GUD DAY: It's time for me to take a short break (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

GUD DAY, the new People's Horse on Twitter, writes his weekly column

12:00pm Thursday 28th February 2013 in Sport

Short break.

IT’S time for me to take a break. I am leaving Fergal O’Brien’s yard for a couple of weeks in exchange for a bit of hacking and hunting. The gallops are getting a bit boring and I am looking for a bit of fun to refresh myself.

Unfortunately the race I ran in at Sandown on Friday was too far for me. The distance was just too far, the other horses went very fast and I got very tried.

Hopefully, I'll be going back to racing over 2m instead 2m4f in future.

I will be back in full training in a couple of weeks and will head to Haydock Park for the Grassroots Series Hurdle Final. The handicapper has dropped my rating to 112 which means I’ll be back in action with an even lower weight – nice and easy to carry but Conor Shoemark might need to eat a few less pies!

#TeamFOB ON FRIDAY we had three other runners apart from me at Sandown and at Warwick. The Boss was very pleased with Queen Of Mantua; she jumped very well for a young’un, and the boss think’s she will become a good staying chaser in time. Gallic Warrior was looking good until getting tired coming up the hill at Sandown. Hurricane Emily only managed to beat three horses out of 17, but as it was only her third attempt at racing she will have learnt a lot.

Looking ahead to this weekend, we have plenty of potential runners right across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Silver Roque holds entries at Doncaster and Newbury so we’ll have to wait for the Boss to decide on the best option, but we’re hopeful as he’s been in the top three on his last three starts. Fiddlers Bid has an entry in the top novices’ hurdle at Kelso on Saturday, so I’ll be popping my head round to watch the TV in the office to see him win, hooves crossed!

#CheltenhamFestivalCountdown FIVE of the top trainers – Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson, David Pipe, Nigel Twiston-Davies and Donald McCain – have kindly opened their yard doors to the press over the past couple of weeks to help journalists preview the Cheltenham Festival. Visit Lovetheraces.com to find what they each had to say about their Festival Teams. And don’t forget to buy your Cheltenham tickets and see all of the superstars in action from March 12-15.

Follow @peopleshorse for daily updates or read more at www.thepeopleshorse.co.uk.