Uttoxeter - another win for Red Not Blue with AP McCoy on board

                We had another great day courtesy of Red Not Blue at Uttoxeter on Wednesday, running this time over hurdles over 2m4f.  It was again 24hrs of predicting what the ground would be like and what weather we might get as the horse can be ground sensitive and mostly he wants good ground, but not too firm.  The day before the race the ground would have been too firm for him with a going stick reading of 8.2.  Then water was put on and in the morning of the race the ground was still called Good to Firm but with a going stick reading of 7.7 (the higher the reading the firmer the ground).  After a chat with Charlie Moore (the Clerk of The Course), it was decided that we would make the journey to the racecourse and if I wasn’t happy with the ground after walking the course then we would not run and bring him home.

                We unloaded Red Not Blue at the stables and it started to rain by which time the first race had been run and Tom Scudamore told me it was good to soft!  It continued to rain heavier and heavier so by the time of his race it was soft and there was nobody to be seen in the paddock – everyone was in the bar, apart from the diehards of The Plum Merchants!  It appeared the jockeys were also in the bar or hanging back in the weighing room to keep as dry as possible but last to leave was AP McCoy with The Plum Merchants’ colours on, which gave us some encouragement that he was coming into the paddock to ride, rather than his car to go home!  By this time I was totally uncomfortable by spending so much time so close to The Brigadier (Mr Brian Lewis) under his umbrella that I went to talk to McCoy.  The plan was hatched that it would be time to go hunting and not racing as the ground had deteriorated badly and all was left to the champion jockey to do what he felt best.  He brought him home beautifully in front – what a day!  The Racing Post said ‘Red Not Blue ran on very gamely’, this was his 9^th win.

Again I am very proud of Red Not Blue who I nicknamed ‘Dark Horse’ many years ago because I felt he had such great ability and would surprise us!  He has certainly done that and his two latest runs are arguably his best.  At the age of 9 that is no mean feat and we look forward to hopefully many more races and wins to come.  Thank you to all the staff at home for another great effort.