"I'm Isabel Tompsett and I'm In Total Control" - Isabel, Oaksey House and the Lambourn ladies all roll out the red carpet for AGA

The AGA van was on the road on Thursday as we paid a long awaited visit to Oaksey House in Lambourn to see our very special friend, Isabel Tompsett. I had arranged the visit with Isabel the previous week on the condition that I came after 4.30 - which is the time that Isabel returns from swimming. So, armed with copies of the entries for the weekends pointing fixtures, and some AGA goodies, we set out mid-afternoon and headed for Lambourn in our trusty van. 

There was a slight detour via Seven Barrows where we were given a guided tour of the set up by the very lovely Camilla Henderson. To be allowed inside at any time would be a privilege, but to be able to see the Festival team (and all of the other superstars) at close quarters less that a week before the greatest show on earth was amazing - thank you Camilla! The names just trip off the tongue, champions like Binocular, Punjabi and Long Run, and then some of the young pretenders like Darlan and Sprinter Sacre, plus another Gold Cup hopeful Burton Port, were all looking fit and well ahead of the pilgrimage to Gloucestershire.

I know it's another photo of the van but it's parked up inside 7 B's!

I could write a whole blog just about the occupants of Seven Barrows but I'll leave that to the experts who write about racing for a living. All I need to say is that we were made to feel very welcome by all of the staff, and that both myself and Chris knew we were somewhere very special indeed ... and I also got to see my own Grand National fancy Shakalakaboomboom (I know, not the most original choice!).

Chris meets Lennie!

After leaving 7 B's we headed straight to Oaksey House to see Isabel - the first time I have seen her since the night of our Hunter Chase final in May 2011, although we have spoken on the phone every week for the past couple of months. It was Isabel's boyfriend John who encouraged me to start calling her on a regular basis and the improvement has been astonishing since that very first phone call. During our calls Isabel regularly previews the AGA Ladies Open races but is always keen to discuss racing in general so our conversations tend to be random but very interesting.

When we arrived Isabel was busy preparing dinner, although the Racing Post Weekender was open on the table and I bet you can guess at which page ... yes, "Between The Flags". No surprise there really and it wasn't long before Issy was previewing the Ladies Open at Tivyside this weekend, although not before telling me off for failing to call on Monday to confirm our visit - I apologised. I had heard how independent Isabel had become at Oaksey but was still completely amazed at being able to witness this with my own eyes.   

Izzy cooking dinner - "In Total Control"

Isabel soon donned her new fleece to prove that the slogan on the back was very apt as she alternated between making me laugh, reading the Weekender and cooking the dinner ... very much "In Total Control" I would say. After much deliberation the Ladies Open was narrowed down to a short list of 3 - Bob Bites Back, Minsgill Mans and Naughty By Nature, and given how accurate her previous selections have been I will await this result with interest!

I was desperately trying to lift my chins up!

I'm pleased to say that Isabel's sense of humour is well and truly intact and although she was starting to get a little tired she still had me in stitches with some of her observations. I asked her about her current lifestyle to which she replied "well I don't do much all week, I just live in this chalet, I eat here and I sleep here", but she neglected to tell me she had been out socialising on both Monday and Tuesday. When I mentioned this the reply was "well, that's only two nights".

I was talking to a very determined woman who is so driven, and she really is an inspiration. For example swimming 30 lengths of the pool is fantastic, and I wondered aloud whether I could manage that, however, that's not good enough for Izzy, she wants to do 35 lengths! Just before we left we posed by the dresser for the photo that you see above and I know one thing for certain, I'll be back soon and hopefully next time Izzy will be able to come out for dinner with us. There was laughter in the air as we left and her parting words gave me the title for this post "I'm Isabel Tompsett and I'm In Total Control".

Our next stop was for a spot of dinner which had been organised by the wonderful Emily MacMahon. The guest list included Chloe Boxall, Rachel King and Camilla Henderson, and we were also joined by J D Moore for what turned out to be a very entertaining and interesting evening (funny as well). I would have willingly sat there chatting until the early hours of the morning if it wasn't for the fact that we had to drive back to Leamington, and there was also the little matter of work the next day. Never mind, we will be back for more and hopefully we will combine the next visit with an overnight stay, the company was superb and for Emily to organise it with about 48 hours notice was a suberb effort - thank you Emily!