Mid-December 2023 Bulletin

Was it only this time last month that the weather seemed quite reasonable for the time of year? Is this the right time of year for rhetorical questions? We took a couple of runners to a very windy Market Rasen, where the going was not the glutinous mess that the advance report implied, but was a very workable form of soft instead. YOUM DEJRAAN had a good experience for his first run, completing in sixth. A wind borne loose umbrella did not phase him in the paddock, but the sharp early pace did. Having dropped off of leaders, Caoilin Quinn was able to teach the horse a lot, and by the end he was popping his hurdles nicely and ran on all the way to the line. Improvement should be quick. On the same card we had BEAUFORT WEST, whose trick du jour was to hang left on the bends, which let the others get first run on him when turning for home, and condemning him to fourth. Next stop was Lingfield, where CLONDAW ROBIN ran a cracker mostly from the front, only to just get outpaced by one rival from the second last, followed by BIRDMAN BOB also running well until dropping away from two out. The week was due to end with GOLD CLERMONT at Warwick, but she has become an abandoned meeting magnet of late – if you are heading where she is on any given day, make sure you are wrapped up warm and dry.

The picture below is Youm Dejraan checking out the on-course advertising for any goods or services that he needs.