JULY 2012
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Tuesday 31 July
2012 |
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Choc was at Worcester this evening and this
is how he fared: Suburban
Bay (Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in the Beginners’ Chase (9 ran). Don’t Look
Bach (B Barr/Choc) was a non-runner in the Selling Hurdle Andhaar (Richard
Phillips/Choc) finished 3rd and Pilgrims Lane (Martin Keighley/Aidan Coleman)
finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle (8 ran).
Aidan gets on so well with the horse and they were only just collared
by Ogee close home; Andhaar running on to clinch
his place at the line too. No racing
down south tomorrow, just Perth subject to a precautionary inspection. I’ve
booked a day’s holiday tomorrow so that I can buy my Aintree tickets on their
first day of sale. Still mulling over whether
to do all three days or just the Friday and Saturday as I’ve done for the
past four years. I’ve already booked
my Travelodge accommodation for the Friday night ... I prefer Premier Inn but
am fed up that all their rooms in the Merseyside vicinity are booked out at
the moment only to become available at a later date. I need to make firm plans as soon as
possible; I cannot risk having nowhere to stay as it is 200 miles from home. I shall then spend the remainder of tomorrow
watching the Olympics on TV. There
must be so many people taking these two weeks as holiday because the roads
are almost deserted in my home City throughout the day. I know it is the school holidays, but the
rush hour is more like a quiet Sunday morning! |
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Monday 30 July
2012 |
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Choc was
in action this evening and this is how he fared at Uttoxeter: Kitegen (Robin Dickin/Choc) finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle Div I
(14 ran). La Belle Doyenne
(Alan King/Choc) finished 5th in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). Choc will
be at
Worcester tomorrow
evening, where he has 3 riding engagements: 18:20
Suburban Bay (Alan King/Choc) – Beginners’ Chase 19:50
Don’t Look Bach (B Barr/Choc) – Selling Hurdle 20:50 Andhaar (Richard Phillips/Choc) & Pilgrims Lane
(Martin Keighley/Aidan Coleman) – Handicap Hurdle Choc has
been playing cricket again ... I wonder if it was the Dr Pritchard’s charity
match which Dave Crosse tweeted about on Saturday. Perhaps I’ll find out when Dave uploads his
new blog on the Love The Races website tomorrow. https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/229869971386286080/photo/1 Another bronze medal today, this time for the
Men’s Gymnastics Team; a milestone in the recent history of the sport for the
GB team. But I couldn’t help but feel
they were robbed of the silver when the Japanese team won their appeal. Why is our team always plagued by bad luck? |
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Sunday 29 July
2012 |
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Choc was
at Stratford today and this is how
he fared: Cailin Ceol
(Liam Corcoran/Choc) finished 11th & Midnight Myth (Martin Keighley/Alain
Cawley) finished 7th in the Novices’ Handicap
Hurdle (14 ran). Yvonne
Evelyn (Alan King/Choc) finished 8th in the Novices’ Handicap Chase (13 ran). Not
surprisingly, Hills Of Aran (Keith Goldsworthy/Choc) was a non-runner in the
Handicap Chase, having run on Friday. I checked
the Stratford race-card again yesterday to see if there was any news of Choc’s riding engagements and, as Hills Of Aran was
already listed as a doubtful runner and his other mounts were very much
outsiders, I decided to remain at home today.
However, I
have been viewing the Olympics coverage and, in particular, have found the
Cycling road races ‘additive’ to
watch! It was a shame that the British
men failed in their efforts yesterday ... especially disappointing when I
discovered that the winner, Kazakhstan’s Vinokurov,
is a convicted drugs cheat. But the
women rescued the situation today, with Lizzie Armitstead’s
brilliant silver medal in their road race.
