WE have just had the two runners over the last week with Wayward Frolic again disappointing at Uttoxeter on Saturday on his second start for us.
It has all been a little bit rushed with him since he won a seller and we have probably been getting it tactically wrong with him.
He will revert to fences next time and we have certainly not lost faith in him but we will just need to be a bit more patient. In this job you never stop learning.
Nicki's Nipper made her stable debut at Chepstow on Wednesday in a maiden hurdle.
It was only her second ever start and she certainly showed signs of inexperience. She will have learned a lot from the day.
If she continues to show improvement and what her ideal conditions are, she is probably one for next season rather than this.
The entries for the Grand National closed last week and we have entered Mart Lane who we bought in November as a potential horse for the race.
He has a rating of 134 which means he is borderline as to whether he gets in or not and we will have more of an idea once the weights are published on February 17.
His owner Geoff Thompson of Winston Churchill the horse fame has always wanted a runner in the race and hopefully we will get him there if not this year then next. He is an emerging force as an owner with around 20 horses spread across the south west and his colours are going to be seen with more regularity in the future.
We will miss Cheltenham with Mart Lane and go straight to Aintree.
If he does not get in the big race then there are plenty of suitable alternatives at that meeting. He also has a strong preference for good ground so will benefit from a spring campaign that could also include a trip to Punchestown.
We run two of this season's stable stars over the weekend in the form of Winston Churchill and Kapricorne.
Winston goes to Wincanton on Saturday and on the back of his momentous 81 length victory last time out on the 50th anniversary of the great leader's death, we subsequently found out this made the 10 o'clock news in Switzerland!
He deservedly takes a step up in class but obviously goes there with tremendous confidence and should hold every chance.
Kapricorne goes chasing on Ffos Las where he has such an excellent record having won twice and finished third in just three starts there. We have been very pleased with his schooling and while he took a while to get the hang of hurdling, he is a big horse with plenty of scope and with luck will prove better over the larger obstacles.
He has been freshened up by a seven week break since a below par effort on Boxing Day and we are very much looking forward to seeing him back on track. The only concern is that he did have a lot of racing before Christmas and we will not know whether that has taken its toll until raceday.
He will at the most have one more run all being well after Sunday and will then enjoy a long spring/summer break as we believe his best days are still in front of him.
The countdown continues towards the greatest race meeting in the world at Cheltenham next month and preparations for Anteros and Peckhamecho are very much going to plan. We are looking at giving them a racecourse gallop in a couple of weeks as we get closer to the big day and we look forward to updating on their progress.
