NOVEMBER 2013
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Saturday 30
November 2013 |
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Choc returns to the Winners’ Enclosure having won the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase aboard Valdez It was a
surprising day at Newbury races ... because I experienced no queues on my way
to the racecourse ... and, staggeringly, no queues leaving either!!! I arrived at 09:20 and left at 16:30. Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Newbury: The
Pirate’s Queen (Alan King/Choc)
finished 2nd in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle [Listed] (6 ran). Valdez (Alan King/Choc) won the Novices’ Limited
Handicap Chase (5 ran); Choc’s 17th winner of the season. Kilcrea Asla
(Graeme Mcpherson/Choc) finished 13th in the Handicap Chase [for Fulke Walwyn Trophy] (18 ran). Batonnier (Alan King/Choc) finished 7th but Vendor (Alan King/Jack
Doyle) won the
Handicap Hurdle (17 ran); a breathing operation has done the trick! Medinas (Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in the Long
Distance Hurdle [Grade 2] (5 ran). The
race was won by the perennial Celestial Halo.
More Invictus (Alan King/Choc) finished 11th in the Hennessy
Gold Cup Chase (21 ran). The race was
won by Triolo D’Alene; here is a report, and also
mentioned is the altercation between Timmy Murphy and Dominic Elsworth which resulted in the former missing his ride
aboard Our Father in the Hennessy. More It was also Imperial
Commander’s final race, and hopefully he’ll have a long and happy retirement. More There was
a tweet suggesting that Invictus pulled up ‘very very lame’ after the race and
was loaded into a horse ambulance; and, despite looking out for him, I didn’t
see Choc and his mount return to the Parade Ring to unsaddle, which would
suggest something might be wrong. So I
checked the BHA website ‘Why They Ran Badly’ section and found this note: The Veterinary Officer
reported that INVICTUS (IRE), unplaced, trained by Alan King, was lame. Oh dear, his heart is
very willing but his legs are fragile. L
Invictus Newcastle: Grumeti (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 3rd in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle [Grade 1] (8 ran). The race was won by My Tent Or Yours. More Towcester: Coyaba (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) won the Junior Standard Open NH Flat Race (11
ran). Well done to the team, their 12th winner of the season. Two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Leicester: 13:30
Dealing River (Caroline Bailey/Choc)
– Selling Hurdle 14:05 Hot Whiskey (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) –
Handicap Chase |
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Friday 29
November 2013 |
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A number
of runners of interest this afternoon and this is how they fared: Newbury: Chocala (Alan King/Choc) finished 3rd in the Juvenile
Hurdle (9 ran). Seventh
Sign (Alan King/Choc) finished
16th in the Handicap Hurdle (Qualifier) (21 ran). Midnight Cataria (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 5th in the
Mares’ National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). Wilde Blue Yonder (Alan King/Choc) won the National Hunt Maiden
Hurdle (14 ran); Choc’s 16th winner of the season.
When interviewed at Uttoxeter prior to his
previous race earlier this month, Choc said the horse shows absolutely
nothing at home, saving all his efforts for the racecourse ... better that
than the opposite!!! Doncaster: The Mumper (Alan King/Gerard Tumelty)
finished 4th in the Novices’ Handicap Chase (6 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing at Bangor-on-Dee, Newbury, Newcastle and Towcester tomorrow, with runners of interest as follows: Newbury: 12:20 The
Pirate’s Queen (Alan King/Choc) –
Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle [Listed] 12:50
Valdez (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase 13:20 Kilcrea Asla (Graeme Mcpherson/Choc)
– Handicap Chase [for Fulke Walwyn
Trophy] 13:50 Batonnier (Alan King/Choc)
& Vendor (Alan King/Jack Doyle) – Handicap Hurdle 14:25 Medinas (Alan King/Choc)
– Long Distance Hurdle [Grade 2] 15:00 Invictus (Alan King/Choc)
– Hennessy Gold Cup Chase Newcastle: 14:05 Grumeti (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Fighting Fifth
Hurdle [Grade 1] Towcester: 15:25 Coyaba (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Junior Standard Open NH Flat Race Alan King
discusses on his website, the horses he’s entered at tomorrow’s
fixtures. More Also a
link to Martin Keighley’s most recent column on the Gloucestershire Echo
website. More News that Dougie Costello has picked up a last minute ride aboard
one of the Irish challengers, Lord Windermere, in tomorrow’s Hennessy
following an injury blow for Robbie McNamara.