And I recognised their journey from the A3 underpass into Esher,
before they took a right turn into the high street and rode past Sandown Park
racecourse! Choc will
be back in action yet again tomorrow, at Uttoxeter: 17:50 Kitegen (Robin Dickin/Choc) –
Handicap Hurdle Div I 18:20 La
Belle Doyenne (Alan King/Choc) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle The weather was foul during the cycling today ...
and in Hertfordshire we’ve had three thunderstorms so far today. I’m now psyching myself up to purchase my
Grand National tickets when they go on sale on Wednesday ... I’ve booked the
day off so that I can hang on the phone for a while. I was thinking about going into work for
the afternoon, but I might want to remain at home to watch the cycling time
trials instead!!! |
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Friday 27 July
2012 |
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The big
(and shock) news today is that both Hereford and Folkestone racecourses are
to close ... the latter is reported to be a temporary closure. More And
there’s a Q & A about these closures on the At The Races site too. Click here to read. Just one
runner of interest at Southwell today: Miss Exhibitionist (Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd
in the Handicap Hurdle (10 ran). There are
runners of interest at Stratford on Sunday: 15:30
Hills Of Aran (Keith Goldsworthy/Choc) – Handicap Chase (although the horse
did run at Southwell today). 16:00 Cailin Ceol (Liam
Corcoran/Choc) & Midnight Myth (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 17:00 Yvonne Evelyn (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’
Handicap Chase Plans for the weekend? Not sure now ... as this is the first time
this summer that Choc has had the pre-requisite number of weekend rides and
is near enough for me to take a trip to the racecourse. Also, Stratford is my favourite summer
venue too ... I shall mull it over! |
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Thursday 26 July
2012 |
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Today,
there were a couple of runners of interest at Uttoxeter: Sapphire
Moon (Alan King/Choc) finished 4th in the Maiden Hurdle (14 ran). Jubilee Night (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) ran out in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (12
ran). Something must be amiss, as he
hung badly right on his debut too. Just one
runner of interest at Southwell tomorrow: 16:50 Miss Exhibitionist (Alan King/Choc) –
Handicap Hurdle Infuriatingly, I dozed off to sleep yesterday
evening and missed the end of Superstar!
So I didn’t find out that my favourite, Ben, had won until I logged
onto my PC at work this morning. Good
choice. I enjoyed watching Restoration Home last
evening. The house featured this week
is situated near Dundee and it is an ‘arts
and craft’ style building which has been lovingly restored by its
owners. It’s now a stunning home with
beautiful views too. I love to watch ‘home-related’ programmes such as
Grand Designs, Homes Under the Hammer, Restoration
Man and, of course, Escape to the Country. |
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Wednesday 25
July 2012 |
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There were
runners of interest at Worcester this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Sciampin (L Corcoran/Choc) was
pulled up in the Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran). The Fox’s
Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) who was placed
2nd at Bangor yesterday, today finished 3rd in the Handicap Hurdle Div I (12
ran). Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 6th in
the Handicap Hurdle Div II (11 ran). There was
a little bit of drama at Worcester too, when jockey Paul Moloney
weighed in one and a half pounds light having won aboard Green To Gold. He kept the race due to extenuating
circumstances ... the very hot weather! More Tomorrow,
there are a couple of runners of interest at Uttoxeter: 14:20
Sapphire Moon (Alan King/Choc) – Maiden Hurdle 17:40 Jubilee Night (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Standard Open NH Flat Race Ben will be competing in the final of Superstar
on ITV at 21:00 tonight and I’m rooting for him above Roger and Rory. |
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Tuesday 24 July
2012 |
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Two
runners of interest at Bangor On Dee this evening and this
is how they fared: The Fox’s
Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in
the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). Court In
Session (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) carrying top
weight finished 4th in the Handicap Chase (7 ran). There are
runners of interest at Worcester tomorrow afternoon: 15:50 Sciampin (L Corcoran/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle 16:50 The
Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Hurdle Div I; although he did run today! 17:20
Always Bold (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) –
Handicap Hurdle Div II Interesting
news that Harry Fry, who has been acting as assistant at Paul Nicholls’
satellite yard, will be taking out a training licence. Rock on Ruby, who was prepared at the yard
ahead of his Champion Hurdle victory last season, is to be one of his new
charges. More Salut Flo, winner of last
season’s Byrne Group Plate at Cheltenham, is recovering from surgery following
a bout of colic and stable-mate I’m So Lucky has been retired. More Nathan ended up in the bottom two on Jesus Christ
