Doncaster

Perfect day.
Doncaster in January is usually a good race meeting, if it isn't abandoned. But it's bloody cold. The wind across Town Moor gets into your bones unlike anything else, and it can get a bit grim.
But not today. Today it was cold, but there was no wind, and the clear sky and sun meant that at times it was positively balmy.

Today was the first time I'd been able to get together with my friend Michael to go racing, life having been full of vicissitudes lately. Those who know him will be unsurprised to hear he arrived shortly after the third race, but was compensated by the fact they let him in free. He knows his stuff on horses, and I'm not quite sure what he made of my classification of them as "shiny" and "cheerful", or my, admittedly rather over the top, excitement that the eventual winner of the sixth, Quicuyo, had sparkly bits on his hindquarters. For the record, he, like many, was deceived by the stunning (one might almost say shiny) good looks of Wayward Prince, but got the top 2 in the bumper without blinking an eye.

And this was the only possible blip. This is Calgary Bay, mentioned in my first ever blip as having finally started winning again. 4 weeks later, at the top of the weights and thanks to a genius ride by Dominic Elsworth, he does it again.. Really wonderful stuff. (I was on the fourth. In a 15 horse race. Life's like that sometimes).

Just what the doctor ordered