JULY 2013
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Wednesday 31
July 2013 |
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Toronado finally got the upper
hand over Dawn Approach in today’s Goodwood’s
Sussex Stakes. More And artist
Darren Bird has captured the event to a tee: https://mobile.twitter.com/DarrenBirdie/status/362575872588402688/photo/1 AP McCoy
was successful in today’s Galway Plate, with JP McManus owning the 1-2-3. More Freddie
and Harry Keighley have been enjoying Pony Club camp at Cheltenham racecourse
this week: Here is Freddie and Thomas ... or is it Ian Popham
and Champion Court? https://mobile.twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/362611010881847296/photo/1 And Harry
aboard Crunchie ... or perhaps it’s Ollie Garner
and The Fox’s Decree! https://mobile.twitter.com/belindakeighley/status/362614400043077632/photo/1 Four
runners of interest tomorrow, at Stratford: 14:05 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Div I 16:40 Brimham Boy (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap
Chase 17:45 Fighter Jet (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson)
& Endear (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Maiden
Hurdle |
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Sunday 28 July
2013 |
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Choc
attended a stag do this weekend ... that of his valet Phil Taylor. Phil tweeted to thank Choc for organising a
great weekend ... then hash tagged that he was ‘off to die’! I took a
walk down to M & S this morning, found an identical pair of boots to the
ones I’d ordered, tried them on and discovered I need a wider fit in order to
wear with thick tights and socks! So
as soon as I collect my order I will return them for a refund. The other ‘fancied’ style wasn’t as I’d hoped either. But I did find a pair of wide fit ankle
boots, in black leather and suede, so I bought them instead ... and they were
less expensive: I did like
the Damson shade, but as the percentage of suede is greater they would be
less practical for a cold and soggy day at the races! There’s National Hunt racing at Uttoxeter tomorrow evening but no runners of specific
interest. |
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Friday 26 July
2013 |
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One runner
of interest this afternoon at Uttoxeter: Compton
Blue (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle (6
ran). Poor St
Nicholas Abbey has suffered a terrible setback ... he got colic yesterday and
had to have an emergency operation. More Fingers crossed that
he will pull through from both of his operations. There’s no
National Hunt racing this weekend although, of course, the King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth Stakes will take place at Ascot. I think Choc may be attending a stag do
this weekend. I may have
found a pair of boots to eventually supersede my favourite black engineer
ones! These appear to come in black,
brown or wine colours ... I think the latter will go well with black, grey,
brown, and navy so I’ve ordered a pair for collection! And I like
these too: |
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Thursday 25 July
2013 |
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One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Uttoxeter: 17:15
Compton Blue (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle St Nicholas Abbey is reported to be recuperating
well following the surgery to repair his fractured pastern. More |
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Tuesday 23 July
2013 |
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Two
runners of interest at Southwell today and this is how they fared: Suburban
Bay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up in the Novices’ Handicap Chase
(7 ran). Faultless
Feelings (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished last
in the Handicap Hurdle (3 ran). Veteran
jockey Jimmy McCarthy rode the winner of Faultless Feelings’ race at Southwell today and promptly retired from race riding. More I was at Aintree in
2009 when Ogee won the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’
Hurdle. No
specific runners of interest at Worcester tomorrow. Sadly St Nicholas
Abbey suffered a career ending injury on the gallops this morning, a
fractured pastern. Vets are hoping to
save the horse for a stud career. More After a
very long build-up, Kate, William and the young prince left hospital shortly after
19:00 ... so I was finally able to tear myself away from the TV to do the
washing up!!! St Albans missed most of the heavy rain and
thunderstorms – all I heard, and others too, was a downpour at around 04:15
this morning which lasted only 10 minutes and very distance thunder shortly
afterwards. There was a short shower
as I walked to work this morning, and a period of heavier rain just before
noon. It remains very hot and sticky,
so it would appear that a good night’s sleep is still a long way off! |
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Monday 22 July
2013 |
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Two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Southwell: 14:15
Suburban Bay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Handicap Chase 15:45 Faultless Feelings (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Hurdle |
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Sunday 21 July
2013 |
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Two runners
of interest at Newton Abbot today and this is how
they fared: Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 3rd in
the Handicap Chase [3 miles 2½ furlongs] (10 ran). The Fox’s
Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in
the Handicap Chase [2 miles ½ furlong] (6 ran). National
Hunt racing at Cartmel tomorrow but no runners of
specific interest. It is
reported on Alan King’s website that Choc plans to begin riding out again in
September. Having
been hospitalised yesterday, conditional jockey Gary Rutherford faces a long
spell on the sidelines. More I’ve put on even more weight since the hot spell
began, so I went for another walk today – slightly further in distance this
time, as I returned via the city centre shops. And I’ve discovered there are three alpacas
at the College, not two as thought yesterday – a dark brown one, a white one,
and a ‘two-tone’ fawn and white
one. They are just so cute ...