Superstar last night and Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Roger again
(that’s twice now). It’s the
semi-final tonight and, hopefully, Ben will survive and go on to win the role
in the new touring production. |
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Monday 23 July
2012 |
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Two
runners of interest at Bangor On Dee tomorrow evening: 18:15 The
Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 20:15
Court In Session (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) –
Handicap Chase With the start of the school holidays, my walk to
work was a pleasure today ... apart from when a stupid woman driver almost
ran me over when she did an illegal right turn! It must be the silly (and dangerous) season
for drivers, as on my way back from Luton yesterday afternoon the car in
front of mine had to swerve to avoid an oncoming vehicle driven by a young
lad who was overtaking with insufficient distance available. |
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Sunday 22 July
2012 |
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One runner
of interest at Newton Abbot this afternoon: Typhon De Guye (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 11th in the Maiden Hurdle (14 ran). National
Hunt racing scheduled for Cartmel tomorrow, so no
riding engagements for Choc. Perhaps
he’ll have some rides later in the week – Bangor On Dee is scheduled for
Tuesday evening, Worcester for Wednesday afternoon, Uttoxeter
for Thursday afternoon and Southwell for Friday
afternoon. Watch this space ... I’ve
completed three scarves so far this weekend ... one in Wendy Rococo, one in
Rico Loopy and one in Katia Big Snow! And, yes, I’m now feeling terribly guilty
that I’ve not worked on my cross stitch project again this weekend. It was 23 degrees in Hertfordshire this afternoon
and forecast to get hotter during the next few days ... 30 degrees on Wednesday
evidently. Mustn’t complain about it
being too hot though, as it’s been a very long wait for summer to arrive. |
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Saturday 21 July
2012 |
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There were
a number of runners of interest at Market Rasen this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Court In
Session (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) was a
non-runner in the Summer Hurdle (Listed Handicap) Pilgrims
Lane (Martin Keighley/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 6th & Benbane Head (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 4th in the Summer Plate (Listed Handicap) (16 ran). Compton
Blue (Alan King/Choc) finished 4th in the Novices’ Hurdle (12 ran). One runner
of interest at Newton Abbot tomorrow: 15:35 Typhon De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) – Maiden Hurdle And my verdict on chocolate flavoured
Philadelphia ... I like it, although it’s a bit strange eating it spread on
bread! Hallelujah ... Jeff was one of two prospective
Jesus Christ Superstars voted off the programme yesterday. Both Ben and Nathan are still in the
running. |
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Friday 20 July
2012 |
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I can’t
believe it’s been so quiet on the National Hunt front this week; come to
think of it, Choc hasn’t had a ride since 01 July. L In
addition to the usual September break (13 September to 22 September
inclusive) for National Hunt racing, there’s a 10-day break next month too
(06 August to 15 August inclusive); so I expect it will seem very quiet for
the next couple of months. However,
Choc has tweeted a number of photographs during the past few days: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226045445988835328/photo/1 William
has been riding Lucas Murphy’s (son of Timmy) skewbald pony: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226377625692672000/photo/1 http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226378904435306496/photo/1 Choc has
been for a check-up on his right arm, which he broke last December: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226302947640889345/photo/1 http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226302980910092288/photo/1 And here
is a photograph taken many moons ago of Choc with his mates: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/226024560749838336/photo/1 There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow, at Market Rasen’s biggest summer
fixture, including one for Choc: 14:50
Court In Session (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) -
Summer Hurdle (Listed Handicap) 15:25
Pilgrims Lane (Martin Keighley/Wayne Hutchinson) & Benbane
Head (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Summer Plate (Listed Handicap) 16:00
Compton Blue (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle And
there’s one runner of interest on Sunday too, at Newton Abbot: 15:35 Typhon De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) – Maiden Hurdle No plans for the weekend, although my
sister-in-law, Anita, will be giving me a haircut on Sunday. I’m looking forward to some nice weather
too. And I’m also looking forward to
trying out the new Philadelphia chocolate spread on a few slices of tiger
bread tomorrow J I’m easily pleased!!! I’ve been following the search for a singer/actor
to play Jesus Christ Superstar in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show
production. My favourite is Ben, my
second preference being Nathan. But I
can’t stand Jeff ... he reminds me of a young George Best! |
