Final Southfield Saturday Breakfast

This morning saw the final Saturday breakfast at Southfield before all the horses move to Oad Street next Monday and Tuesday and Linda, Karen and Paul vacate the stables on Thursday.  Some of the regulars (several had attended for nearly 20 years) were there to watch the final canters 

and tuck into a good fry up followed by flapjacks and cake, including a birthday cake for one lucky owner.

Thank you Linda for the great social Saturdays.  We now look forward to equally memorable times at the new yard.  

Nostalgic Farewell To Southfield

There was some sadness but a lot to look forward to as Linda hosted a "Farewell to Southfield" barbecue for her owners.  There was plenty of bubbly to go with the food as everyone reminisced but also discussed the future with Karen at the helm at Oad Street.

We look forward to many more memories being made after the move.

Make The Most Of It.

The horses were out on the roads of Sutton Valence this week doing their early pre-training before the move to Oad Street next month.  We hope the villagers make the most of this iconic sight as it approaches the end after several happy decades.

Making The Right Moves.

For some time Linda has been looking to move from Southfield Stables.  The increase in traffic on South Lane has made it more dangerous for the horses to exercise and some of the facilities are in need of an upgrade.  The opportunity to move the operation to John Best's yard at Oad Street came up and she has decided to take it.  She has known John for many years and they get on well.  There is plenty of room at the purpose built training establishment for both of them and the future looks exciting.

Linda has started to take some of her owners up to look around.

When the horses come back in, and it will be soon, they will go to Southfield for their pre-training before being moved up to the new yard when work starts in earnest.

 

More Experience.

Oliver had his second ride as an amateur today at Wolverhampton.  He rode Meryems Way and held a midfield position until the final 2 furlongs.  The horse was eased when beaten and finished 12th of 13.  This was more valuable experience for Oliver.

Learning The ropes.

Yesterday Smarden Flyer went to Lingfield for barrier trials.  Here horses are introduced to the racing experience before a real raceday.

Unfamiliar stables.

The pre-parade ring.

The parade ring.

And finally the starting stalls.

Smarden Flyer managed the experience well.

 

Late Spring Clean

 With most of the horses on their holidays it's time to tidy up the yard. That looks a lot of work!

The Smiles Are Back!

After what has undoubtedly been a tough year, the smiles were back at Fontwell today.  The sun was out, the crowds returned and Linda's horses put up some pleasing performances.

Firstly Deewhy gained his best ever placing when finishing 4th in the Novices' handicap chase. Ridden by Danny Burton he was kept up to his work and though he had slipped back a little by the final straight he battled on to regain 4th place on the line.

Deewhy returns after finishing 4th.

Two races later it was the turn of Uallrightharry.  This time Jamie Moore took the ride.  He kept Harry involved just a few lengths off the leaders until moving into a clear third going down the hill for the final time.  At the fourth last fence he made his one jumping error in the race and was shuffled back to 4th.  However he too battled on up the hill to take back third place near the line.

Harry returns in 3rd place.

Finally Steel The China (Danny Burton) had his turn in the two mile 5 five furlong handicap hurdle.  He undoubtedly benefitted from the seven non runners due to the drying ground, but nevertheless put up his best display so far.  He was allowed to lead until the back straight on the final circuit where the two fancied runners moved forward.  To China's credit he followed the theme of the afternoon and battled up the home straight with the one remaining runner and regained third place by a nose on the line.

Steel The China 

Steel The China's delighted connections.

 

 

Staycation?

 Uallrightharry enjoyed a short seaside outing this morning and had the beach to himself.

Fontwell Turnout

Jenny won the best turned out prize with Pleasure Garden in the first race at Fontwell this evening.

Pleasure Garden

Jenny leads the "Best Turned Out" Pleasure Garden as Karen and Linda look on.

Sunshine And Support.

The sun was out at Plumpton on Easter Sunday and it was great to see owners at the racecourse again.  Pictured is Clonusker Lady saying hello to Trish and Evelyn.

And Another Visitor

The sun and restrictions easing brought out another visitor today as Bryony called in for the first time in seven months.

Sunshine And Socializing At Last.

 It was lovely today to welcome back some owners to the yard to watch their horses and catch up, all properly socially distanced and following other stable protocols.

Harry Back To form

It was good to see Uallrightharry coming back to form at Plumpton this afternoon.  He was involved in an exciting finish to the 3 mile 2 furlong handicap chase, finishing 4th but just a length and a half behind the winner.

New Gallop Beats The Weather.

 The new surface on the gallop proved its worth today when we were able to use it in the snow as it hadn't frozen.

Gallops Refurbishment Just Beats The Snow.

Material to resurface the round gallop this weekend and through hard work and team effort it was in place before the snow descended.

The horses and staff are looking forward to using it.

Wall Answers

 DIANA   SOLOMON   JONATHAN   DAVE

Singer surname "King" with a top 5 UK hit

BB       HAND      FIELD     ELEPHANT

All can be followed by "Gun" for a weapon

BARN    PEN    PIG    SHEEP

Found on a farm

CAROL    STABLE    HEROD    DONKEY

Christmas connection

Christmas excitement not confined to the track!

 As it was not possible to meet up for our traditional Christmas get together and quiz night our owner/quizmaster organised one that ran through the whole of December and came in various parts.  It was open to non-stable connections as well and attracted five teams.  The stable had a team and an offshoot of the old stable team set up separately (The Absentees).  It proved to be a close contest with the stable team leading right up to the final component, "the connecting wall".  As Malcolm Fitzjohn of the stable team said, "Brilliant festive entertainment.  I think we were hampered badly at the wall but stayed on our feet and recovered well for a place. It will take some time to recover from what was a tough race."  They finished joint second with The Absentees staying on to win.

The Connecting Wall is one of the rounds on BBC2's Only Connect.  You have to arrange 16 words into 4 groups of 4 with a common link in each.  Here is one that was not in the Christmas quiz.

Carol   Diana   Pig   Stable

Barn   Elephant   Solomon   Hand

Field   Donkey   Herod   Jonathan

Sheep   Dave   BB    Pen

This is only for fun, no prizes.  I will post the answer in a few days.