although I gather that they do spit if you annoy them, and if they become
very annoyed they spit the contents from deep within their guts – very smelly
and unpleasant! |
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Saturday 20 July
2013 |
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Another
day of lethargy. Although mainly
cloudy with a fair breeze, the heatwave continues. However, I
did go for a 4-mile walk this morning, the same route as last Sunday. I saw sheep and goats today but no horses
or sow and piglets. But I did see two
alpacas which certainly made up for it ... I love them! My hip is aching this evening but, having
said that, it’s the reoccurring problem I’ve had since February. Market Rasen’s Summer Plate was won by the Dr Richard Newland
trained Bobowen. More Sad to note the demise
of the seemingly jinxed Galaxy Rock during the same race, misfortune having
earlier struck at the Cheltenham Festival when falling in the Kim Muir with
JT McNamara aboard. However
there’s better news regarding injured jockey Brian Toomey who is now out of
intensive care and eventer Laura Collett who is now home following her spell in
hospital. But get well soon to Gary
Rutherford who was injured in a fall at Cartmel
this afternoon. More And Brendan Powell
Junior too, who I understand sustained a broken arm at Worcester on
Wednesday. News that
Cheltenham racecourse has gained planning permission for its development
project. More The 2015 Festival will
be an experience, with the building works still underway ... a bit like the
1996 Wimbledon tournament with the new Number One Court and road tunnel still
under construction. Although I missed
out on experiencing the building works associated with the construction of
the Centre Court roof in 2007. I haven’t
forgotten about my 1999 Wimbledon diary – it’s just that I’ve lost my
motivation to slave over a hot laptop during the current heatwave! With 16
days’ leave still to take this year, I’ve now booked 11 National Hunt-related
days’ holiday for the autumn. J Two
runners of interest at Newton Abbot tomorrow: 16:20 Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase
[3 miles 2½ furlongs] 17:20 The Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase [2 miles ½ furlong] |
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Wednesday 17
July 2013 |
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A number
of runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Uttoxeter: Fighter
Jet (Alan King/Killian Moore) finished 7th in the Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden
Hurdle (10 ran). Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in
the Novices’ Handicap Chase (9 ran). Henry San
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Handicap Chase (6 ran). Worcester: Monty’s
Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was pulled up
in the Handicap Chase (7 ran). No
National Hunt racing until Saturday, when it’s Market Rasen’s
big race day, including the Summer Plate. Jockey
Dave Crosse has uploaded a new blog on the Love The Races website. Click here to read. Choc has been deliberating whether to go swimming
to cool off during the current heatwave. When I was a toddler it wasn’t fashionable
to learn to swim, nor did I learn to swim at school, so as an adult I
undertook a course to learn ... but failed miserably having managed
approximately 6 breast-strokes on just one occasion. I was so surprised at the time that I’ve
never attempted to swim since!!! So,
I’m still a non-swimmer. |
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Tuesday 16 July
2013 |
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A number
of runners of interest tomorrow: Uttoxeter: 14:20
Fighter Jet (Alan King/Killian Moore) – Conditional Jockeys’ Maiden Hurdle 15:50
Always Bold (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Novices’
Handicap Chase 16:50
Henry San (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase Worcester: 18:20 Monty’s
Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap
Chase Very
talented mare Snow Fairy has been retired following a reoccurrence of injury.
