Hi Everyone,

After a few sleepless nights, the day finally arrived, and surprisingly, I felt extremely calm when I woke on Saturday morning, a state that continued for the most of the day... until the off, when the butterflies kicked in.

Tim, Steve, Tim's brother Nicky, and I made our way round the wonderful M25 (don't you just love it?), and after a hold up of only half an hour or so, we finally made it to Ascot, with plenty of time to spare.

After soaking up the atmosphere for a few minutes, we made our way to, you've guessed it, the Owners & Trainers Bar, where we met up with Paul, Dianne, Anthony, Sandra, Simon & Russ, and discussed our Boy's chances in the race. I think it's fair to say that given the conditions, and the calibre of his opponents, we'd have been more than happy with an 8th or 10th place finish.

After a drink (or two, just to calm the nerves you understand), we were joined by Stuart, Judy & Tim, who advised that Muffin had travelled well, as ever, and was looking in good shape. We then decided to grab a quick bite from the generous complimentary buffet, giving us plenty of time until Our Boy was due to go.

We were halfway through eating, when someone noticed that the runners for the Victoria Cup were being led around the pre-parade ring, which, as luck would have it was just below the O/T Bar, giving us a perfect vantage point from which to see his Lordship as he passed underneath us, almost within touching distance. He looked absolutely superb, and as Dianne noticed, had had his mane plaited for the occasion.

Finally, it was time for us to head downstairs to the pre-parade, then onto the parade ring before the start of the race, which is where we met up with our new member, Chris Fussey (who, sadly was suffering from an onset of hay fever, hope you\'re feeling better, Chris), but was looking forward to the race.

Liam Keniry joined us after a few minutes, and before we knew it, it was time for the off. Hearts pounding, we made our way to the Owners viewing area, and waited for what seemed like a lifetime, for the race to begin.

From looking at the screen opposite us, it appeared that Muffin got a good start, and we only found out later that he had actually stumbled coming out of the stalls and had almost parted company with Liam, but miraculously, he managed to hang on, and was soon up with the pace.

As the race progressed, the field split into two groups, with Muffin up with the leaders of the stand side group.

He continued to keep up with the leaders, and for a while we thought that the fairy tale might come true, but, as you all know, he finally finished a very impressive fifth, given the company he was keeping, and taking into account the harder ground conditions. He certainly did not give a 33/1 performance.

I'm sure Paul will correct me if I\'m wrong, but I believe Muffin won in the region of £1700 for fifth place, which added to his previous two places this season, should bring his total for this year so far to almost £5000.

He has proved that he is far from being an 'also ran', and I for one am rapidly running out of superlatives with which to describe our '22 carat Guilded Warrior'!!

I think he deserves his 2-3 week break, after which he will hopefully come out fighting again.

It was great to see some of our fellow Guilders again, and as usual, we enjoyed your superb company.

I shall be taking all your good wishes, together with some Polo's, to the Stable visit on Sunday.

Thanks as ever to Stuart, Judy, and the team, and also lots of praise to Liam Keniry for a fantastic first ride on Muffin.

Bye for now,

Jackie