What a day. It started at the crack of dawn as once Damo arrived Batman and Robin were off to the track.

On the way we were caught up with tunnel maintenance which is always pain in the neck as you never get where you want on time.

They are very punctual my mob, always ready for the at gallops at 4.30am. Dave and the boys have the horses walking around the tower and the jockeys queue patiently, the light spilling over it all quite airily, just  beauty in motion.

Best of the morning has to be Dance Idol, this Danehill Dancer filly worked a treat and I am delighted with her progress.

Herculian Prince (Yamanin Vital) delighted Neil as he flew along the back and then found the line with vengeance.

In Lighten (Redoute's Choice) is currently very fat but more work like she produced today will soon see that disappear.  King Lionheart (Al Maher) was very fresh, he nearly got Glyn over his ears.

Montana Flyer,  who has been nominated for the NSW Racehorse Owners' prestigious title of Queen of the Autumn, delighted Nash in her work and she will retrial at Randwick

Pureness (Tale of the Cat) has come through his Canterbury win so well. He won't be seen again until the August 18 as I want to keep him in his own class and let him work through the grades. Small fish are sweet for his owner.

Upon this Rock (Fastnet Rock) and Shakira Morn (More Than Ready) where stylish this morning as were Dancers, Chinkara (Danehill  Dancer) and Flamingo (Don Eduardo).

Stratofortress (Stravinsky) has a girth on him the size of a ten tonne Jessie. I said to Glyn if he was not happy with his fitness he won't start on Saturday. On return Glyn only had positive comments saying the gelding did not blow at all and that he was definitely ready start on Saturday. We will all know if Glyn is a good judge by Sunday, hehe.

Oh what lads these two are jumping round back straight like they are the Beverley hillbillies, the two Zabeel colts, one out of Sarajay the other out of Power and Grace. They formed a trio with the Fastnet Rock/Desert Ibis who at this point is more precocious which can be expected as she is bred in Australia and is bred for the Slipper while the lads are bred for the Derby. The important ingredient in training these horses is time.

This morning at the track a nice couple from Perth  enjoyed watching the training session.

They were commenting that they had met my father quite some time ago at which point Rick produced race book from the 1979 Ascot Railway Stakes Day and inside that was dad's signature.

He had signed it, ?Best Regards, TJ Smith, 1980', the perfect example of dad as he was always looking forward. Dad's philosophy was to move on from the past, distance yourself from people you don't get along with, and let horses go that are not up to standard.

Too often people worry about things they cannot change. Only the other day a Sydney journalist was told by a doctor that he was suffering from stress. He asked me, "how do I deal with it Gai?"

 I said, "easily, I download every night on to a writing pad before I go to bed so that I have nothing lurking in my mind, and then I sleep well and am ready to fire in the morning ".

The stress causes wrinkles, grey hair, and ulcers. Other things I do to bust the stress include my wiggly worm exercises every morning and walking in the evenings with the dog, and oh the husband. These are all little things but they make a big difference.

The trials at Warwick Farm were a pleasing event. Winners included Charing Cross who delighted owners Jeff and Trisha Sheehan with his first up effort.

Ice Creme (Encosta De Lago) delighted, as did Kiss From a Rose (Encosta De Lago), Master of Reality (Danehill Dancer), and Halekulani (Encosta De Lago).

The full trial results are available here.