More There’s
also doubt that Timmy Murphy will be able to partner Our Father in tomorrow’s
big race due to a shoulder injury picked up in ‘unknown circumstances’ at the racecourse today. More Daryl
Jacob stood himself down during today’s Newbury card, having hurt his
shoulder in a fall yesterday. I gather
it was operated on last summer. More St
Nicholas Abbey is still battling to overcome the serious health problems
which were triggered when he fractured a pastern last summer. More My Kempton Park diary was completed yesterday and
uploaded before I turned in last night. Click here to read. I had to
rebuild my Sky HD Planner last night too, the third time since mid-September,
as there was just a blank screen when I tried to play back Tuesday’s Lingfield recording and yesterday’s Newbury
recording. The good news is that Lingfield was accessible after the rebuild, but the bad
news is that the Newbury playback still wouldn’t materialise – I’d recorded
the racing on the drive because I was busy yesterday and didn’t have time to
sit and record the relevant action in real time. So I now
have a snippet of Choc legging-up Timmy Murphy ahead of the Mares’ event at Lingfield, but no recording of the jockeys, including
Choc, entering the Parade Ring prior to the Newbury’s Novices’ Limited
Handicap Chase yesterday. But I do
have a recording of the races themselves, as I copied it from a replay shown
yesterday evening on RUK. It’s
annoying, as I hate to lose any of the coverage. It’s now fingers
crossed that the hard drive behaves itself tomorrow whilst I’m out at the
races. Although I’m wondering if it
was because I’d left two recent recordings on the drive and the planner then
attempted to fit a third one in too small a space, due to fragmentation of
the disk. The trouble is, I currently keep too much on the drive, as there’s only
around 27% free at the best of times!
I just can’t bring myself to delete Choc, as he’s far too lovely
... Today I’ve
been to the bank, bought my lotto tickets (for Euromillions
tonight and Lotto for the next four draws) and purchased a couple of ‘friends’ Christmas cards. I was also out just after 07:30 to fill up
the petrol tank of my car ahead of my trip to Newbury tomorrow; it saves me
having to think about it in the morning, just in case I’m running late (I
want to depart at 08:00). And I’ve
washed my car. Choc
tweeted this cute photo yesterday evening of himself with William ... aaaahhh ... that’s cute. https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/406176677363195904/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton |
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Thursday 28
November 2013 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest ... including those from the first
day of Newbury’s Heritage Festival as I gather it’s now called! Newbury: Jojabean (Alan King/Choc) finished 6th in the Novices’
Handicap Hurdle (14 ran). Harry Hunt
(Graeme Mcpherson/Choc) finished a tailed-off last in the Novices’ Limited Handicap
Chase, having made a number of errors and jumped out to his right during the
race (5 ran). Fred Le
Macon (Alan King/Choc) stayed on
well to finish 3rd in the Standard Open NH Flat Race (6 ran). Uttoxeter: Tickity Bleue
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (4
ran). Hot Whiskey N Ice (Noel Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Intermediate Open NH Flat
Race (6 ran); Wayne’s 30th winner of the
season and Noel Williams’ first winner since taking out a licence in his own
right! A number
of runners of interest tomorrow: Newbury: 12:30 Chocala (Alan King/Choc)
– Juvenile Hurdle 13:30
Seventh Sign (Alan King/Choc) –
Handicap Hurdle (Qualifier) 15:15
Midnight Cataria (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) –
Mares’ National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle 15:45
Wilde Blue Yonder (Alan King/Choc)
– National Hunt Maiden Hurdle Doncaster: 13:20 The Mumper (Alan King/Gerard Tumelty)
– Novices’ Handicap Chase There are
21 declarations for the Hennessy Gold Cup, including Choc’s
intended mount Invictus. More Choc
expressed his wariness to the Daily Mail regarding his hopes for Invictus in Saturday’s big race; the horse being very
much an unknown quantity due to his injury absence since February 2012. More A blast
from the past ... this week’s Horse and Hound notified its readers of the
death of legendary Italian showjumping star Raimondo d’Inzeo earlier this
month aged 88. Evidently his older
brother Piero is still alive. Gosh, I remember the d’Inzeo
brothers in the days when showjumping was broadcast
on the BBC! |
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Wednesday 27
November 2013 |
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Two
runners of interest today, at Wetherby, and this is how they fared: Seymour
Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in
the Beginners’ Chase (5 ran). Viking
Mistress (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 6th
in the Mares’ Standard Open Flat Race (14 ran). Tomorrow
is the beginning of the 3-day Newbury Winter Festival, the highlight of which
is Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup. The
event was first run in 1957, the winner Mandarin, who also won in 1961. I well remember the winners from 1973 to
1978, as I have a set of faded table mats with pictures of the winning horses
on them – Red Candle, Royal Marshall II, April Seventh, Zeta’s Son,
Bachelor’s Hall and Approaching – my favourite is the latter, a chestnut with
blaze. There are
National Hunt fixtures at Taunton, Uttoxeter and
Newbury tomorrow, with runners of interest at the latter two: Newbury: 13:30 Jojabean (Alan King/Choc)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle 14:40
Harry Hunt (Graeme Mcpherson/Choc) – Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase ... substituting for
