Well what a night!

Myself along with my wife Jayne,children Abbie and Rachel,In laws Shirley and Arthur arrived at the course after a two hour journey which normally takes 45 minutes due to horrendous traffic jams on the M4.We made our way into the recently extended owners bar for our complimentry coffee and danish pastry,and they have certainly have done a super job on the extension!

After about 10 minutes we bumped ito Stuart and Judy along with Neil and soon we met fellow members Paul,Simon with guest Lesley and Tim and Jackie.Tim informed us that there was a table available on the balcony overlooking the winning line.This must be one of the most superb places to watch races anywhere in the country!

Stuart informed us that the going had changed to soft after all the rain we had all day,which would be ideal for our Muffin, but would not suit Stuart's other runner Dove Cottage. At this point I was gathering infomation off some other trainers regarding the chances of their runners at this meeting and was told Dove Cottage was in with a chance,so duly went off to back her along with half of the owners bar, he ran a fantastic race but ran out of steam with 2 furlongs to go! Reg Gifford the owner of Dove Cottage arrived too late to bet him after taking 8 hours to get to the course.Never mind, next time!!

Time was now marching on and winners were hard to find but in the 8-45 race a welsh trained horse called Toms Laughter ridden by the top Irish girl jockey Catherine Gannon pulled out all the stops to win coming from last to first. Now all of us were getting excited about our race which was next.Paul informed me that Muffin was now showing at 3-1 with only 5 runners now in opposition! I told a few of my friends in the owners bar that our horse was a good bet at this price, so they all piled down to the bookies to back him

All of us made our way to the paddock to see Muffin arriving for his pre-race parade.By golly didnt he look super fit and full of himself,like a prize fighter!Stuart and Judy said he was on top form and ready for the race.It was good to see fellow member Neil arrive into the paddock after helping Stuart saddle up.Looking at the bookies odds our fella was drifting out in the betting, but we were not worried.Now it was the time for the jockeys to arrive,and Fergus Sweeney came to meet us all with his usual cool as a cucumber manerisms, and informed us he was concerned who would dictate the pace.Stuart gave Fergus all the necessary instructions and then proceeded to give Fergus the leg up onto the horse.They looked a formidable pair together before cantering down to the 7f start.

We all decided to watch the race from the paddock, right opposite the big screen.There was a delay as Marked Jadeo took his time in getting down to the start,but he eventually got there. All the horses were put into the stalls, but Muffin proved a bit of a handful,eventually getting some help from the stalls handlers!

The race started and Muffin looked full of running and headstrong, then pulled his way into the front.Muffin just kept on stepping up the pace and pulled away from his 5 rivals to win by 3 and half lengths!!!

We were all rejoicing, shouting, screaming, hugging each other and over the moon with excitement! What a performance and training feat by Stuart, Judy and all the team at the stables.

We all had our photo taken on the winners podium and presented with our silver photo frame.Fergus said he could not believe how easy he was winning by as he looked at the big screen as he flew by it.

It was then time for us to go to the winners reception for champagne,and to see the race again on TV.

Well thats all folks,what a pleasure it was to meet up with our good luckcharms Tim and Jackie, also Paul and Simon along with Leslie. We dropped Jackie and Tim off at The First Furlong in Chepstow, hope you both had a good welcome in Wales!! And I'll say this again, what fantastic value it is to be a member of The Racing Guild, to get all the privelages of being a racehorse owner from only about £30 a month!!

We all had a super fabulous night and now to bed.

Regards to you all from Alun and Jayne.