Hi All,

Eyes down, here we go!

I arrived at Folkestone half an hour before the first race, on a day which was in complete contrast to the last time Muffin ran there. As always, my first port of call was the bar, where I saw Anthony caressing a pint of Guinness, Paul checking the form for the next race, Martin enjoying his pie and mushy peas, the girls happily discussing shoes and handbags and finally DW sitting quietly in the corner sipping a mineral water....it was at this point that I realised it was merely a mirage, brought on by severe dehydration and so I quickly ordered a pint!!!!!

When I met Stuart in the bar before Muffin's race, he told me that Muffin had travelled well and was in fine fettle. We made our way to the pre-parade ring where Stuart attached the visors and Muffin strutted into the parade ring with his usual swagger, but possibly a little more on his toes today. Alan Munro joined us in the ring and Stuart gave him his instructions, ie, keep him behind the front runners, see how he manages with the visors and how he handles the ground, (which was officially good to firm) - with that horse & rider were on their way to the stalls and the race was off.

After two furlongs, he made up a little bit of ground and was soon in the first three or four, he continued to keep up with the pace, and when a gap opened he made his dash for glory about two furlongs from home. He was leading one furlong out, and this time he stayed on, and both Stuart and myself thought this was going to be his day, but unfortunately there was a blanket finish at the line and he finished fourth - the official distances being s/hd, nk, nk - so not half a length between the four.

After the race Alan said that it took him a couple of furlongs to get used to the ground, but once he did, he was fine. He commented that he is a straightforward horse, and that as far as he was concerned, 6f is fine for him, he also suggested keeping the visors for the time being as they certainly aided his concentration. Alan also confirmed that Muffin had been barged just before the line, (which later resulted in a steward's enquiry, after which, unfortunately, the placings remained unchanged).

Personally, I think it was Muffin's best performance since Wolverhampton, bearing in mind that this was a class 4 race, on ground he hadn't before encountered. All in all, a good effort from our boy.

Billy No Mates signing off