Good Afternoon Everyone,

What a Boy we have got!!!

Tim, Steve and I arrived at Leicester (completely relaxed after a 'doddle' of a journey, M25 and M1 both clear) for a lovely sunny afternoon's racing. It couldn't get much better than that - WRONG!!!

We met up with the lovely Malc and Beryl, making the most of the sunshine outside the O/T Bar. We discussed Muffin's chances in the race, and I think it's fair to say that given his write up in the racecard "hard to recommend under the burden of top weight" (obviously failing to take into account his 7lb claim), we felt quite protective of our 'underdog'.

As the afternoon went on, we were joined by Stuart, Judy and Neil who advised us that Muffin was looking strong and had travelled well. Stuart seemed very relaxed and was sure that Muffin would put on a good show for us.

We watched a couple more races, and then it was our turn for the off. Nervous, but optimistic that he may finish in the first four or five (first trip out and all that), we made our way to the parade ring where the horses were being led round. We saw him straight away, but had to take a few double takes, as he was being led, sedately, (yes, that's right), around the ring. It was at this point that I asked Stuart if he'd put the right horse in the box that morning, as his demeanour was more akin to that of Molly, and he resembled a mogadon imbibed elderly lady taking a Sunday afternoon stroll around the park, rather than the unruly youth that we've come to know and love.

We were still trying to come to terms with this new, mature, well behaved, Muffin, and were waiting for Tim Meadows to join us, after first signing autographs at the gate (I kid you not); when Fergus waved across to us as he made his way to the rival camp of Gilded Youth (spooky or what), his mount for the race.

Tim joined us a few seconds later, and after the introductions were made, it was time for him to get on board. It was at this point that normal service was resumed when Muffin immediately tried to jettison him over the rail. Sighs of relief all round, Our Boy Was Back!!

Fortunately, Tim was having none of it, and quickly got him under control as they made their way out to the track.

Then they were off, with Muffin quickly settling into 4th place on the outside and looking as if he was glad to be back. As the race progressed, he made his way to the front of the pack and for a while it looked as if we may have been bringing another trophy away, but at the last half furlong or so (I should explain at this point that my sense of distance is virtually non existent - so apologies if this is inaccurate), the favourite, The Osteopath, came in with a blast and took the lead, finally beating Muffin by two lenghts, with, I think, Fifty Cents taking third in the photo, Muffin beating him by a nose - but what a lovely nose it is!!

As we had been standing just above the winning line, we were confident that Muffin had achieved 2nd place, so we made our way to the Winners Enclosure to wait for the official result to be announced.

Once the announcement had been made, and after thanking Tim and lavishing praise on Muffin, we said our goodbyes to Malc & Beryl and made our way back to the Bar with Stuart and Judy for a final celebratory glass (or two)!!!

All in all, another great day out and a teriffic result from our "Hard to Recommend" Superstar!!

Huge thanks once again to Stuart, Judy and the team.

Bye for now.

Jackie