More Aidan
Coleman has taken out a flat-race licence and rode a winner at Wolverhampton
yesterday. He also rode at Bath
today. Today is the first day when the heat has really
affected me ... but I’m determined not to moan ... especially as I recall
being absolutely frozen on the first day of this year’s Cheltenham Festival,
extremely soggy on the last day of the Festival, and very cold on Ladies’ Day
at Aintree too! So it’s great to have
some fabulous weather for a change. |
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Monday 15 July
2013 |
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There’s
promising news regarding injured jockey Brian Toomey. More And eventer Laura Collett is
recovering well from her fall too. More No
National Hunt racing tomorrow. I received a tweet today to say that tickets for
this season’s Cheltenham fixtures, including the Festival, are now available
to purchase ... it just gets earlier and earlier and earlier! So that’s Aintree tickets being sold two months
earlier than previously and Cheltenham tickets possibly 6 weeks earlier than
usual. And, no, I’ve not bought my
Cheltenham Festival tickets yet. |
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Sunday 14 July
2013 |
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Happy Birthday to Choc
Many happy returns of the day to Choc, who is 35
today. Still very young in general,
but it does make him one of the senior guys in the weighing room which he
won’t like to be reminded of I’m afraid.
Choc tweeted this photo of William listening to his favourite
music group, Mumford and Sons. It
doesn’t look like they have a new fan! https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/356363331105337346/photo/1 And this
one ... https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/356351649872228353/photo/1 And Darren
Bird has drawn a cartoon for Choc’s birthday too
... excellent, William even has his beloved trucks! https://mobile.twitter.com/DarrenBirdie/status/356386464877142016/photo/1 I went for a walk at 09:30 this morning, before
it got too hot. As the walk took
around 80 minutes, I estimate the distance as around 4 miles. Having braved the bridleway through the
local Agricultural & Further Education College last Sunday, I decided to
take the same route again, this time in the opposite direction. It was nice to see a number of animals en
route; sheep, goats, horses, and a sow with piglets. I’m always wary of taking almost deserted byways
– but there was a dog walker ahead of me, and I met another walker, a jogger
and two cyclists travelling in the opposite direction – so hopefully I won’t
encounter any problems in the future.
Although I would never dream of walking down an alley, because you
just never know. Just one
runner of interest this afternoon, at Stratford: Brimham Boy (Martin
Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 4th in the Handicap Chase (6 ran). National
Hunt racing at Newton Abbot tomorrow but no runners of specific interest. Jockey
Paddy Brennan got married on Friday at Sudeley
Castle ... with special guest Nacarat! https://mobile.twitter.com/PaddyBrennan22/status/356160289248518145/photo/1 |
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Saturday 13 July
2013 |
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Just one
runner of interest tomorrow, at Stratford: 16:50 Brimham Boy (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap
Chase It’s a
special day tomorrow ... Choc’s birthday! Hopefully he’ll have a nice day spent with
his young son William, who I gather he’s been looking after today too. Loving the warm weather, although it does make me
feel very lethargic. Hoping to go for
a walk tomorrow morning, early so that it’s not too hot. No doubt my hands will become puffy when
I’m exercising – a common occurrence for many I gather. It only happens to me in warm weather and I
never used to notice this happening when I used to go rambling, so perhaps
it’s an age thing now too. |
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Thursday 11 July
2013 |
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One runner
of interest at Worcester yesterday evening and
this is how the filly fared: Fairyinthewind (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) won the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles] (9 ran); Wayne’s 14th
winner of the
season. I didn’t log onto my laptop yesterday as the race
(and result) was late in the evening and I wanted to spend time sorting out
some of my old clothes to donate to charity; items which I no longer like or
no longer fit me. Having packed up two
plastic bags full of tops, I now have more cupboard space which, hopefully,
