Dear old Popaway does it again! She won a really hot ladies race by 20 lengths hard on the bridle. We can't believe how well she is and how she is getting better with age. Quite extraordinary. The others all ran with credit. We were delighted with Babbilloora's first run. We wanted it to be a lovely experience for her and Sam Lee gave her a peach of a ride, putting her in the race allowing her to see every fence, which she jumped like a bunny and then pulling her up as soon as she was tired. We were delighted with her. Tik who normally jumps like a bunny didn't find her jumping legs at all and lost ground at every fence, which is unusual for her. She finished seventh out of 13 and good old Jim (Late Night Jazz) got Will around safely in their own time but he finished the race beaming from ear to ear. He now knows what to expect and can be more competitive next time. Poor Glory Hunter was flying and looked as though he was all set to come third in a very strong 14 runner restricted but tipped Billy off three from home. They were both unhurt and Murphy is getting better and more confident with every run, so we are looking forward to the time when the plan all comes together.
Going back to Popaway, it is a real shame she didn't get into the Foxhunters as it would have been nice to know how she would have done with 'the big boys'. What is particularly galling is the fact that one of the other runners was withdrawn by the stewards as illegal substances and syringes were found in his grooming kit. If the person in question is daft enough to bring their drugs to Cheltenham you can only imagine how much drug abuse is happening. Clearly they must have found something that doesn't show up in the blood. It makes you wonder how many of these first time out winners that are sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds have been given performance enhancing drugs. Not only that, they denied a 'clean' horse a run at the Festival. Very unfair and good for the BHA for their vigilance in catching them.