Wayne who will be at Uttoxeter! 15:45 Fred
Le Macon (Alan King/Choc) – Standard
Open NH Flat Race Uttoxeter: 12.15 Tickity Bleue (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 15:35 Hot
Whiskey N Ice (Noel Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) – Intermediate Open NH Flat
Race Choc re-tweeted a photo of himself acting as Fergal O’Brien’s
stand-in assistant at Lingfield yesterday; Timmy
Murphy rode the horse, Down Ace, to victory in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. https://mobile.twitter.com/TJm555/status/405462371809783810/photo/1?screen_name=TJm555 I gather
from facebook that young William swallowed a 2p
coin yesterday evening. However he was
checked out at the hospital and the item located in his stomach ... his mum
is now waiting for nature to take its course! I’m on leave again tomorrow and Friday, but I
won’t be venturing to Newbury before Saturday ... not after last year’s
nightmare trip to the racecourse on the first day of this fixture! Besides, I’ve plenty to do before the
weekend, including attempting to finish my Kempton Park diary. |
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Tuesday 26
November 2013 |
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Just one
runner of interest this afternoon, at Lingfield Park: Leviche (Alan King/Choc) finished 5th in the ‘Junior’ Standard Open Flat Race (All
Weather) (8 ran). Two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Wetherby: 12:50
Seymour Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Beginners’ Chase 15:30
Viking Mistress (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) –
Mares’ Standard Open Flat Race With
entries for Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle reopened, ‘pocket rocket’ Medinas has been added
to the line-up. More Before I
turned in last night, I uploaded the photographs taken yesterday at Kempton
Park. Click here to view races 1 to 4 Click here to view races 5 and 6 I didn’t stay to watch race 7, as I wanted to
beat the rush hour traffic on the M25 ... and I succeeded! The section near Heathrow airport can be a
nightmare, evidently carrying around 200,000 cars per day!!! |
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Monday 25
November 2013 |
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Choc and Turn Over Sivola return to the
Winners’ Enclosure having finished 2nd in the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase I finally
made it to the races, a dry day but with a chill wind blowing ... had
forgotten how cold I can get, despite wearing six layers, including my
heavyweight fleece and my faux sheepskin jacket! But hopefully I’m now acclimatised ahead of
my trip to Newbury on Saturday. Here are
today’s results: Kempton Park: Midnight
Sail (Alan King/Choc) finished 6th
in the Handicap Chase (Qualifier) (7 ran). Turn Over Sivola (Alan King/Choc)
finished 2nd in the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (4 ran). Ludlow: Westerly
Breeze (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 3rd
in the NH Novices’ Hurdle (Qualifier) (14 ran). Having run
yesterday, Bold Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) was a non-runner in the
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle Just one
runner of interest tomorrow, at Lingfield Park: 15:30 Leviche (Alan King/Choc)
– ‘Junior’ Standard Open Flat Race
(All Weather) There’s
news ahead of Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup. More Barry Geraghty will be
aboard At Fishers Cross in Saturday’s Long Distance Hurdle, as AP McCoy is
heading to Newcastle to ride My Tent Or Yours in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. More |
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Sunday 24
November 2013 |
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National
Hunt racing at Towcester and Exeter this afternoon and this is how my runners of
interest fared at the latter: Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 12th and Genstone Trail (Alan King/Choc) finished 10th but Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) almost won the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7½
furlongs] ... he was beaten by just a nose (15 ran). Oh Crick
(Alan King/Choc) finished 4th in
the Handicap Chase [2 miles 1½ furlongs] (8 ran). Benbecula (Richard Mitchell/Choc) finished 3rd in the Novices’
Hurdle (Div II) (9 ran). Bold Tara
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 5th in the Conditional Jockeys’
Handicap Hurdle (14 ran). The
Clydesdale race was won by Tom Parker (that’s a horse) ridden by Micheal Nolan; he won it in a photo finish with Siryl; Big Al was a close up 3rd. Five horses and jockeys took part, as there
was no Ben and ‘guest’ Clydesdale Alfie’s horsebox broke down so he didn’t appear
either. The other jockeys taking part
were Ian Popham, Sam Twiston-Davies,
Hadden Frost, and Nick Scholfield. Here is
the related link on the BBC Devon news page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25080973 Tomorrow
there are runners of interest at Kempton Park and Ludlow: Kempton Park: 14:05 Midnight
Sail (Alan King/Choc) – Handicap
Chase (Qualifier) 15:10 Turn
Over Sivola (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase Ludlow: 13:45
Westerly Breeze (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) – NH
Novices’ Hurdle (Qualifier) 15:20 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle I knitted
the scarf intended as a Christmas present on Friday evening, constructed the
second CD storage unit and another necklace yesterday and today wrapped all
the Christmas presents, shortened a pair of trousers for my mum and had my
hair cut. As I have day’s leave tomorrow and, following a
busy weekend with all my Christmas arrangements now in hand, I’ll take a trip
to Kempton Park me thinks J ... and I’m on leave
again on Thursday and Friday.
