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News Archive - June 2008
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Visitors from far and wide
24th June 2008
We had another influx of foreign visitors last week, giving the yard a bit of an international feel. Jeremy had a visit from his good friend, the Australian vet Darren Arnold, who was over in the UK for a conference and took the opportunity to call in and see how Jeremy had settled in. His visit coincided with that of Pierre Bens, Managing Director of Belebro, who had brought three scientists to come and look at our new world-class water filtration system and also our walkers, which Belebro supply the parts for. When visitors travel from all over Europe, and indeed the world, to come and see our facilities in action it serves as a reminder to us of how lucky we are to be able to use such pioneering technology in our horses' training regimes. The man on the far left of the photo is Justin Chittendon, a fantastic friend of mine and Managing Director of the Equine Health Centre who manufacture both the Seawalker and the Softwalker. Jeremy and Darren are next to him and then come George Brom (from Vital Water Systems), Pierre, Loek da Regk (Filtration and purification expert), Paul Vdenheigden (a water scientist) and myself.
Owner visits and Royal Ascot
17th June 2008
We were visited by two of our owners yesterday who had come to see how their horses were progressing. Richard Page had a good look at his two year old colt by High Chaparral who is out in the field having a bit of time to mature. The colt has grown a lot over the last few months and will come back into work soon to be prepared for racing later this year. Richard also looked in on Maidanni, who he has a quarter share in with the Resurrection Partners. John Hawkins was here to see his string of horses: Eleanor Eloise, Yvonne Evelyn and Cheonmado, who are all in work and progressing nicely (che in particular was in top form this morning on the gallops). John also seized the opportunity to cast an eye over Street Power, our three year old colt by Street Cry which he bred. The horse has really filled out and matured over the winter and is an exciting prospect - he also worked particularly well this morning. He is pictured with John, myself, rider Ed Sibbick and Jeremy.
The Aussie invasion
10th June 2008
On Saturday morning we had a mini Aussie invasion with at one point the Australians in the office outnumbering the Brits six to one. The visitors included Danny Power (pictured left with Jeremy) who worked as Racing Manger to Lee Freedman, famous for sending out winners like Makybe Diva and Miss Andretti. He is also a racing journalist and bloodstock agent who bought Doreimus who famously went on to win the Melbourne Cup. Danny cast his expert eye over a selection of our two year olds and was excited by all of them. To quote one of his favourite phrases: "you've got a few cracker's here Jeremy". He and Jeremy are old friends and took the opportunity to catch up over the weekend. It is always nice to get expert opinions on the horses we have here and the fact that we have had nothing but positive feedback about our two year old string makes us even more excited about getting them to the racetrack. Also visiting us was Australian trainer, Bill Smart, who is based at Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills. Bill was very impressed with all the facilities here and was particularly interested in the Seawalker.
Adding up the air miles
03rd June 2008
Jeremy is becoming a bit of a jetsetter at the moment, which for someone who isn't overly keen on flying isn't as glamorous as it sounds! Fresh off the plane from a short holiday in Cyprus he's spent a week here making sure everything is progressing as it should before heading off to Heathrow yesterday to catch a flight to Sweden. He is going to Scandinavia to meet the directors of the Vitafloor company. We have had a Vitafloor installed at the yard (pictured) and Jeremy is keen to meet its creators to see firsthand how it can benefit horses and therefore how best to incorporate it into our horses' training regimes. Jeremy is due back on Thursday and will then add more air miles to his collection in the coming weeks as he is due to spend a couple of weeks looking at horses in Australia.