Horses and Hounds - (er, did someone say hounds?)

Well, the old fox is back again after a bit of a lay-off due to an internet famine in Cornwall and an inability to organise the day - any day - in a productive fashion. Now, safely ensconced in Derbyshire once again and with the National Hunt Racing programme well under way, the blog resumes.

Last Friday saw the Fox at Cheltenham and very popular he proved to be with the annual Countryside Day in full swing as the opener to the three day "Open".  The tented village is the focal point for Christmas shopping for those who have what it takes - money! Most folk have a wander round and head for the food hall to pig out on the various tasty freebies on offer. One of the frequent traders at Cheltenham is a very progressive company called, "Wear the Fox Hat?" (Note the question mark).  Lavish headgear is constructed from cast-off fur coats and stoles and sold to county ladies at a price. A novel take on re-cycling.  One  tweedy gal was observed out on the Cross-country course with a towering creation which reminded the Grey One of long deceased Aunty Mabel. This must be proof that there is, indeed, life after mothballs!


Coming down  the walkway towards the Guinness bar who should one meet but Wenlock and Mandeville on their own stall! Yes, the perfect alternative teddy for your kiddies' Christmas stockings. Never mind your Peppa Pigs, Iggle-Piggles and Makka Pakkas, give your kids a friendly Cyclops to cuddle!

Cheltenham always does its bit for Equestrian Team GB in the months before an Olympics and this year was no exception with a very informative display of coaching by the great Yogi Breisner out on the race course. He put an international eventer, a show-jumper and a dressage rider and their mounts through their paces, and was most informative on the skill and courage needed. It was a great sight seeing the close control the riders maintained over their horses and the enormous scope of the show-jumper, the speed of the eventer and the sheer beauty of the dressage horse.

Later on, Mary King led a group of Team GB riders including European Bronze medallists, William Fox Pitt, Piggy French and Nicola Wilson, who met up with the Heythrop Hounds and neighbouring packs (gulp!) to pose for cameras and have a brief gallop before the third race. It was good to see the little beagles from the Wick and District as well and Niece Lizzie nearly took the lot home to Scotland. Alice, from Channel 4 Racing did her best to interview the little dears for the camera only to come off second best as all and sundry got in the shot as they took the opportunity to give the hounds the fussing they so much enjoy.

Well, after all that, the Racing had something to live up to and fans weren't disappointed when young Tom Bellamy (a graduate from Pony Racing) rode Swing Bill to victory in the first. The Cross-Country Race, which brought thousands of punters out into various vantage points in the middle of the course provided many thrills and not too many spills and again, the amateur snappers congregated around the water jump and  put their trust in their shutter-releases.



The vast majority of the 20000+ crowd stayed on for the last to see three exciting novice chasers, Champion Court, Cue Card and Grand Crus take one another on. Unfortunately, Cue Card fluffed his lines and got rid of his jockey but Grand Crus ran out a worthy winner having been challenged bravely by Champion Court over the last two fences.  Unfortunately the light was in short supply by this time, the horses could have done with headlights out in the back straight, so the camera was safely pocketed.

A great day's sport for horse lovers and Country people alike with a real reminder that our Equestrian Team GB is ready for the fray in 2012.

The Fox catches up

The Old Fox is only too aware that this latest blog is much overdue but asks for the indulgence of his readers having been involved in extensive earth moving operations since the day after the last post. What's more there's still plenty to sort in the old quarters so writing time has been seriously reduced. Anyway, with Mrs Vixen doing most of the sorting and clearing today and the grand-cubs enjoying the delights of Cornwall, here's an opportunity to get at least half up to date.

The Grey One has a cousin who lives just up the road from where the worst of the recent riots occurred. Reports are that many small businesses, built up through their owners working, 16/18 hours a day, were trashed. Senseless stuff. Apparently the Olympic site itself was one of the targets and those of us looking forward to next year's games should be thankful that the plot was foiled by the interception of Twitter messages by the police.  Now the Fox has only just started to tweet rather than bark and, as he follows Reuters, many Irish language sites and a plentiful number of jockeys, is generally overloaded by the amount of information on offer. Perhaps the guardians of our peace must have someone full time monitoring the tweets of dodgy individuals. Is there a story here?

This month has seen several of the venues for 2012 being put to the test. The cycle road race, including two circuits of Box Hill,  followed up the mountain-bike trials and was won, significantly enough, by the great Mark Cavendish. This could easily become a fan blog for the green jerseyed one but there is no doubt that this guy will not be satisfied with silver next year. One of Britain's greatest current sportsmen without a doubt.

With the BMX trials just completed, the Fox notes that Shanaze Reade took her rightful place on  the top of the podium but expressed some criticisms of the track, in particular in adverse weather conditions. Certainly, on the recent visit of Storytellers to the Olympic site, many cameras clicked on the lunar landscape that was the BMX track designed, they were told, by a guy who, eschewing pencil and paper, gets on a bulldozer and pushes the earth around until he's satisfied with it. Apparently strong winds could see some of the lighter competitors blown off the track altogether. After all, BMX sometimes seems much more like flying than cycling.  As competitors like Shanaze and the current world-champ Mariana Pajon know what they're talking about, the Organisers may well take note. Shanaze, readers will know, is another for whom coming second equals last, as witnessed by her death or glory crash in Beijing in 2008. Where most ordinary mortals would dine out for the rest of their lives on tales of winning Olympic silver or bronze, Ms Reade and Mr Cavendish would deem it beneath a mention. If the Old One's life depended on two people riding to save it, the choice is obvious.

