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DAVID CARR |
Weblog: What do you mean the Wi-Fi doesn't work? The life of a Racing Post reporter
Poignant visit to Cheshire
Emotional morning. A sombre equivalent to the dog that didn't bark in the night - the man thatdidn't make a joke about my hair.
That man being the incomparable Ginger McCain, who always used to offer me a fiver to go and get a proper haircut when I visited the stable. Every time without fail.
And who I could not help thinking of on my first trip since his sad death last month.
No surprise when you see the huge pile of cards and letters of condolence in the office, with more coming in every day.
When you hear the entreaties to give another plug for the memorial service to make sure everyone knows about it (it is at Liverpool Cathedral at 2.30pm on Tuesday November 15).
And listen to Donald speak of the 'huge number of little things' that remind him of his father who is 'still a massive presence, you can't do anything without thinking of him - everything is because of him.'
I was in Cheshire for the annual stable tour, the traditional 12-monthly run through the latest influx of talent which is making this one of the top three or four yards in the country, not just the north.
No fewer than 50 new recruits have joined the team at a stable which has never been afraid of backing its judgement in the auction ring - Red Rum himself was an expensive buy at the sales back in the day - and that is even before next week's horses-in-training sale at Newmarket which marks the unofficial end of jump racing's transfer window.
You'll need to buy next Monday's Post to get the news, though you do not have to be Hercule Poirot to guess at the enthusiasm and probable targets for the likes of Ballabriggs, Overturn, Peddlers Cross.
But even in print I'd not be indiscreet enough to reveal which less-than-panther-like horse we'd got to when the trainer read the short-hand prep notes over my shoulder and said: "I thought that said 'plod' - and you wouldn't be far wrong."
And on departure he couldn't resista tonsorial rejoinder for old times' sake.
"After all those years, the first time that you come and my dad is not here and the blond highlights have gone!"
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