I’ll resist filling with more clothes! There’s news that the Alan King yard will soon
have a new inmate, 3-year-old Duroble Man,
purchased for 130,000 guineas out of the Roger Varian yard at the Newmarket
July Sales. His new owner is Max
McNeill. |
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Tuesday 09 July
2013 |
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One runner
of interest at Uttoxeter this evening and this is how he fared: Danehill Dante (Alan
King/Killian Moore) finished last in the Conditional Jockeys’ Novices’ Hurdle
(5 ran). Further
bad news from the equestrian world yesterday, with event rider Laura Collett suffering serious injuries due to a fall at Tweseldown. More Darren
Bird has sent a lovely cartoon to Laura: https://mobile.twitter.com/DarrenBirdie/status/354548243885084672/photo/1 Get well
soon Laura and, of course, injured jockey Brian Toomey too. One runner
of interest at Worcester tomorrow: 20:40 Fairyinthewind
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles] I’m a happy bunny because I’ve now booked my
accommodation for the 2014 Grand National fixture – at my usual Premier Inn
location. J So that’s Aintree sorted ... next stop the
Cheltenham Festival 2014! |
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Monday 08 July
2013 |
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One runner
of interest at Uttoxeter tomorrow: 18:45 Danehill Dante (Alan King/Killian Moore) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Novices’ Hurdle Further
news today regarding injured jockey Brian Toomey. More I’m now suffering from Wimbledon withdrawal
symptoms ... it’s only on for two weeks but I miss the TV coverage when it’s
gone! |
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Sunday 07 July
2013 |
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Three
runners of interest at Market Rasen this afternoon and this is how they fared: Court In
Session (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 6th
in the Handicap Chase (9 ran). Forresters Folly (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) was a non-runner in the Handicap Hurdle Compton Blue (Alan
King/Killian Moore) won & The
Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 4th
in the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (9 ran). Dougie Costello was taken to
hospital having punctured a lung as a result of a fall at Market Rasen. More Timmy
Murphy has paid tribute to racehorse owner David Johnson who passed away
yesterday. More National
Hunt racing takes place at Newton Abbot tomorrow but no runners of specific
interest. Well
that’s it for another Wimbledon ... it’s brilliant that a British player has finally
won after all these years. The standard of tennis was incredible, a treat to
watch and the right result too.
Well done
Andy Murray. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23217393
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013? I haven’t got around to sorting out my 1999
Wimbledon diary yet, but hope to do so in the not too distant future. |
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Saturday 06 July
2013 |
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Four
runners of interest at Market Rasen tomorrow: 15:45 Court
In Session (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap
Chase 16:15 Forresters Folly (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap
Hurdle 16:45
Compton Blue (Alan King/Killian Moore) & The Fox’s Decree (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap
Hurdle Al Kazeem won today’s Eclipse at Sandown Park. More I was sad to
learn that another jockey has been seriously injured, conditional jockey
Brian Toomey taking a heavy fall at Perth on Thursday. More Fingers crossed that
he makes a full recovery. More sad
news today, well-known racehorse owner David Johnson has passed away
following a long battle with cancer. More Irish
jockey, Danny Mullins, has received a 14-day ban for commandeering an
ambulance to drive back to the weighing room at Bellewstown
races earlier this week. More And here is artist and
illustrator Darren Bird’s take on the incident. https://mobile.twitter.com/DarrenBirdie/status/353285756313292800/photo/1 Marion Bartoli won today’s Women’s Singles title at Wimbledon;
it was such a shame that Sabine Lisicki was
overcome by nerves and as a result played far below par. More Hopefully
tomorrow’s match between Novak Djokovic and Andy
Murray will be hard-fought. I gather I
missed an excellent match between Del Potro and Djokovic yesterday; I didn’t particularly enjoy Murray’s
semi-final, mainly because I don’t like to watch matches where the players
rely too much on a big serve like his opponent did yesterday, and because the
