Friday 7th August, 2026

Express Train travelled well into the race from a poor draw at Lingfield on Tuesday night and Rab Havlin thought he might be in the money turning for home.  He stayed on at one pace from there on and Rab thinks that a bit of cut in the ground would suit him once some rain arrives.  He looks in great condition, is strengthening all the time and will hopefully soon be competitive for his enthusiastic owners The Listeners.

Talking Bear was withdrawn by the starter at Kempton on Wednesday evening which was extremely frustrating for all involved.  Talking Bear entered the stalls early due to his draw and went in and stood patiently for well over four minutes whilst they attemped to load one of the opposition.  Unfortunately then Talking Bear reared up and although luckily not injured, he will now have to have a stalls test before he can race.

The starters job is a difficult one but it is a big ask for a horse on his debut to be left in the stalls for that long whilst waiting for an unruly participant.  Hopefully in the future Bear can finally have the opportunity to show some promise for his extremely patient owners.

With the dry weather continuing we are concentrating on the all weather at present and Fighting Poet has two options at Lingfield on Tuesday.  Originally the meeting was going to be run on the turf but due to the prolonged dry spell is now on the all weather.