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Sunday 15 July
2012 |
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Choc has
tweeted more photographs of William: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/223707010191986689/photo/1 http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224132531375706113/photo/1 And this
is of young jockey William aboard a pretty bay pony being looked after by his
grandparents, Sally and Martin: http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224132928622444546/photo/1 And more
... I especially love the first one ... as everyone is having lots of fun: https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224208143834558465/photo/1 https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224208239200436224/photo/1 https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224208283689422849/photo/1 https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/224208371727863808/photo/1 The bad
weather caused the CLA Game Fair at Belvoir Castle to be cancelled. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-18831190 I expect
William, Choc and his parents would have visited the show had it gone
ahead. The weather in Hertfordshire yesterday morning
was dire; my drive to the Hobbycraft store in
Stevenage was far from a pleasure! My
home is built on clay soil and the back lawn is currently squelchy
underfoot! Although there is no risk
of flooding, the drains don’t seem to be coping very well. The gutter outside floods quite quickly
during downpours and large vehicles send huge splashes across the pavement;
very unpleasant when you’re a pedestrian! One runner
of interest today at Southwell and it was a milestone for both trainer and
jockey! Sky Calling (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) won the Handicap Hurdle (15 ran). It was the 100th winner under rules for
trainer Martin Keighley and Ian Popham’s first ride
since breaking his pelvis last September.
Congratulations to the team, their 6th
winner of the
season. No
National Hunt racing tomorrow. |
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Saturday 14 July
2012 |
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Happy Birthday
Many happy returns of the day to my favourite jockey, who celebrates his 34th birthday today (14th July) * * * * * * * * One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Southwell: 15:40 Sky
Calling (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap
Hurdle; Ian returning to the saddle after his long injury time-out. I’ve nothing special planned for the weekend; I
may do some cross stitching and/or knitting.
And I can finally wash my car, as the hosepipe ban has now been lifted
in my local area! |
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Wednesday 11
July 2012 |
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Midnight
Myth (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 9th in
the Maiden Hurdle (12 ran). The final race of the day, in which Frizzo was due to run, was boycotted by the connections
of eleven of the declared horses ... which meant that the Nigel Twiston-Davies runner, Moulin De La Croix, had a
walkover. More I was disappointed as
I didn’t get to see Choc ride ... I wish it had happened to a different
race. When will I get to see Choc
next? It’s a desert this summer. L Or perhaps
it’s a quagmire! I’m beginning to think that I may be suffering
from anxiety; all job related. I feel
nauseous when under pressure, I’m having hot flushes (not menopausal related,
as I’m over that!), I’ve had dizziness, and I feel tired. For the past few days, walking the mile to
work wears me out ... which is odd, as usually I can walk five or six miles
with ease. I hope these symptoms
disappear soon. And I’m not a hypochondriac. |
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Tuesday 10 July
2012 |
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Just one
runner of interest this evening, at Uttoxeter: Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 9th in
the Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). Two
runners of interest tomorrow evening at Worcester,
including one for Choc: 19:40
Midnight Myth (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) –
Maiden Hurdle 21:10 Frizzo (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle Frankie Dettori carried
the Olympic flame at Ascot racecourse today and successfully completed a
flying dismount too! More |
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Monday 09 July
2012 |
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RIP Miinnehoma News today that the oldest surviving Grand
National winner, Miinnehoma, has passed away aged
29 following a long and happy retirement.
More Just one
runner of interest tomorrow, at Uttoxeter: 20:15 Always Bold (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) – Handicap Hurdle |
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Sunday 08 July
2012 |
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The Olympic
Flame visits St Albans (Day 51 of
its tour) |
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12-year-old
Hannah Gallaher carries the flame in St Albans The torch
passed through my home City during late afternoon today ... and I found I
couldn’t relax to watch the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final until after I’d
seen it, because I had to keep an eye on the pavement to ensure there weren’t
too many spectators crowding around.
As it turned out, there was plenty of room and I had to wait for
around 30 to 40 minutes to see the flame.