Pole was bad tempered. It won’t have
won the Polish player any friends.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the expected
late evening and weekend work didn’t materialise so I’m at a loose end now. L And that’s
coming from someone who usually finds a hobby to keep myself occupied. |
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Wednesday 03
July 2013 |
|
Two
runners of interest at Worcester today and this is how
they fared: Pollystone (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 11th in the Conditional Jockeys’
Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). Benbane Head (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 10th in the Handicap
Hurdle (13 ran). No runners
of specific interest tomorrow; then no National Hunt racing until Sunday at Market
Rasen. I’ve sent my 1999 Wimbledon diary to my home
email. I’ll endeavour to convert it to
an internet file at the weekend, work commitments permitting. |
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Tuesday 02 July
2013 |
|
Two
runners of interest at Stratford this evening and this
is how they fared: Sky
Calling (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 8th
in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles ½ furlong] (9 ran). The Fox’s
Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in
the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6 ½ furlongs] (16 ran). Two runners
of interest at Worcester tomorrow: 16:50 Pollystone (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Conditional Jockeys’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 17:20 Benbane Head (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Hurdle It was back to work today ... and I still forgot
to look for electronic copies of my Wimbledon diaries ... as always, too much
work going on! There will be a new Ladies’ Champion at Wimbledon
this year, with the only previous winner Petra Kvitova
exiting today. I’m hoping that Serena
Williams’ conqueror, Sabine Lisicki, wins. However, I won’t be able to watch the Women’s
final as I’m working all day Saturday(!), and late
on Thursday and Friday evenings too. |
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Monday 01 July
2013 |
|
Two
runners of interest at Stratford tomorrow evening: 18:40 Sky
Calling (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles ½ furlong] 19:40 The
Fox’s Decree (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6 ½ furlongs] I was
doing to bit of surfing and found a picture of Choc at Oaksey
House running on their anti-gravity treadmill (you’ll need to scroll down the
page for this one): http://www.injuredjockeys.co.uk/ Well, that
was an experience. I went to hospital
to have a gastroscopy carried out, to check that my
problem is definitely acid reflux and that the acid isn’t doing any damage to
the tissue in my throat. I chose not
to be sedated for the procedure, choosing instead a numbing throat spray. It tasted of bananas, sort of! The photos showed there is nothing to be
worried about, from the visual point of view; and I should find out the
results of various biopsies soon. They
have, however, discovered that I have a small hiatus hernia. To help
alleviate the problems, I should avoid tea and coffee because of the caffeine
(I drink decaffeinated of the latter anyway with Alpro
rather than milk). I shouldn’t smoke –
I never have – or drink alcohol – I very rarely do. Also spicy foods – not keen on them
either. But I should also avoid eating
chocolate L. Having
arrived home from the hospital at lunchtime, I was able to watch
Wimbledon. I was very pleased that
Serena Williams lost, having been beaten by German Sabine Lisicki. More I prefer
it when the underdogs triumph because it gets tedious when the ‘same old people’ win the titles. Andy
Murray won his fourth-round match. But Laura Robson lost today. My nephew James, having finished his ‘A’ level
exams, took a trip with one of his school mates to Wimbledon last
Wednesday. They set off very early,
arrived before the queues closed, and purchased ground passes to see the
action on the outside courts. Later in
the day they queued for return tickets and were fortunate enough to get ones
for Centre Court, where they saw Federer lose to Stakhovsky. It was
a long day, as they didn’t get home until 23:00, but they thoroughly enjoyed
it. And it’s
all change for the future layout of the Wimbledon tournament site too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Em0k3Kih0 And to think that I remember watching tennis on
the old Number One court in 1994 and 1995!
It’s already changed a lot since I last visited – Court Two is now
where Court 13 used to be, and Court Three is located where Court Two was
situated. Confusing! |