Yippee. |
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Saturday 23
November 2013 |
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Unfortunately
the Alan King 1-8 favourite in the first at Ascot didn’t deliver due to a bad
blunder 3 out ... Ascot: Carraig Mor
(Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in
the Novices’ Hurdle (5 ran). More Kotkiri (Alan King/Choc) finished 7th in the Standard
Open NH Flat Race (9 ran). Irish
raider Annie Power, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh, took
the feature Grade 2 hurdle. More Meanwhile
the Grade 2 Amlin Chase was a total farce, with Al Ferof winning from French Opera ... only two ran, Captain
Chris having been withdrawn earlier in the day due to lameness. More There was
a discussion before racing on how to attract top class handicappers to enter
this type of graded race without the risk of ruining their rating, as surely
no-one would turn their noses up at the prize money if conditions were
right. A two horse match at a venue
like Ascot on a Saturday just isn’t good enough, for racing fans and punters
alike. Haydock Park: Two
Rockers (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 9th and Lovcen
(Alan King/Will Kennedy) finished 12th in the Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle (17
ran). The race was won by the David
Pipe runner, Gevrey Chambertin,
full brother of Grands Crus. More It was
great to see Cue Card triumph in the Betfair Chase,
in a very hot renewal of the race. More Huntingdon: Taffy Dare
(Alan King/Gerard Tumelty) finished 5th in the
Mares’ NH Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). National
Hunt racing at Towcester and Exeter tomorrow, with runners of interest at the
latter: 13:35 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall)
& Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
& Genstone Trail (Alan King/Choc) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7½
furlongs] 15:05 Oh
Crick (Alan King/Choc) – Handicap
Chase [2 miles 1½ furlongs] 15:35 Benbecula (Richard Mitchell/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle (Div II) 16:05 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle In addition to the 8 races, there will be a
Clydesdales race in aid of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust before the card
begins, with the prizes presented by actor Martin Clunes. The horses, Ben, Ecco,
Siryl, Allan, Tom Parker and Solo, will be ridden
by professional jockeys, the race taking place over a distance of 2
furlongs. Click here to read more about Ben and his pals. That’s an interesting idea ... a riding
adventure across Dartmoor on a Clydesdale!
More |
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Friday 22
November 2013 |
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Runners of
interest at Ascot and Haydock Park this afternoon
and this is how they fared: Ascot: Hung
Parliament (Alan King/Choc)
finished 5th in the Introductory Hurdle (7 ran). Grove
Pride (Henry Daly/Choc) finished
7th & Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 6th in the Handicap Chase [3 miles] (12
ran). Haydock Park: Fighter
Jet (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle (13
ran). Unknown
Legend (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 7th in the Fixed Brush National
Hunt Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). A number
of runners of interest tomorrow: Ascot: 12:25 Carraig Mor (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle 15:50 Kotkiri (Alan King/Choc)
– Standard Open NH Flat Race Haydock Park: 14:25 Two
Rockers (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Lovcen
(Alan King/Will Kennedy) – Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle Huntingdon: 12:00
Taffy Dare (Alan King/Gerard Tumelty) – Mares’ NH
Novices’ Hurdle Barry Geraghty has confirmed he will be okay to ride Bobs Worth
in tomorrow’s Betfair Chase, despite having a
schooling fall today which later was aggravated by a race fall at Ascot. More Worrying
news today that the injury sustained by Finian’s
Rainbow in last Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup is proving hard to treat. More Also a
link to this week’s Martin Keighley column in the Gloucestershire Echo. More I had a busy morning ... and a busy afternoon
too! I bought two new CD shelf stacks,
then visited Next in search of Christmas presents ... but ended up buying
myself a scarf and a handbag. However,
as I liked the scarf so much, I bought two identical ones as gifts too. I then went to M & S but could find
nothing for my brothers ... but, having trawled through much of the shop
floor, I found two cardigans and a skirt for me – this Christmas present
buying can be sooooooooo expensive! However, as I wanted to buy a gardening
voucher at the local garden centre I also checked out their gift range and
found presents for both of my ‘bros’.
