to hope that we have done enough to keep him sweet for the rest of the week. One week today..... Doug is besides himself with excitement and I am just trying not to think about it too much otherwise I will just get ridiculously nervous. I confirmed his entry today at the six day stage - I was so sure I was going to forget that I have got reminders up everywhere, and Weatherbys must know how useless I am as they also phoned up to remind me!
Tomorrow we have a rather nerve racking day as we have two babies going to Kingston Blount for their debuts. We have Velvet Royale and Lady Barfad, two five 5 year old mares. Velvet Royale (Dolly) is a lot more forward than Goody as she was in training last season until she was turned away, so she will definitely run, but Goody will only run if the race is divided and there are less runners with Toby, her normal jockey partnering her. On Sunday we are running 'We Never Give Up' (Jess) and 'UnButtoned' who is also making his first appearance on the racetrack. He is very green but it will be good for him to see what job will be expected from him in the future and to understand what it is all about. Fingers crossed they all come home safely...