At Pendley Stables conditioning work starts in January, and gentle cantering in February. In March strong work really gets going but Pinpoint is showing very little inclination to speed up. After a particularly slow and laboured effort I ask Walter what he thought of it. I am expecting his reply to consist of the usual platitudes trainers utter to owners to avoid hurting their feelings. Walter shakes his head and expresses the view that he might be training the slowest two Pivotals in England! I welcome the honesty but not the implications. At that moment it seems to me only evens that Pinpoint will ever reach the racecourse and the chances of winning a race are minimal. I stay away from the stables for a few weeks.

On 29th April Pinpoint comes up from the bottom of the gallops (7 furlongs) with Irish Ballad. Starting 2 lengths down he gradually catches up and moves upsides 2f out. They quicken up and Pinny finishes ahead, just. I time it at 37.09 for the final 3f. I am quite encouraged, though a good horse can comfortably break 36 seconds. Weight and wind conditions have to come into the equation. I try to get some feedback from Pat the work rider that day. He says that Pinny could not have gone much faster. Irish Ballad is a stayer who later in the year wins a five runner 0-60 Classified Stakes at Brighton over 12 furlongs. Pinpoint is a big horse and needs time to develop are the comforting words I hear a lot. This is very true but I have often heard those words used to describe other peoples very slow horses.

Walter has a plan. Because Pinny is so laid back with his relaxed life style he plans to try to wake him up with a racecourse gallop at Lingfield. Sometimes the journey and drastic change from the normal routine has a positive effect on a racehorse.

Later reports suggest he did OK at Lingfield. He worked with Hills Spitfire, a useful stayer who has been placed in three races at two and three. Details of the gallop are thin on the ground. Well non existent actually. My self protective mood of pessimism does not change, though he looks to be slowly getting towards his first race.

It is still a shock when the letter comes through the door and Pinpoint is due to race at Lingfield on the 4th June. The race is a one mile Class 5 maiden race for three year olds. So much for sprinting.

On 31st May Pinny works with Mister Muja. He follows two lengths down, moves up 2 furlongs out, soon passes him and goes on by one length. Mister Muja is racing regularly but struggling off handicap marks in the mid 50s. Jim, the Head Lad at Church Farm, and a top bloke, says Pinny will do OK in the Lingfield race. I put his optimism down to affection for the horse and wishful thinking. Jim brings Pinpoint in from the field every morning at dawn for a feed and after his exercise he takes him back to the field by lunchtime.

Pinpoint has an unusual routine for a racehorse. Lots of grass, plenty of rolling in the mud and the chance to roam and race free around a huge field just as he fancies. If all the other horses realised that a spell of manic box walking would result in this idyllic lifestyle all the boxes would be empty. He even has a companion, Mister Muja.

We go to Lingfield excited but not expecting much. In the race are horses from the big yards including the Sir Michael Stoute trained odds on favourite. Pinpoint is 14/1. Only the yards reputation can account for that.  Perhaps 25/1 would be more realistic. I am not tempted.

Whilst watching Pinny circle the pre-parade ring we are told that the jockey, Darryll Holland is stuck on the M25. Ted Durcan has been asked to ride. A few minutes later news comes through that Ted fell in the previous race and has damaged his ankle. In the paddock Walter greets us apologetically he has booked just about the only jockey that is still available, an apprentice called Adam Kirby. I am the only one of the owners who has heard of Adam. I try to reassure them. Kirby is a talented young rider who is going places. He also claims a valuable 5 lbs.

The race unfolds as in a dream. Pinpoint is in mid div going nicely. A horse starts to tire and comes back into him. He is held up for a moment going into the home turn. Meanwhile the favourite Front Stage moves smoothly around the outside ready to pounce. Strawberry Leaf, the 2/1 second favourite, kicks for home. Front Stage starts to get on top. Pinpoint is on the far rail, partly obscured and amazingly he is going after them making up ground. He finishes strongly, really bustling up the favourite whose jockey has to ask for another effort to keep Pinny at bay and we fail by only a neck. Strawberry Leaf is a half a length behind in 3rd. Some of my co-owners are still looking for Pinpoint somewhere at the back. Amazing. We have a racehorse!!!

