Steam Clean begins

The big steam clean began in earnest today, helped along by a dry but cold day. The entire bottom barn was stripped bare of every shaving, slices of hay, water buckets and anything else that might dare to get in the path of the steaming hot, high pressure hose which blasted its way through every nook and cranny. After the washing up type liquid detergent and hot water did its thing, the second pressure washer rinsed everywhere before firing out copius amounts of very expensive disinfectant, promised to kill anything and everything remotely fungul, bacterial or generally unwanted. Afterwards dozens of bales of new shavings went in, fresh hay, newly steam cleaned and freshly filled water buckets and feed pots we all reintroduced to the horses who were grateful to be allowed back in to their boxes.

At Southwell, Southern Seas who should have run well, didn't. She is not the easiest to train and very hard to keep weight on, I can only wish I was the same. Toboggans Gift (pictured below)however bellied her odds of 100/1 to run a very encouraging race staying on to finish a respectable fifth. We won three races with her dam "Toboggan Lady" before winning with her first foal as a two year old, the third foal "Toboggans Fire" also won as a two year old last season so this lady needed to show she was capable, even if she is a slow maturing type.