Excellent. This afternoon I
constructed a Murano pendant necklace as a present,
watched the racing from Ascot and built one of the CD stacks. So, as my nieces and nephew will be given
money to buy gifts of their choice that leaves me with just one scarf to knit
and then that’s Christmas 2013 sorted.
Hurray! |
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Thursday 21
November 2013 |
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Here are
today’s results ... with Jetnova the best of a
disappointing bunch today. Wincanton: Jetnova (Alan King/Choc) finished 4th in the Handicap
Hurdle (12 ran). Tante Sissi
(Alan King/Choc) made one bad
mistake and was pulled up before 4 out in an error strewn Mares’ Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase where only one horse finished (6 ran). I wouldn’t have thought she was the biggest
of mares and perhaps unsuited to the larger obstacles – we shall see. Ellymac (Richard Mitchell/Choc) finished last in the ‘Newcomers’ Standard Open NH Flat Race
(7 ran). Meanwhile
at Market Rasen: Suburban
Bay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up having blundered badly 4 out
in the Handicap Chase (Qualifier) [2 miles 6½ furlongs] (7 ran). Compton
Blue (Alan King/Stephen O’Donovan) finished 6th in the Handicap Hurdle
(Qualifier) [2 miles 5 furlongs] (7 ran). Confirmation
today that Champion flat trainer Richard Hannon will be handing over the
reins to his son at the end of the year. More Runners of
interest at Ascot and Haydock Park tomorrow: Ascot: 14:05 Hung
Parliament (Alan King/Choc) –
Introductory Hurdle 15:15
Grove Pride (Henry Daly/Choc)
& Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase [3 miles] Haydock Park: 12:50
Fighter Jet (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle 15:05
Unknown Legend (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Fixed Brush National Hunt
Novices’ Hurdle Choc has tweeted a photo of William playing with a new digger
truck, a gift from Irish fan Sean Daly.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/403604744692068352/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton My ticket
for Kempton Park’s Boxing Day fixture arrived today. Whoop whoop! I’m on leave tomorrow and Monday, hoping to do
some Christmas shopping and, with a bit of luck, I’ll make it to the races on
Saturday and/or Monday too. J |
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Wednesday 20
November 2013 |
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Three rides
for Choc at Warwick today, as he
substituted for AP McCoy on the JP McManus runner in the 14:50 race. You know when you think you’ve seen
something but, on re-checking the internet, can’t find the article? Well that happened to me ... I thought I’d
read that the Champion jockey needed to pass the doctor today following
yesterday’s fall at Fakenham and, as it turned out,
he was too sore to ride today. So here
are today’s results from Warwick: Shady Lane
(Alan King/Choc) finished 6th in
the Handicap Hurdle (14 ran). Our
Pollyanna (Alan King/Choc)
finished 2nd in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (13 ran). Gone Too
Far (Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd
in the National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle (18 ran). Meanwhile
at Hexham: Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 6th in the National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle (Qualifier) (7 ran). Merlin’s Wish (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) won the Handicap Chase (8
ran); congratulations to the team, their 11th winner of the season. National
Hunt racing at Chepstow, Wincanton and Market Rasen
tomorrow, with runners of interest at the latter two: Wincanton: 13:50 Jetnova (Alan King/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle 15:00 Tante Sissi (Alan King/Choc) – Mares’ Novices’ Limited
Handicap Chase 16:00 Ellymac (Richard Mitchell/Choc) – ‘Newcomers’ Standard
Open NH Flat Race Meanwhile
at Market Rasen: 13:30
Suburban Bay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase (Qualifier) [2
miles 6½ furlongs] 14:40
Compton Blue (Alan King/Stephen O’Donovan) – Handicap Hurdle (Qualifier) [2
miles 5 furlongs] As a
postscript to yesterday’s news regarding Wayne and Choc and their new riding
arrangements ... the worst thing about it is that it extends the odds of Choc
winning those prestigious races and, of course, the Grand National which are
still missing from his CV. Because the
fact is, I’d love him to fulfil as many of his dreams as possible before he
retires. Today’s trivia ... I discovered that the trainer
of Cabaret Girl who Choc rode at Cheltenham on Saturday, J G O’Neill, is
based in Stratton Audley near Bicester. Choc and his family lived in the village
when his parents where associated with the Bicester
Hunt in the late 80’s, early 90’s. |
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Tuesday 19