Pinpoint is entered in a 3YO mile maiden at Newmarket on the 18th and at Windsor on the 20th. The change in our hopes and expectations is dramatic. Front Stage is given a handicap mark of 87. Can we really have a horse who justifies a mark in the 80s?

We go to Windsor. Pinny is the well backed 5/2 favourite. I remember Tribal Prince was a 6/4 favourite on his second start and never got into the race. Still I get carried along with the general optimism. Pinny is drawn 1, the worst possible, which usually means being on the outside of the field round a long sharp bend. That is what happens in the race. Trying to tuck-in Ted Durcan lies about sixth on the outside. The pace is slow. When the leaders kick 3f out we have three or four lengths to make up. Pinny looks a danger on the wide outside but cannot quite summon the speed to get to the leaders. We finish fourth, beaten 2 lengths by the Frankie Dettori ridden Godolphin horse Dahman. Ted comes back saying that he might have got third but Pinny was feeling the fast ground and he was easy on him in the last 150 yds. I am grateful for that though some have backed him each way and have mixed feelings. The Racing Post summary is "Pinpoint ended racing midtrack widest out, but was only beaten in the final furlong and a win looks around the corner".

The trainer is keen to go again and he is to be entered for another mile maiden at Doncaster on 7th July. On 28th June Pinny works with Cool Hunter, a 4YO who is also entered in the Doncaster race. He stays 1 length up on Cool Hunter in a modest time. On the 1st July he works again with Cool Hunter.This time Cool Hunter leads at a strong gallop from the bottom (7f) with Pinny half a length down. Pinny draws alongside 3f out, then goes ahead with Rachel his rider motionless. Cool Hunters lad is pushing away. Pinny finishes two and half lengths clear. We are happy. Rachel is not the lightest work rider and we have given Cool Hunter 10 lbs at least plus weight for age and a comfortable beating.

Things are looking good. The Lingfield fourth World Series, beaten 5 lengths by Pinny, has won his next race at Folkestone. Strawberry Leaf has also won her next race and Front Stage has won a competitive handicap off of his mark of 87.

Optimism takes a knock when the field for the Doncaster race comes up on teletext. A Henry Cecil trained 4YO called Denounce is in the field. Denounce is still in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes, the acknowledged mile championship of Europe, to be run in three weeks time. He was a highly promising 3YO who broke a pelvis in his second race. Denounce looks every inch a Group 1 horse in the pre-parade ring. My worry is more about finishing too close behind Denounce and ruining our handicap mark than actually whether we are going to win this race.

Down at the start a filly causes mayhem scattering the field as she hurtles about. A projectile looking for a target. I pray that Ted Durcan will keep Pinny out of her way.The race goes off 10 minutes late. Pinny is soon in the ideal position tracking the leader Poker Player along the favoured stand rail. He is going easily. Very easily. Denounce moves up smoothly on the outside. Dakota Rain looks a threat. Ted moves Pinny up. He nudges into a narrow gap. He brushes through the gap over one furlong out. Suddenly he is clear. He edges left as he puts three lengths between himself and the field. Then he changes legs and quickly goes another 2 lengths up. The race commentor is going through a long list of superlatives and he has won !!!

Through the last furlong I seem to have been yelling 'come on my son', leaping up and down, punching the air. As the win sinks in it is high fives and pats on the back to the other owners then a rush down to the winners enclosure to greet the heros. By the time he comes into the enclosure composure is restored and TV shows us quietly patting the horse and congratulating all concerned.

For the owners it is all euphoria. When do we race again? Walter decides Pinpoint has done enough for now. He will have a few weeks break to help strengthen and develop. It looks as if he may appreciate easy ground and there will be time for some more runs in the autumn. He gets a handicap mark of 85.

Mid August we hear that the next race is scheduled for Sandown on the 9th September. On the 11th the syndicate is due to meet to decide if we wish to keep him for 2006? Walter tries to pursuade us to keep him. We need no persuading and the meeting is cancelled as superfluous. Everyone is staying in the partnership.

On 2nd September Pinny works with Persian Majesty, a listed race winner who was 3rd in the Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2) and currently is rated 100. They start at the bottom. Persian leads and is 3 or more lengths up as they reach the barn. Pinpoint, ridden by Eddie Ahearn, goes after Persian. They get upsides but cannot get passed. Jim thinks that they gave Persian too much start. It is hard to make up ground on this gallop. He thinks that Pinny did well. I time Pinny at 36.23 and Don times it 36.17. He is in good shape for Sandown.

