WE HAD just the one runner last week - Ben Lilly who ran on the flat at Goodwood. This was his first run back for a while as he had picked up an injury and he ran okay on ground that was softer than ideal.

This will have put him spot on for a run over hurdles next, although we will be running him again on the flat as well at some point.

Earlier this week we had runners at Newton Abbot where Final Entry and Saucats both ran in the same race, the juvenile hurdle, while we had four entered at Worcester on Wednesday,.

After Wednesday there is then no jumps racing again until next Monday back at Worcester. We do have Nibras Gold entered on the flat at Chester on Friday and we will keep an eye on the weather before deciding if he runs.

Despite us not having many runners at the moment with the racing a little fragmented, things are pretty hectic back at the yard. The winter horses are in full swing on the gallops as we are gearing them up for a return to action from October onwards while we are also making sure everything is tidied and ready for our visitors at the weekend.

We have a David Pipe Racing Club visit on Saturday morning followed by visitors on Sunday morning as part of National Racehorse Week. We have over 100 people coming each day so it is great to be able to welcome so many people to Pond House.

ITV Westcountry News TV cameras came down last Friday and filmed a piece with me at the yard about the week and from that piece shown on the news, we had quite a few more people on our waiting list to want to come to the visit! We extended our numbers to 160 to accommodate everyone, so it promises to be a busy morning.

The recent rain has been good, however, in one way, as we have just topped up our woodchip gallops once again, something we do quite regularly. New woodchip is put on by our gallop man Mike, using a tractor and spreader and then it is continuously rolled to help it bed in. The rain is a good help as this helps it to settle down as well. This is something we do 3-4 times a year. We regularly measure the depth, top up the places that need refilling most and then spread a layer on the whole gallop to make sure it is a nice even and consistent surface from the bottom to the top. The Wexford Sand gallop topping up works in a similar way and that will be done shortly as well.

Jockey David Noonan is getting married at the weekend to long term partner Harriet and Leanne and I are looking forward to going to the evening reception. David came over and joined us full time in 2013 as a young 18 year old from Cork, having come over for a few weeks the previous summer. He started his riding career in West Country point to points and has progressed to have a successful career as a professional jockey and has ridden 237 winners.

While currently number one retained rider for Jane Williams he still rides out at Pond House regularly and we will continue to use him this season when available. He was very quiet and shy when he first arrived but has matured into a well-liked and respected young man and it will be great to share his big day with him.