Dry weather, flu-gate and other tales

......and it was going so well......

Dry autumn, dry winter, sharp frost, flu-gate, dry weather........and now Spring-like temperatures.  Whilst 'lovely days' abound, these are doing nothing to raise our spirits when we have torrential rain at the top of our wish list.
Still, with the return to racing on Wednesday after 6 days of suspension, 'Strictly Come X-Factor' communications, relaxation of 'lockdown' imposed upon 22 Northern-based yards, change in flu-vaccination regulations introduced with immediate effect, we can now get on with the day job!

Phew!!!

All Dodlands' Steading horses tested returned negative EI results.

We re-vaccinated 5 horses earlier this week so they will be having a quiet few days and hope there are no lingering after-effects - each horse reacts differently so we are keeping an even closer eye on our inmates than usual.
FYI (don'cha just luv' management-speak, it's catching)......the horses impacted are Lucarno Dancer, Eternally Yours, Side of the Road, Baby Ticker and Paper Roses.

There's no doubt the last 10 days have been difficult for the BHA.
Their actions and decisions - touched on above - have been received by the Thoroughbred Horserace training community with at best tacit agreement, at worst with accusations of immense overreaction.
Either way, it is trusted that a full internal review is conducted by the BHA and the lessons learned shared with all racing stakeholders as soon as possible.

Anyway, closer to home, look out for a weekend update (maybe even a new video) with our web team now permitted back on-site, as (most of) the string are back in full work. Of course, this is in the hope of some soft-ish ground at racecourses, at least in the west of the country.

Happy couple of days, see you Sunday as Kent Walton almost used to say........one for readers of a certain vintage lol.