We all love Kadouchski at this yard so it was an absolute pleasure to see him grind out a really tough win in the mud at Sandown on Friday, denying a David Pipe hotpot in the dying strides of the race.

It's been two years since he has graced the winner's enclosure, the last time also being at Sandown, but Kadouchski has his excuses for being lightly raced in between and his gritty performance justified continued faith in him. Despite the odd niggles, he's a straightforward horse to train and remains a great enthusiast.

His half-sister Douchkette has also won over hurdles for this stable and we very much hope we can bring the family's winning tally to three before too long. Waiting in the wings we have little-brother Douchkirk, whom we hope will appear in a bumper in the next month or so (and he's looking for an owner if anyone out there is interested in becoming involved with this lovely family).

It was the first time that Alan King's conditional Peter Hatton has ridden for us and we were delighted with his efforts in managing to galvanise Kadouchski up the hill for home.

There was disappointment on Saturday when we got halfway to Chepstow with Alcalde only to hear that the meeting had failed a second inspection at 9.30am, but judging by the heavy ground conditions at other courses around the country, it was perhaps for the best. Alcalde was set to start favourite and he remains in good form after his win at Fakenham. We hope he will now head to Newbury on Friday, where he bids to uphold this stable's recent good record: of only five horses on the go through the winter, four of them have won seven races between them...and counting.

We dedicate Kadouchski's victory to the memory of Chris Watson (1949-2010).