Team Hobbs - Team talk!!! (our blog page)

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+ (21/12/2011 - 09:14:45)

Oh my word doesn't time fly - here we are with a few days till Christmas and although we now have the tree up - my little side kick, Mollie has been taking the decorations off as fast as I put them on. Well at least this year we are experiencing some mild weather - proper knee deep in mud jumping ground. All Christmas cards saying " Let is Snow" certainly arn't getting pride on place on the mantle piece in our house and are lucky they haven't ended up on the fire after the oh too clear memories of this time last year!

Anyway the horses have been running well and Ely battled well to win a second novice hurdle at Doncaster the other Saturday. Vin De Roy made his chasing debut at Chepstow in some rather hot company, his jumping was excellent and has gone on to finish 3rd at Bangor earlier this week. Truckers Princess has been out about and we are pleased she now has her handicap mark. Quousko De L'isop made his hurdling debut on atrocious ground at Uttoxxeter, despite being a little free early on and therefore found conditions under foot a bit much ran well. Luck defied Kauto Relko again when he was brought down and although his jumping was perfect he had n't put up a bad effort at all.

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us - we are at Hereford tomorrow with Kingston Queen. Then Boxing day we have possible runners at Weatherby, Market Rasen & Huntingdon. The week between Christmas and New Year looks equally chaotic with one of our new recruits "Unwanted Gift" making his UK debut for us.

So hopefully somewhere amoungst the festive period we will see you racing and thank you for your interest and support over the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Rachel, Andy & Mollie

Oh my word where has that month gone . What with new horses arriving and some new members of staff things have been more than a little hectic - especially with a little side kick aged 1 and a bit!!!

The horses are training well and the gallop which was topped up in the summer is riding well. We are delighted the rain has finally come and we have been able to start schooling horses.

This is a big week for the yard with 2 runners at Cheltenham. Peterjohn has been in this morning schooling.

Andy has been in his eliment re- dressing the schooling fence this Autumn, (in his next life he wants to be a groundsman - I am sure!!!) I have been busy trying trying tofind homes for our retired boys and that is not easy in the current climate.

Anyway must dash, Mollie is bored, Quousko is on the gallops, the mobile is going and so on and so on and so on!!!

Oh my word it has been one of those nights - Mollie has been up around 4 times, which is most unlike her, and now Mollie and her Daddy are fast asleep and I have been wide awake for about 2 hours - oh well it gives me a second to update the website.

Not too much too report, Andy always gets a little disgruntled at this time of year with so little racing and loads of fresh horses, doing roadwork - never mind! The yard is filling up fast and I believe we have another intake of new recruits coming over from Ireland at the end of the week. We had a super mare arrive last week, she did her first canter yesterday and well all I can say is watch this space, she has a very smart pedigree and on yesterdays performance an engine and heart to match!

Well I guess you all enjoyed the tributes to Ginger McCain yesterday in the Racing Post - what a lad he was - who else would get away with it ? But onto a more serious note what a great age to reach and to pass away in the same year that Donald won the National, it all adds to that Aintree legend.

We are back at Worcester on Friday with Lady of Synone - she really is a smashing stamp of a horse - it was such a shame that her half sister by Snurge fractured her leg in training last year, we fortunately managed to save her but only for the paddocks as brood mare.

So not too much else to report -I think I will sneak a nice cuppa before feeding time.

Rachel

Well another month has flown past and here we are getting all the horses back in again. The summer has been very busy with yard and gallop maintenance in between keeping the summer team fit and well.

Andy, Mollie and I have just returned from our first holiday in 4 years which was a three day break in Tipperary where we stayed with a good friend and owner. We had a great time and as per normal little Mollie stole the show.

We saw some quality horses during our trip but I must also say that in the past travelling around Ireland there would be a horse in every field, well it isn't like that now and that is obviously a sign of the desperate times in Ireland.

On our return we were straight back to Worcester and were very happy with Lady of Synone's run into 3rd in the 3 mile novice hurdle. Mustow Green also made her race course début in a bumper, which was a really quite decent race The mare ran well and has come out of the race very well.

Not too much else to report as I need to make a start on the preparations for Mollie's first birthday party. So until next time.

Bye for now.

Rachel

Well another busy few weeks have flown past. All the chores are getting done. The woodchip has been replaced and topped up on the gallop. The boxes disinfected and painted. The schooling ground has been tidied. We had new 3 horses arrive from Ireland last week and as from next week the new team start taking up their boxes and the new lads start to arrive.

The horses have been running well and we have been delighted with Jomade's progress and it was great to see him get his nose in front, last week at Worcester. We have also been very pleased with Suzie Grey who after her bumper prep run, ran a great race last time out in a 3 mile hurdle at Worcester to finish 4th despite her antics in the pre-parade ring and during saddling, never mind down at the start. Arty Farmer proved himself an interesting recruit to the yard and it was a little unfortunate we missed the last as he was foot perfect at all the other hurdles.

The summer seems to be flying by but at least we have managed to get the bar be que out a few times this year. Mollie is keeping us very busy and amused and is crawling about rapidely. She has also taken to waving to everyone and everything particularly the horses!!! The pony search has begun.

This morning we had The Hobb's Choice crowd in to see their stead. They were in much better shape than last week after all their celebrating. Peter Carberry was also in this morning and we are all pleased he is back and made the most of his time off with a working trip to New York.

Well we are off to Worcester again tonight with Enviromental Dream, who we got out of Ireland earlier in the summer. It will be his debut in the UK so we will have to see how we get on!!!

Well another month and despite quick ground I really can't say what lovely weather. It would be quite nice to chill outside with a glass of chablis and watch the sun go down behind the malvern hills - hey it's only June - maybe one day!!

As you will notice from our entries, we certainly have been travelling the length and breadth of England. Hexham to Newton Abbot. We have a few horses in for summer which is good, whilst the lads disinfect, creosote and paint the boxes and are currently busy topping up the wood chip on the gallop.

Monty's Moon was retired shortly after the fiasco at Uttoxeter with a slight leg injury and the "Moon beamers" as we call them bought themselves a lovely young grey mare called Suzie Grey. She made her UK debut last night at Worcester and although a little keen certainly ran promisingly for a horse that needs a bit of a trip.

Mollie has been very busy, besides nursery and running rings around "mother" she excels at crawling and is becoming an old hand at entertaining owners, this afternoon we have taken tea with Mrs Hitchings.

Next week might e a trip to Cornwall to see Grand-dad and later in August a family trip to Tipperary might be on the cards. But for the meanwhile we are all back at base catching up with yard chores and enjoying the summer tracks, especially Worcester and Stratford and we quite like those evening meetings at Newton Abbot.

That's all for now.

Rachel.

Hi there,

Back again after a good evening at Worcester. A great winner on our home track to start our session at Worcester - wicked! and despite the nail biting moment at the last, Ely Brown did it impressively just as his did in his point in Ireland. He really is a smashing horse in every way, character, temperament and physique. Only Hope remained the bridesmaid (or this time should I say one of.) and La Fille D'Oscar ran ok on ground that she hated but hey she is great little jumper. She will take a much needed break.

We really have had quite an interesting week, what with new horses arriving for a summer campaign, re-homing the good old soldiers who have done their time in this sphere and deserve a little less demanding career in their twilight years. We have also been on the scout for new horses in Ireland and at the sales. We are also planning our summer maintenance projects to include the construction of a new loading bay.

We are all pretty horrified at Peterjon's 40 day ban but we are delighted he had such a great spin on Ely Brown last night just before he left the country to go track riding in the States, filling time until he returns to action.

Not much else for now.

Rachel