This meant I missed the end of the second set/beginning of the third,
but then the players went off court whilst the roof was closed and I was able
to watch the remainder of the match upon their return. Federer won the Championship
for the seventh time, equalling the record held by Pete Sampras. He also regains the World Number One
ranking. I attended Sampras’ third
Wimbledon title win in 1995, when he beat Boris Becker in the final. And I saw bits and pieces of the 1999 final
between Sampras and Agassi when Denise and I breached security to watch
through a doorway in the upper gallery ... but that’s another story! That was Sampras’ sixth title win. It was
nice to see a different side to Andy Murray today, during his post-match
interview. Perhaps everyone, including
myself, will be able to warm to him a little more in the future. I think I don’t particularly like Federer because he beat Agassi too many times and I’m
still bearing a grudge!!! Not surprisingly, Newton Abbot’s Monday fixture
has been abandoned. |
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Saturday 07 July
2012 |
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The
funeral of jockey Campbell Gillies took place in
Edinburgh yesterday: Choc was
amongst those who travelled to the funeral to pay his last respects; it was
estimated that almost 100 jockeys attended. Choc
tweeted a picture of himself and colleagues on a night out in Edinburgh last
evening; right to left is his valet Phil Taylor, jockey Gerard Tumelty, Choc and another valet (I’m not sure of his
name, but I think he is the guy we chatted to when Lesley and I were waiting
to go on our course walk around Cheltenham with Choc in December 2008). http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/221306313840406528/photo/1/large I’ve been
suddenly overcome with the urge to do some scarf knitting these past few days
... probably because I discovered and purchased four balls of yarn when I
went to Eastbourne a couple of weeks ago ... and have latterly discovered the
range of wools manufactured by a Spanish company, Katia. http://www.modernknitting.co.uk/shop/katia-knitting-yarns-27813-0.html I can’t
believe how many exciting and unusual designs have been created by Katia, especially when compared to the very staid old
fashioned ideas from our own manufacturers!
Mind you, it probably helps that a number of the designs use ruffled
scarf yarns to embellish the clothes ... and you know that I just love frills
and ruffles!!! And, yes,
I do feel guilty that I’ve put my current cross-stitching project aside for a
few days ... The
Olympic torch is due to pass by my home tomorrow afternoon ... two
celebrities will be taking part in this leg of the relay but it won’t be
announced who until tomorrow morning. I hope it doesn’t interrupt my viewing of the
Wimbledon tennis final too much ... as, although I don’t particular like
Roger Federer (despite him being a brilliant tennis
player and a complete gentleman) or Andy Murray (and I’ve never found anyone
who likes him), I always like to watch the Men’s Final. An excellent result in the Men’s Doubles
Championship, with British player Jonathan Marray
teaming up with Dane Frederik Nielsen to win the
title in five sets. It was the first
time a British man had triumphed in the Men’s doubles since 1936! It was a shame that Serena Williams won the
Women’s Singles title again; but at least her opponent, Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska, won the
second set because it initially appeared very one-sided with the American
winning the first set 6-1. According to the Hit-Air website, there is a
slight suggestion that there may be a Pro Bull re-match between the Jockeys
and the Event Riders. This is due to
event rider Sam Watson having been recruited by the Jockeys team last Sunday
to make up numbers and subsequently recording the best time of the whole
weekend to give the Jockeys victory on that day. If there is a re-match, I wonder if Choc
will take part again. There’s National Hunt racing at Market Rasen tomorrow, but no riding engagements for Choc. |
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Thursday 05 July
2012 |
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After a
few very quiet days on Choc’s Twitter account,
today he has posted a picture of William playing on the slide at the Plough
Inn (the first photo being a warning about the speedy slide!): http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/220864226560978944/photo/1 http://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/220864212694597632/photo/1 I’ve
carried out a little more research about last Friday’s charity cricket match
and have added a section to my Bits ‘n’
Pieces / News page, with links to photographs: http://www.choc-thorntons-super-fan.co.uk/CHARITY%20CRICKET%2029%20JUNE%202012.htm |
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Wednesday 04
July 2012 |
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Just one
