The Futurity sponsors gathered at our place yesterday for a meeting to decide what to do given the Foot & Mouth disease movement restrictions. We have had to postpone the event until February 16 & 17 as DEFRA said it was very unlikely that any licences would be granted for ‘gatherings’ in November. It is actually quite good news for all the cria that were born this summer as they will be old enough to show so our junior classes should be much bigger. It also means that some herdsires who did not have progeny on the ground will have for the February date, so let’s hope the owners get them nominated. It was a very enjoyable meeting as we whizzed through a lot of business and had time for an interesting chewing the fat session as well. We have all been in this busines for a long time – Joy Whitehead especially and there was a lot of history sitting round that table but all the bitter disputes from the past have been more or less resolved and the arguments are healthy, good natured ones.
Newbury Racecourse have been very good to us and are transferring our very sizeable deposit to the February date – a bit of a phew moment that. A lot of my publicity materials will have to be reprinted and Chas has loads of work to do.
It is my eldest son Thomas’s 30th birthday today. He is somewhere in the Atlas Mountains, happy birthday Tom. It is a little shocking to have a son of 30 as it reminds me of how ancient I am. He still has the big Pooh bear given to him when he was a day old by my friend Lesley Hall, who sadly died several years ago of lung cancer.