Sunday, muddy Sunday

A frustrating start to the day as we should be currently on our way to Beverley with Run From Nun. As it is, we turned round and came back after only ten miles on the road owing to Nun getting extremely upset in the lorry. She's a seasoned traveller but was in one of the new style French two-horse boxes in which the horses face backwards. I don't think this was what upset her but the lorry has a strange and slippery floor surface which she wasn't very happy with and the more worked up she got, the more she sweated and the wetter the floor became, just exacerbating matters. The design of the lorry means it is unable to get into the horse compartment while in motion like most of the older boxes which is also a disadvantage. Hopefully we won't have to use this means of transport again as she was fine travelling to Brighton in a bigger box, although she had the company of another horse that day.

Having stopped in Cottenham to pick up Hugh, one look at Nunny told us there was no way we could ask her to stay in the box for another three hours on the journey north. She was awash with sweat and quite agitated. I jumped in the back with her to go home. She was slightly calmer then but still unhappy at not being able to get a purchase on the floor surface. It doesn't help that she's such a small filly that there's more room for her to be rocked around which wouldn't happen if a bigger horse had been in the same compartment. So mission aborted which is very annoying as she's in fine fettle at the moment and both John and I are anxious for her to run asap, perferably over five furlongs. Options for fillies of her grade are few and far between so to miss out on an opportunity with a reasonable draw (which is key at Beverley) with a good jockey rankles somewhat but we have to take it on the chin and thank our lucky stars that she did not become so worked up that she injured herself in transit. The terrifying story of poor old Fruits Of Love (which thankfully had a happy ending) always plays on my mind whenever I hear a horse getting upset on a lorry.

Looking ahead, options for Nunny could be a week tomorrow on the grass at Lingfield (over 6f) and/or the minimum trip at Bath the following Monday. Let's hope she can get to one or both of those without getting upset, being balloted out or any of the other myriad things that can go wrong with horses on a daily basis.

The heavy rain that fell in Newmarket this morning has finally stopped but it means we're back to mud everywhere in the yard. We're used to it through the winter but it's a bit much when we have to put up with it in August, too. Still, at least it wasn't as bad as the weather in York last week. The Yorkshire track's misfortune was very much to Newmarket's advantage as we've had two absolutely sensational days of racing at HQ. What a thrill to be able to wander down the road and see the Derby winner taking on the magnificent Duke Of Marmalade. They were split, of course, by Phoenix Tower, whose season has been as consistently good as it must have been frustrating for his connections with four second places in G1s, with three of those coming behind Aidan O'Brien horses.

Highlights of the week for me have been seeing Borderlescott win the Nunthorpe; Lush Lashes winning the Yorkshire Oaks, mostly because her breeder Ann Jenkins is such an exceptionally nice lady who deserves top-class success; Bob Jones' nine-year-old Unshakable winning in fine style yesterday in Newmarket and then, of course, Gerry Chesnaux posting another fine effort in the best race of all, the Town Plate. Our favourite bookie once again finished 'in the sausages' on the brave Lysander's Quest, the second time the duo has finished runner-up in the three-and-three-quarter-mile marathon.

Now having an unplanned day at home, I'll have time to post a few pics onto John's recent blogs. At the top of this posting, you'll see the feline sisters Alamshar and Giant, who have now moved permanently into the house from the yard and are doing a very good job in helping me not to miss Sid too much. When Sid's brother Harry died 17 years ago, Sid's character changed almost overnight and he adopted so many of Harry's traits. Weirdly, it would seem the same has happened with Alamshar since Sid died as she is now an increasingly bold presence, lying in the same places he did and being almost as demanding. She's not a replacement but she's a very agreeable substitute for whose presence I am extremely grateful, especially as she looks so much like our old family cat, Bagpuss.

Far, far worse than the passing of a much-loved mog has been the awful news this week of the death of Robert Worthy, the husband of my very dear friend Lizzie. My mind keeps returning to Lizzie's birthday party in January when she so happily announced that she and Rob were to marry in May. So they did and, while we all knew Rob had not been well for a long time, I don't think anyone could have imagined he would be taken from Lizzie so soon.

Lizzie is certainly not one of life's run-of-the-mill people. We've been firm friends since the day I succeeded her at H&H. She's such a warm person that to be one of Lizzie's friends is to be effectively a member of her family and indeed fellow H&H exiles Nigel, Kate and I have spent numerous occasions with various Orcutts over the last decade, including a memorable new year at Tremorham in Cornwall. It just doesn't seem right that next Tuesday the most recent addition to this lovely family, a charming, gentle man who loved Lizzie dearly, will be laid to rest.