runner of interest at Worcester this afternoon: Jubilee
Night (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 3rd
in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (6 ran). There’s no
National Hunt racing now until Sunday; the Perth 2-day fixture (today &
tomorrow) having been abandoned due to water-logging. Dry winters and wet summers ... weird! It was
nice to see Andre Agassi and his wife Stefanie Graf (since retiring she
prefers people not to call her Steffi) at Wimbledon today, rubbing shoulders
with Kate and Wills. Andre looked
really well. Shame I missed seeing him
in person today. I no longer attend Wimbledon because it’s not the
same when you don’t care who wins; tickets are very expensive; it’s rare to
be lucky in the ballot, which means you have to queue out overnight, camping,
for Centre Court or Number One court tickets ... and I’m a bit too old for
that!!! But it was good while it
lasted, and I’ve seen Andre play, live, 50 times I think, plus one doubles
match at Queens and an exhibition to mark the ‘opening’ of the roof at Wimbledon! Included too, was a trip to the Paris
Indoor tournament in 1999, where he played five matches and won the
tournament. I wouldn’t have missed the
experience for the world ... |
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Tuesday 03 July
2012 |
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A couple
of runners of interest at Stratford this evening and this
is how they fared: The Fox’s
Decree (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 7th
in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6½ furlongs] (12 ran). Typhon De Guye (Martin Keighley/Danny Hiskett)
finished 3rd in the Standard NH Flat Race (Conditional Jockeys’ & Amateur
Riders) (13 ran). Tomorrow,
just one runner of interest at Worcester: 15:10
Jubilee Night (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) –
Standard Open NH Flat Race Check out
the Hit-Air website to watch a video of Saturday’s and Sunday’s rodeo
rides. Alan King’s rodeo ride time on
Saturday was 19 seconds; Peter Carberry was the
third member of the jockeys’ team on Sunday.
http://www.hitairuk.co.uk/ I’ve completed and uploaded my Barbury Horse Trials/Hit-Air Rodeo Challenge diary. Click here to read. |
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Monday 02 July
2012 |
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A couple
of runners of interest at Stratford tomorrow evening, but
none for Choc: 19:40 The
Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) -
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6½ furlongs] 20:40 Typhon De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Danny Hiskett) - Standard NH Flat Race
(Conditional Jockeys’ & Amateur Riders) I’ve
completed the first draft of my ‘Barbury’ diary, so it shouldn’t be too long before I
upload it. Evidently Wayne Hutchinson was one of the jockeys
who joined Will Kennedy in yesterday’s Hit-Air Challenge; having taken part
on Saturday too. I know one jockey was
a ‘no-show’; which meant that an
Event Rider joined the jockeys’ team and they went on to win the Challenge! |
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Sunday 01 July
2012 |
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Four
runners of interest at Uttoxeter today, and this is how they fared: Midnight
Myth (Martin Keighley/Alain Cawley) finished 6th in
the Maiden Hurdle Div I (11 ran). Pilgrims
Lane (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 9th in the Summer Cup Listed
Handicap Steeplechase (15 ran). Sky
Calling (Martin Keighley/Danny Hiskett) finished
2nd in the Handicap Hurdle finished (10 ran). Titeuf De Tierce (Alan
King/Choc) finished 7th in the Handicap Chase (9 ran). It was
good to see 11-year-old Captain Cee Bee win a
2-mile Handicap on the flat at the Curragh today. No
National Hunt racing tomorrow. Here are
links to the photographs I took yesterday at the Barbury
International Horse Trials: Barbury International Three Day Event And, if
you’ve not seen enough photographs of the Jockeys vs
Eventers hit-air Challenge, here are those taken by
the professional photographer: http://www.facebook.com/HitAirUK#!/media/set/?set=a.323323491089199.75735.282764225145126&type=1 I’m in
this one, on the far right, learning against the rails, wearing a purple
jacket: And my
friend Denise and I appear to have been posted on the Hit-Air website by a
photo contributor too!!! http://www.facebook.com/HitAirUK#!/photo.php?fbid=4235087404308&set=p.4235087404308&type=1&theater The Event
Riders won yesterday’s hit-air Challenge ... although it must have been once
the ‘wildcard’ competitors’ scores
had been taken into account too. As,
according to my maths, the jockeys were on a total of 181 seconds and the
event riders 155 seconds following the completion of their rides! The jockeys’ team won today, William
Kennedy being one of the team members, not sure (yet) who the other three
were! |
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