It's so far so good in a year in which our first Group-race success is the aim

This is my first column of 2018 but I'm pleased to say we're already on a roll and enjoying a good start to a year I hope continues as it has begun.

We managed to fire in a few more winners after I handed over to Sam Twiston-Davies in November, following which we had an intentionally quiet winter.

Last autumn we sold a lot of horses and managed to get good prices for them. These were animals I felt would have needed to re-handicap themselves in order to win again. Once they went off to their new homes we were only able to have a handful of runners over the cold months, but in the last few weeks many more horses have been leaving Weathercock House as runners and returning home as winners – or as seconds or thirds.