November 2013 |
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There was
an article on the Racing Post website yesterday confirming that Choc no
longer gets automatic first pick of the rides at Barbury
Castle; Alan discusses with the owners which jockey they would prefer to ride
their horse. More Unfortunately
this doesn’t help me, as it has resulted in Choc having fewer engagements
when both he and Wayne attend the same fixture, making it less likely for the
meeting to qualify for my ‘at least two
rides’ rule. But the good news is that Choc will be
riding Invictus in the Hennessy and I’m going to be
there ... Yippee! Here is a
link to the latest news on Alan King’s website. More There was
also an article on the website regarding the sad demise of Sanctuaire. More Note to
self ... I must remember to check out the Racing Post website more often! Anyway,
tomorrow Choc will be at Warwick for two rides: 12:50
Shady Lane (Alan King/Choc) –
Handicap Hurdle 13:50 Our
Pollyanna (Alan King/Choc) –
Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 14:50 Gone
Too Far (Alan King/AP McCoy) – National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle Meanwhile
at Hexham: 13:40
Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle (Qualifier) 14:10 Merlin’s Wish (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase |
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Monday 18 November
2013 |
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Three
runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Leicester: Mystery Drama (Alan King/Choc) won the Juvenile Fillies’
Hurdle (9 ran); Choc’s 15th winner of the season. Plumpton: Uxizandre (Alan
King/AP McCoy) won the
Novices’ Chase (5 ran); evidently he hit the penultimate fence ... the same
as he did on his first outing over the larger obstacles at the track! Our Phylli Vera (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd in
the Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). National Hunt racing at Fakenham
and Lingfield Park tomorrow, but no runners of
interest. There’s news ahead of Invictus’
tilt at the Hennessy Gold Cup at the end of this month. More Also a run-down of Paul Nicholls’ jockey
arrangements ahead of this Saturday’s Betfair Chase
at Haydock Park.
More |
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Sunday 17
November 2013 |
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Today was
the final day of the Cheltenham Open and this is how
my runners of interest fared: Jojabean (Alan King/Tom
Bellamy) was a non-runner and Court In Session (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner)
finished 18th in the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (19 ran). Raya Star
(Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in
the Arkle Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase [Grade 2] (5
ran). L’Unique (Alan King/Choc) finished 12th in the Greatwood Hurdle (18 ran). Upsanddowns (R Hackett/Choc) was a non-runner in the
Standard Open NH Flat Race [Listed]. So Choc’s search for another Cheltenham winner continues L Having
drawn a blank on the first two days of the Open, David Pipe’s horses came
good today winning four of the six races. More Kid
Cassidy won the Shloer Chase, beating Sire De Grugy. More Dodging
Bullets triumphed in the Arkle Trophy Trial
Novices’ Chase, having got the better of Raya Star. More But sad
news reported regarding Sanctuaire who, having
transferred from Paul Nicholls to the Willie Mullins yard, suffered a fatal
injury as a result of a schooling fall at Punchestown
yesterday. Champion
Court is reported to be a little sore today; he lost a front shoe during
yesterday’s race. Three
runners of interest tomorrow: Leicester: 12:35
Mystery Drama (Alan King/Choc) –
Juvenile Fillies’ Hurdle Plumpton: 13:20 Uxizandre (Alan King/AP McCoy) – Novices’ Chase 14:50 Our Phylli Vera (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap
Hurdle Back to work again tomorrow; another four day
week for me. J |
|
Saturday 16
November 2013 |
|
Here are
today’s results from Cheltenham: Herod The
Great (Alan King/Choc) finished
6th in the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial (7 ran). Godsmejudge (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 5th in the Handicap Chase (13 ran). Champion
Court (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 7th and
Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished
10th in the Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase (20 ran). Araldur (Alan King/Choc) finished 15th in the Handicap
Hurdle [Listed] (17 ran). Creepy (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
won the Novices’ Hurdle [Grade 2] (8 ran); the stable’s 10th winner of the season. Bull And
Bush (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 7th and Cabaret Girl (JG O’Neill/Choc) finished 4th in the Mares’
Standard Open NH Flat Race [Listed] (15 ran).