The Fox would have much enjoyed a prowl around Weymouth and Portland recently where the sailing trials brought many nationalities together to try the local waters. Once again Ben Ainslie proved his gold standard in  the Finn class while Nick Dempsey in the RSX, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, 470 (only together since last February) and Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson, Star weighed in with silver and Paul Goodison Laser and Bryony Shaw RSX took bronze. It is a matter of history that the redoubtable Ms Shaw, whilst treading water after winning bronze in 2008, gave the quote of the Olympic Regatta, "I'm so clucking happy!" - or something like that.

Off the Olympic track a little, but great sport nevertheless, the Grey Fox was once more to be seen on the York Knavesmire last Wednesday for the running of the Juddmonte International. This brought a sensational result for  Sir Henry Cecil who trained the first and second -Twice Over and Midday. Don't forget that these magnificent beasts are athletes themselves, trained to perfection to go out and deliver. Like their human counterparts, they provide a great sight straining for victory over their equally well prepared opponents. That's sport! Long may it continue.

One year to go and the papers are full of it.  The old fox was on the prowl in Sheffield this morning appearing on Rony Robinson's Radio show on BBC Sheffield to beat the BT Storytellers' drum. Some folk in Sheffield don't reckon that the games is much to do with them and it's another thing that favours "them down south." Hang on a minute, you good citizens of the steel city, Seb Coe may have been born in London but he was brought up and educated in Sheffield and hasn't forgotten the fact. He made a beeline for the grey one at the recent storytellers' launch in order to renew his acquaintance with the East Midlands. Anyway, is there a more golden girl in the whole of British Athletics than Jessica Ennis? She's a great ambassador for sport and is always encouraging the Sheffield youngsters in their endeavours.
   The fox had to admit that folk in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle also might very well feel neglected but the old grey matter didn't move fast enough for him to run through the tremendous boost the whole shoot has given to the profile of British Industry (from all over the country) in the eyes of the world.

  The tele was on last Sunday to see the climax of the Tour de France and the great Mark Cavendish riding a finish like the fabled Lester Piggot at Epsom, to win his 20th tour stage and the coveted green jersey. Plans are not clear for him and Brad Wiggins for 2012 as it is understood that the Tour will finish only a few days before the Games commence. Remember 2008 when Mark pulled out of the Tour to concentrate on the Games and came home without a medal?   No matter now as he's simply huge on the Continent where road-racers are like top class soccer stars are here.

  The Velodrome was one of the highlights of the Storytellers' recent London jaunt. It's so immense that the fox's camera needed a very much wider angle lens to get it in. What's more, there are no plans to reduce its capacity after the games, unlike the stadium itself and the aquatic centre.   Cycling is getter bigger over here thanks to Wiggins, Hoy, Cavendish, Pendleton, Romero, Houvenagel and Armitstead et al and the Velodrome is reported to have been over-subscribed ticket-wise by many hundreds of times.

  Well, the family are moving earth tomorrow so it looks as though Mrs Vixen needs a hand.  Don't forget -one year to go! Keep up with all the news and views on our BT Storytellers' Website.

Urban Fox

Greetings, friends. Unlike most aged and extremely dull hounds we old vulpines are very partial to the odd new trick. Therefore this particular poultry-botherer is setting out on the blogging and tweeting trail all due to the good offices of BT who have appointed him one of the hundred or so Storytellers for the 2012 games. This is more fun than a crowded hen-roost with the shutter left open at midnight!

So, last Thursday the fox took the train to St Pancras to meet up with 14 other storytellers and associated media bods right on the toes of the great John Betjeman who continued to stare into the rafters during the whole circus. There were photoshoots with Daley Thompson, as natural a mickey-taker as one can get, and, later on, Seb Coe who, delayed in Amsterdam by Donner and all his legions (it was Thorsday after all) duly arrived by courtesy of a taxi-bike from the airport.

Anyway, the aged one was pleased to meet Maureen, just a few years senior, who is a member of a Rock Choir with an average age of 70+, just the sort of foxy lady it's well worth getting to know. The other guys were all talented in various directions and many packed some impressive sporting credentials. All in all they formed an incredible group and there was great enthusiasm for the coming chase.

After lunch it was off via Javelin train, bus and the DLR for a trip around the Olympic Park. Our guide was none other than Jerome Frost, yet to break forty and head of design for the whole shooting match. Jerome gave a very impressive update on progress ON TIME and UNDER BUDGET! Was this really British engineering? Even a cynical old fox had to admit it was pretty good.

BT must have pulled all the stops out as the company were privileged to have a stroll within the very stadium itself. Perhaps it was the presence of Daley, turning up for yet another shoot with admirable patience and good humour, that finally raised the jobsworth barrier. Not to be outshone by greatness, some of the younger guys got on their imaginary blocks at the start of the 100 metre straight but were prevented from sprinting by the well known nemesis of all things fun, Mr Health and Safety. No matter, they all have bragging rights having crossed the line a year ahead of Bolt et al.

Well friends, that was a fabulous day and an old fox was never so glad to go to earth that night having been on the prowl since 5 a.m.

New experiences, new friends, new places! Just about as good as it gets.

Watch this space for further news. Let's get the feathers flying for 2012!