The BE omnibus finally landed on the mat in the last few days and Jenny and I have been busy pouring over it making plans for the horses for the 2011 season. It caused a few laughs at Little Charingworth as Figgy and Mac are on the cover looking quite the part, which is more than can be said for the jockeys. The best comment so far is from Jenny’s mother who announced ‘you look pregnant’ (which I can assure you she is not!) Suffice it to say I don’t think either Jenny or I will be giving up our day jobs to pursue a career in front of the camera. On a more serious note our thanks to Fiona for taking a series of lovely pictures which led to this one being selected for the cover – and as they say, all publicity is (hopefully) good publicity.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, making plans for the horses… the next few days will involve me looking through the schedule and working out plans for each horse. Jenny and I both tend to develop a plan for the horses independently and then we compare notes as we tend to come up with a better overall plan and let fewer things fall through the cracks if we both look at it independently and then discuss our various thoughts. Each of us remembers different things about different events and we tend to spark off each other in developing a plan and being able to think through which tracks will suit which horses, and which are likely to ballot etc.
It’s an interactive process and we never get the draft plan right first time around. We also like to ‘sleep on it’ over several days and come back to it with fresh eyes. Once we have a draft we are happy with we discuss it with our owners and supporters to ensure it works for them too – some owners have preferences on specific events, goals or dates and all of that needs to be taken in to account.
I’m excited as putting the plan together, re-registering the horses and, on a more mundane note, cutting out the booze and over indulgence are all signs that the season is around the corner and I’m looking forward to it.
I have a great team of horses, owners, staff and supporters for 2011 and I’m looking forward to the season and hoping I can ride to my potential and achieve some success for all involved with Team Levett.
Cheers,
Bill
Posted 5th January
