Saturday 12th March, 2022

A blue sky work morning for the string as we prepare for runners the week after the Festival.  The Cheltenham build up gets stronger and stronger each year and following our Adlestrop Club Preview, it was great to attend the Carbine Club Preview at the Oxo Tower on Tuesday.

Corrany is our Carbine Club syndicate horse and they are a great sporting club.  It’s always good to see so many owners in attendance.  The panel of Nick Luck, George Baker and myself attempted to pick out the winners of the main races of the week.  Luck and Phillips believe Tornado Flyer is the best each-way bet in the Gold Cup, while the best place prospect in the Champion Hurdle is Adagio.

With the daffodils out, spring is in the air this morning and let’s hope that brings out the best in all the runners next week and we have a fantastic and safe Festival.

Very sad to hear the news of the passing of Andy Turnell.  A legendary jockey and trainer, Andy was always one of the nice guys who inherited his exact standards from his brilliant father Bob.

My childhood was full of Turnell favourites including Birds Nest, Tree Tangle and who can forget his circus act ride on Charles Dickens in the Grand National. With his incredible balance, he had a style to be admired rather than be copied and it’s one of the many reasons he will never be forgotten for his contribution to British jump racing.