For your notebook...... writes Donald Whillans

September rarely does anything less than raise the bar in terms of those emotions of eagerness and anticipation in all lovers of National Hunt racing.
Well, this can be doubled for all of those connected with Dodlands Steading. Team members, owners, jockeys and even yours truly ride a wave of excitement as the prospect of honing the fitness of the stars of the previous season or nurturing the latent ability of the unraced, or lightly raced youngsters.

For each of the last three seasons, I've involved several owners with a similar outlook in attending the Spring & Summer NH Store Sales, catalogue book in hand to inspect likely jumping sorts at a reasonable price. The large stables of Ireland and Southern England do focus on top of the range stores, recruits with proven form in Irish Point-to-Points and exciting young talent from across the English Channel. For Dodlands Steading, I'm a bit realistic and by taking a look at the unraced or lightly raced 3, 4 and 5 yr olds in the Horses In Training table will reveal the budget involved, and type of horse we acquire.

In many ways, this can be the most exciting part........a bit of a journey into the unknown. At the start of this season, the list of horses will reveal 10 unnamed, unraced fillies and geldings, which is the most 3 and 4 yr olds I've ever started any season with. The team will handle the youngsters with care, as individuals - and each will move onto the next phase of development when ready - but with the understanding that not every horse will win that bumper.
Yet, we do hope that each horse can mature over the next few seasons to realise their potential and bring excitement to all connections.

And mentioning bumper horses, the stable has welcomed back 3 of last season's debutants who each had varying degrees of success. Baby Ticker is the eldest of the trio and, after just making it into a bumper before she turned 7yrs of age, improved in each of her 3 hurdle races. She will go handicap hurdling next. Her dam was a smart mare, trained at Dodlands to win 6 races, and there's every hope that 'Baby' can emulate her mum in winning a hurdle or 2.
Paper Roses showed smart form when placed in her 2 bumpers, and we'll be trying our best to find her a winning opportunity before she moves on to tackle hurdles.
Keyboard Gangster has plenty of talent but ran if as something was amiss at Perth in May, so it'll be with fingers crossed as I plan and monitor his training regime this season.

But it's not all youngsters you know. I mean, we still have several handicappers who we hope would pay their way throughout the season. The likes of Snapping Turtle, Hartforth and the returning Bollin Julie are such. Tomahawk Wood finished off last season with a handicap win and will probably start off over hurdles before tackling fences in the New Year.

And of course there is Shades of Midnight. The 6yr old gelded son of Midnight Legend finished off last season as the second top-rated hurdler trained in Scotland with matching RPR and OR marks of 148. The temptation of novice chasing is there, but he looks as if he is still progressing over hurdles.
Exciting times for owners Potassium Partnership, who've also acquired the 3yr old Goodknight Percy off the flat with a view to going juvenile hurdling.

I have goals in mind for Dodlands Steading this season, and prefer the aspirational type rather than simply setting numerical targets. So, laying my career on the line:

• to be competitive in each race entered
• to bring fun and enjoyment to all our owners, not only on the racecourse but off it as well whether it be stable visits, telephone calls or website news
• to continue to make those incremental improvements that add to the development of Dodlands Steading, team members and equine inhabitants

There you go. Enjoy the season, follow the horses on the track, and keep in touch via this web-site.

Oh, and do look out for those frequent news updates from the stable, race previews, occasional tips from 'Dodlandswise', racing reviews, moans and groans, stable gossip and much, much more. Our web team are at your service!