June 2026 Blog

Too Hot to Handle

At the end of May, the temperature spiked to above 30°. During lunchtimes, a small troop of female staff, with bikinis, towels and tanning oil, found suntraps to bronze themselves in.

It wasn’t so bad when the girls were caught sunbathing by assistant trainer Hayley Meeking topping in the tractor, but awkward when a male colleague, who we shall call ‘Gary’, happened to drive past when they were sunbathing at the top of the short gallop. Apparently, there was a flourish as Lucy Westlake flung a towel over her top half as Gary passed at a snail’s pace, elevated to a decent vantage point by the two-box's cab, beeping the horn.

 Rumours of Megan Petrie sunbathing topless proved to be unfounded. There was a misunderstanding when she was driving her beloved Audi convertible with the roof down...

Getting Messy

This month, the jobs have been as changeable as the weather. I have sweltered whilst creosoting fencing in 32° and dodged the rain by creosoting the inside of a field shelter. Another day, I painted in the cool of the barn and two weeks ago, I was back in coat and bobble hat as it rained again, chilling the air. I also sorted and stored rugs whilst simultaneously basking in sunshine.

Real creosote has been banned for over twenty years and the slick, oily dark stain we use nowadays doesn’t have the toxicity or environmental risk (even applying the old creosote in the open air used to make eyes smart and irritate skin). Oiling the fencing and field shelters round the estate and at the pens helps the wood to last longer and survive the winter weather.

Yet it’s still awful to apply, dripping and splattering onto everything. Painting the stables is as messy, leaving splodges of white or black everywhere. Luckily, the horses don’t care about spots on their concrete floors. Painting is a repetitive task but having Virgin Radio blasting out made a long morning finish quicker, and colleagues nearby always make the tedious jobs entertaining by banter, chats and laughter.

Winners

After a brave second at Punchestown in April, the little hero Pioneer Pete won at Worcester. It was the day before groom Chloe Cullen’s birthday so helped start her celebrations early.

Crebilly's Golden Hour at Market Rasen with jockey Harry Cobden and groom Robyn Spencer

Knightsbridge won at Warwick and Crebilly won at Market Rasen, so the wins are tallying up slowly. Though the yard trains predominately National Hunt, there are more Flat horses now and, having purchased a few breeze-ups this summer, that number will only rise.

Staff love going Flat racing, especially to new tracks. Hamilton was the final Scottish track to be ticked off by head of travelling Alex Howitt and lad John Dina. Lucy went to Lingfield on the all-weather. John and Florin ‘Fred’ Mirea spent a sunny Sunday at Pontefract. Like a tour guide, I suggested they nip into town to the Haribo shop for misfits; a race day at ‘Ponty’ isn’t complete without a visit to the outlet of the sweet factory for which the town is famous.

So far, the most notable Flat runners have been Cancelled and Anzac day finishing third and fourth respectively. Fingers crossed for a winner soon!

 Fred and Anzac Day at Ponty

A Sun-Soaked Jackdaws Castle

The Cotswolds were particularly pretty in the sunshine. The tourist traps of Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold and Bibury seem far away from a sun-drenched Jackdaws Castle. The estate lethargically slumbers in the buzz of bees. The field horses lazily swish tails at flies and remain under the canopies of branches. Only a few ramblers encroached on the solitude, marching from stile to kissing gate in their khaki Tilley hats and tightly laced Gor-Tex. Noisier are the rumbling tractors or quarry lorries on the main road but mostly, when the horses are finished on the gallops, nothing breaks the quiet haze.

As the second heat wave hit, with temperatures even hotter, racing at Salisbury, Worcester, Kempton and Ffos Las was abandoned, and other race days brought forward their race times to avoid the afternoon temperatures.

Once again, Jackdaws Castle falls into a soporific quiet, much like the horses relaxing in their stables at lunchtime. No lorries going racing. No stables girls sunbathing; it was too hot even for that.