I’ve been in Portugal for a week now with the family and my mother-in-law. The weather’s great and we’re all having a good time.
The news from home starts with one real tragedy. Astrodome had an accident on the gallops – he struck into himself, severing two tendons including his digital flexor tendon. There was nothing to be done – he was put down.
It’s devastating news – he was a big favourite of mine. There’s no point in dwelling on this sort of stuff but it’s a real blow.
Max ran ok on Saturday, finishing sixth in the Cammidge. She behaved really well on the course, going to the start and going in well – she was a bit green coming back but it was only her fifth race and all in all it was a big step forward. I’d like her to have finished closer – she ran to free and finished tired – but it bodes well for the season. Tikka Masala ran a surprisingly good race in the week, finishing a fairly close second in a fair looking maiden at Kempton. She may be better than I had thought.
I’ve had a few bets while I’ve been away with no success. I took most of the money out of my account just before I left – I needed it to support a few investments. I don’t have a lot left in there now, and if I lose it today I’m going to take a break from betting. It feels pretty tough in the world right now and I want to be concentrating on my business interests – I’ve been thinking about business stuff more and more over the last few weeks, and I’m losing interest in betting on racing.
I’m backing two horses today. Tatenen was a big bet for me at Cheltenham, but he fell early in the Arkle. I’ll back him to recover things today. In the big one I’m just having the one bet on a complete outsider – Eurotrek. He hasn’t had that many races over a long racing life – Sam Thomas is perfectly able on an outsider. He could be anything – he may be best fresh and he ought to be fresh today having not raced for around two years.