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Saturday 24th December

We were immediately back among the winners once racing resumed on Tuesday after ten days lost during the big freeze.

Captain Teague won his bumper tidily at Plumpton and a day later Lallylag and Holetown Hero won back to back races over hurdles at Taunton.
On Thursday Complete Unknown took our score for the season to 86 with a sparkling victory on his debut over fences in a competitive novice handicap Chase at Ffos Las. He was always going to be a chaser and has an exciting future.
The cold snap has probably ended my hopes of reaching a century of winners by the end of December. It was frustrating that so many decent opportunities at Cheltenham, Ascot and elsewhere were scuppered by freezing temperatures.
But we continue to maintain our strike record of 33% and we enter the holiday period with plenty of live chances at Kempton, Chepstow and Wincanton led by our trio in the King George V1 Chase.
For the latest news on all my runners on Boxing Day please turn to my Betfair column which is already live across social media.

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Monday 19th December

Nine blank days at this time of year were obviously really frustrating for everyone involved with jump racing.

But the work goes on behind the scenes and Team Ditcheat were at their very best during the cold snap that saw temperatures plunge as low as minus 10 degrees.
One of the most crucial tasks each morning and evening was to salt the roads our horses use in and around the village to get to and from the gallops.
To this end we have our own electric spreader which spreads the salt from the back of one of our trucks. My assistant Charlie Davies was in charge of this important role ably assisted by Natalie Parker and Conor Houlihan.
Meanwhile Rob Lee was busily driving his tractor up and down our all weather gallops keeping them frost free and safe for the horses to exercise each day.
With taps frozen and ice a constant worry around the yard extra vigilance was needed to avoid any mishaps.
So there was plenty of extra work for our staff, but everyone rallied round, and they all deserve a lot of credit for making sure that we got through the last challenging nine or ten days in really good shape.
Now that the thaw has arrived we will have a few runners this week before we get busy again at the Bank Holiday meetings over Christmas and the New Year.
We have already given about a third of our horses their annual mid winter flu jabs. They are the ones that are not due to run for three weeks or so but will be ready to go after January 14.
The rest are set to have their vaccinations in early to mid January before they are given a couple of weeks on the easy list.

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Impossible to make firm plans

The cold snap put an end to our hopes at Cheltenham and Hereford on Saturday and unfortunately the outlook for racing this week is far from encouraging.

It was a big blow to lose the Cheltenham card where we were hoping for a big day with perfect ground and ideal races for our team of horses.
It is not known yet if any of the feature races at Cheltenham will be re-arranged. But if the International Hurdle is lost I doubt that the horses who missed out will be queuing up to take on Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
With meetings off left, right and centre it is impossible to make any firm plans in the days ahead. But if temperatures do improve by the weekend then we will be sending a strong team to Ascot on Friday and Saturday.
Last week Rubaud won nicely for the second time this season at Taunton on Thursday. He is an exciting prospect for the future and jumps so well I can’t wait to see him over fences next season.
Rubaud is in the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Novice Hurdle at Ascot on Friday along with Lallygag but with serious concerns about the meeting taking place he is more likely to run at Kempton on Boxing Day.
On Friday Le Chiffre d’Or took our score for the season to 82 with an easy success on his debut over fences at Doncaster. On his first start since a breathing operation he won with his head in his chest.
With our horses remaining in sparkling form with a strike rate of 33% the current disruption to racing is seriously frustrating for team Ditcheat. Here’s hoping the thaw starts sooner rather than later.

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