Crimson, are you excited?

I will try to catch him on the news.

And Nathaniel, who came second to Frankel in his first race [came third today] will also retire. Poor Cirrus, being a gelding has just got to keep on winning races . And, with Kauto Star most probably not racing again [no decision yet] the end of a golden age for racing .

If it was showjumping, crimson I could probably help you out with the bits but trainers usually stick to the simplest and lightest hardwear. Unlike showjumping and eventing the aim is not to slow the horse down at critical moments or turn it on a sixpence, so a simple snaffle is usually used. I didn't really pay much attention to Frankel's tack but he was wearing a cross-over noseband. The lower strap buckles behind the chin which helps to stop the bit from sliding around in the mouth.

Did you see the interview with Cirrus's trainer? He knew which pocket she keeps the polo mints in and ripped her jacket trying to get at them....Priceless!

I missed that. Praobably because I was switching to Ch 4 to watch Cheltenham and Kelso. Whilst googling grakle nosebands [I thought Frankel was wearing one] I came upon a blog about a horse called Desert Sea that I used to follow; he's been taken on by a girl who's retraining him as a show horse. It's lovely to see the life he's leading now.

Ammboselli - yes, crimson, about 47 years ago when my sister came to Kenya to stay with me. We stayed in the tented camp where an elephant routinely came round at night to see if there was anything interesting in the bins. It was just amazing to be so close to those lionesses. I think they were young ones out for a bit of fun, scaring tourists. The soil in the reserve is volcanic dust from Kilimanjaro. My car looked as if it had been dusted with talcum powder - inside and out and in the engine too.

Oh I'd love to go there and see Echo's remaining family. I followed her story for years. She lived for 64 years, and the documentaries covered about 20 of them.