The regular hay delivery made its way North this week and kept a few of the lads busy for much of Thursday morning, it is not just the handballing of 400 plus bales of hay which takes the time but the work required to preare the storage area beforehand. That alone takes two or three lads a full day. The two lorries have been kept busy all Summer and now its their turn for a little bit of R and R with servicing, oil changing and some new tyres.
The CCTV too has come in for an overhaul and several of the 32 cameras have been upgraded, replacing some of the older ones with high resolution cameras and a new, very smart monitor.
In the office Hayley has been flat out preparing the brochures for our forthcoming yearling parade on Sunday November 20th. It is quite a task but the results will be worth the effort and she is doing a great job. The yearlings have done their bit posing for photos already for their pages on our website and this years brochure is going to have an altogether different feel to it.
Former travelling head girl Jacki Storey - married to the ever popular former jump jockey Brian, arrived today with a young lady who wants a new hunter, the lady in question fell in love with Lady Chara who has decided life outside racing holds far more appeal for her. The two were quickly aquainted and hopefully will live happily ever after. Jacki and Brian are ROR (Rehoming of Racehorses) co-ordinators and do a great job, they have successfully placed some of our former racehorses with good, knowledgable and caring homes where they are thoroughly enjoying a new life doing other jobs. Lively Lily has also found new employment on the polo field and will travel South next week to start her new career.
Jack and Brian's journey here today however from their base in Cumbria, was not only a rehoming mission - they were here to help us get through the clipping in super fast time, each year Jacki does a sterling job for us so, once again we have relied on her to take on the role of Equine barber as the horses coats start to get quite thick and wintry. Not all of them need doing just yet though but its good to make a start. Hilary J runs tomorrow at Doncaster and while she could do with a hair cut we dare not attempt it in case she decides to throw a tantrum the day before her big race, but a heavier coat won't be enougth to stop her if she is "on song" although it is a very "hot" race but she carries a feather weight and is ridden by a super up and coming claimer in David Egan who also claims an extra seven pounds off her allotted weight of eight stone.
Anna remains tied up with yearlings all morning and is currently worried that her accounts might be behind as our accountants are due here for their montly visit this weeked and, with the month end fast approaching and some 25 new horses in, she has an even larger number of invoices to produce but, if she is conerned - then I am not because everything Anna does is always first class- whatever she does!
Our accountants are also top drawer and have been the accountants for a "very large" flat yard nearby in Middleham too so they are very experienced at dealing with racehorses trainers books which is a big bonus in what can be a complicated area.