At Sandown I stand watching the runners for the first race go around the pre-parade ring. The weather is forecast as changeable but because of the warm sunshine I have left my jacket and umbrella in the car. Dark clouds start to come over. At first there are just big intermittent spots of rain. I shelter under a tree. Soon we are in the middle of a torrential downpour. I salvage a cardboard tray for cover as the rain drives through the tree and I try to continue a conversation with a sociable racing fan interested in Pinpoint. He has the best of the tree cover. Soon I am becoming drenched and have to make a move. I head for shelter under my cardboard tray. By the time I reach the nearest bar I am drenched. I stand dripping watching the first race on TV. A helpful lady member of the track staff offers me a free folding plastic raincoat. A bit late for that but I take it anyway. Another helpful member of staff offers to put my clothes in the drier in the jockeys room. I decline more out of embarassment than happiness with my situation. A few minutes later a young lass with a mop starts mopping around me. I try not to notice and stare at the TV. She is gone. I look round and she has left one of those notices saying "Danger wet floor" next to me.

I do not have the nerve to go into the paddock and I watch proceedings from a distance. Pinny runs a good race unable to get to grips with a Khalid Abdulla horse called Holiday Camp which makes all. Pinny keeps on well up the Sandown hill and dead heats for second place with All Ivory. The, by now, soft ground has not hindered him but probably has not helped much either. The runners fanned out in the straight and he saw plenty of daylight, unlike at Doncaster. The race is hard to weigh up but it looks better when All Ivory wins a hot Newmarket handicap two weeks later.

We are at Newmarket ourselves on the 30th September. Pinny is in a 18 runner mile all age handicap. He is 7/1 co-favourite. Again he is drawn 1 on the wide outside. He makes ground in the middle of the race to be in contention 2f out. He is alongside a Michael Stoute horse called Notnowcato. He tries to match strides as Notnowcato goes to the front, but he cannot manage it and inside the final furlong he fades back to fifth. A Henry Cecil/Khalid Abdulla horse called Focus Group comes to head Notnowcato close home, the first two clear.

Swallowing the disappointment as we hurry back to the unsaddling area it occurs to me that the first two must be very useful, particularly Notnowcato, who was giving weight. I ask Martin Dwyer, the jockey, whether Pinny raced a bit freely in daylight on the outside and whether he did a bit too much midrace. He didn't think so. He thought it suited him to be on the outside. I am not so sure. I learnt through Tribal Prince that jockeys often haven’t a clue, even very good ones like Martin.

I rate the last three runs of very similar merit. On my rating scale the numbers come out 87, 85 and 86. I am more than happy that we have a horse that is in contention to win competitive handicaps off an official mark of 85.

We do not have long to dwell on races past because the next one planned is another all age mile handicap at Salisbury on 8th October. This time Pinny is not one of the favourites. He is on his toes in the pre-parade ring and they plan to bring him into the paddock late. Even so he makes many laps of the paddock and gets a bit warm. If this had been Dandy Nichols training him he would have been in and out of the paddock inside of a minute.

He is available at 11/1 in the betting ring. Even in this open race the odds seem too generous. I did not intend to bet but I put a small bet on at those odds.

In the race Ted Durcan gets him into a nice position. He is going comfortably rather than easily, but well covered up in 5th place. He moves up 3f out, eases to the front 2f out and starts to go clear. I keep looking for dangers. There aren’t any. Will he keep on. They move onto the far rail and keep up the gallop. The joy in shouting your horse home when you know he is going to win is just wonderful. He comes passed where we are standing 3 lengths up and in no danger. Fantastic!!!

Immediate thoughts are that the race must have been weaker than it seemed beforehand. The time though is fast, In the unsaddling enclosure Ted says a few words for TV. He says Pinpoint is still a bit weak and will be a better horse next year. Also he says he thinks he will get 10 furlongs. It is all positive stuff.

The next day I rate the race and the second and fourth, Tabadul and Coppice, seem to have run to form. The time is fast for the conditions. Everything suggests that Pinny has improved significantly on previous efforts. The handicapper unfortunately takes the same view and puts Pinny up 9 lbs to a mark of 94. Amazing!

Soon we hear that Pinny is finished for the season. What will 2006 bring?