Flementime (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was a non-runner. The Paddy
Power Gold Cup was won by Johns Spirit, following up his victory at last
month’s Showcase. More So that’s another
in-form horse carrying on from where he left off at the October fixture,
along with Balthazar King and Thomas Crapper.
And, of course, Creepy had been a runner-up on that day too. When
interviewed later in the afternoon, Martin Keighley said that Champion Court
didn’t seem his usual self during, having not ‘travelled’, or after his race, so they would get him checked over. Meanwhile
at Wetherby: Fair Trade
(Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 12th in the Handicap Hurdle (13 ran). It’s the
final day of the Cheltenham Open tomorrow and
there are a number of runners of interest: 13:00 Jojabean (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) & Court In Session
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 14:10 Raya
Star (Alan King/Choc) – Arkle Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase [Grade 2] 15:15 L’Unique (Alan King/Choc)
– Greatwood Hurdle 15:50 Upsanddowns (R Hackett/Choc) – Standard Open NH Flat Race [Listed] I
understand Choc’s car is very dirty at present: https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/401765596141867008/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton And I
thought my car was looking rather dusty when I checked it over this morning;
in fact, it is almost pristine by comparison! I had a chuckle when Belinda Keighley amusingly
referred to Any Currency as ‘Woody the Hoody’ following his excellent third in yesterday’s
Cross Country event; a reference to the fact he was wearing a first time hood
for the race. |
|
Friday 15
November 2013 |
|
Today was
the first day of the Cheltenham Open and this is how my runners of interest fared: Oh Crick
(Alan King/Mr Joshua Newman) finished 13th & Havingotascoobydo
(Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 11th in the
Handicap Chase (17 ran). Handazan (Alan King/Choc) finished 15th in the
Intermediate Handicap Hurdle (20 ran). Any
Currency (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 3rd
in the Cross Country Chase (11 ran); an excellent result for Woody as he’s
known, having chased home Balthazar King who won last year’s Festival Cross
Country chase and Uncle Junior who’d won this race for the past two
years. More Roberto
Pegasus (Alan King/Choc) finished
6th in the Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (19 ran); a good effort from the horse on
his comeback run following a fractured cannon bone sustained on the
gallops. It’s Day
Two of the Cheltenham
Open tomorrow,
with Choc having three riding engagements ... but he’s not riding in the
feature race as Walkon hasn’t been declared – his
participation was ground dependent: 12:40
Herod The Great (Alan King/Choc) –
JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial 13:50 Godsmejudge (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase 14:30
Champion Court (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) & Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Paddy Power
Gold Cup Chase 15:00 Araldur (Alan King/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle [Listed] 15:35
Creepy (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Novices’
Hurdle [Grade 2] 16:05 Bull
And Bush (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Cabaret Girl (JG O’Neill/Choc) & Flementime
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Mares’ Standard Open
NH Flat Race [Listed]. Meanwhile
at Wetherby Alan King’s charge
reverts to hurdles having failed to complete on his chasing debut: 15:15 Fair
Trade (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Handicap Hurdle Here is a
link to Martin Keighley’s Stable Talk column in this week’s Gloucestershire
Echo: I’m still waiting for my Christmas present
inspiration to kick in ... I hope it hurries up, as I like to have my present
buying finished by the end of November! |
|
Thursday 14
November 2013 |
|
Here are
today’s results of interest, with a change of fortune for the Alan King
runners: Ludlow: Saint Jerome (Jamie Osborne/Choc) made all to win the Juvenile
Hurdle (11 ran); Choc’s 14th winner of the season. Simply A
Legend (Alan King/Choc) finished
5th in the Introductory Hurdle (13 ran). Taunton: Typhon De Guye (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½ a furlong] (12 ran). Uriah Heep (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up having
slithered badly on landing over 2 out in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 1
furlong] (15 ran). Forresters Folly (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) fell 2 out & The Mumper
(Alan King/Gerard Tumelty) finished 3rd in the
Handicap Chase (8 ran). The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 6th in the Novices’ Hurdle (13 ran). It’s the
first day of the Cheltenham Open tomorrow and here are the runners of interest: 13:35 Oh Crick
(Alan King/Mr Joshua Newman) & Havingotascoobydo
(Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) – Handicap Chase 14:40 Handazan (Alan King/Choc)
– Intermediate Handicap Hurdle 15:15 Any
Currency (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Cross
Country Chase 15:50 Roberto
Pegasus (Alan King/Choc) –
Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Today was my ‘Friday’
and I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend watching the racing on TV. I’m currently in the process of getting my
health back on track – my acid reflux medication having been cranked up a
gear for a few days in order to get it back under control and I’m now also on
tablets for stress – my doctor’s suggestion not mine! |
|
Wednesday 13
November 2013 |
|
It’s another double!!! J J Exeter: Ned Stark
(Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in
the Novices’ Hurdle (17 ran). Seymour
Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 3rd but Smad Place (Alan King/Choc)
won the Novices’ Chase (6 ran); Choc’s 12th winner of the season. Valdez (Alan King/Choc) won the Beginners’ Chase (8 ran);
Choc’s 13th
winner of the
season. Bangor On Dee: Hot
Whiskey (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Handicap Chase [2
miles 4½ furlongs] (9 ran). Midnight Appeal (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Handicap Chase [3 miles & ½ a furlong] (9
ran); Wayne’s 29th winner of the
season. A number
of runners of interest tomorrow: Ludlow: 13:00
Saint Jerome (Jamie Osborne/Choc)
– Juvenile Hurdle 15:30
Simply A Legend (Alan King/Choc) –
Introductory Hurdle Taunton: 13:10 Typhon De Guye (Martin Keighley/Ian
Popham) – Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½ a furlong] 13:40
Uriah Heep (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 1 furlong] 14:10 Forresters Folly (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & The Mumper (Alan King/Gerard Tumelty)
– Handicap Chase 14:40 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Novices’ Hurdle My evening will be spent watching Poirot’s last case on TV followed by, if time, a re-run
of today’s Exeter action whilst saving it onto DVD for posterity! |
|
Tuesday 12
November 2013 |
|
Four
runners of interest at Huntingdon this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Tickatack (Graeme Mcpherson/Choc)
finished 3rd but Suburban Bay (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Novices’ Handicap Chase (7 ran); Wayne’s 27th
winner of the
season Salmanazar (Alan King/Choc) was pulled up in the Handicap
Hurdle having sprawled on landing 3 out (7 ran). Smart Motive (Alan King/Choc) finished 5th in the ‘Junior’
Standard Open NH Flat Race (10 ran). Wayne also won the Novices’ Limited Handicap
Chase aboard the Ben Case trained Tempest River ... so his tally is now 28
winners for the season. Runners of
interest at Exeter and Bangor On Dee tomorrow: Exeter: 13:10 Ned
Stark (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’
Hurdle 14:10
Seymour Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) & Smad Place (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Chase 14:40
Valdez (Alan King/Choc) –
Beginners’ Chase Bangor On Dee: 12:50 Hot
Whiskey (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 4½ furlongs] 13:50 Midnight
Appeal (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase [3 miles & ½ a
furlong] Ahead of
this weekend’s Cheltenham Open, the press have been visiting a couple of
Gloucestershire stables today, one of which was Martin Keighley’s yard. More It looks like the Paddy Power Gold Cup is going
to be a nervy race for me ... as Walkon, Kumbeshwar and Champion Court are all due to take
part! So I think I’ll have to hide
behind the sofa for that one! Having transferred yesterday’s ‘Lotus Pond’ race to DVD, I was
rewarded with ATR’s Robert Cooper interviewing Choc in the Parade Ring
pre-race. Choc smiled when Robert
suggested that Balder Succes might be his Arkle horse at the Festival in March. |
|
Monday 11
November 2013 |
|
One runner
of interest at Southwell today and this is how he fared: Lotus Pond
(Alan King/Choc) finished 4th in
the NH Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran). National
Hunt racing at Sedgefield, Lingfield Park and Huntingdon tomorrow, with
runners of interest at the latter: 13:10 Tickatack (Graeme Mcpherson/Choc) & Suburban Bay (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) - Novices’ Handicap Chase 14:10 Salmanazar (Alan King/Choc) – Handicap Hurdle 15:40 Smart Motive (Alan King/Choc) – ‘Junior’ Standard Open NH Flat Race I shall watch the ATP year-end Championship final
between Nadal and Djokovic
on BBC3 this evening. And, hopefully,
also find time to transfer today’s action from Southwell
(ie. Choc’s race) to DVD
before turning in. |
|
Sunday 10
November 2013 |
|
Three
runners of interest at Ffos Las this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Bendant (Mrs DA Hamer/Choc)
fell 3 out in the Handicap Chase when seemingly booked for second place (7
ran). Coyaba (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) won & Leviche (Alan King/Choc)
finished 3rd in the ‘Junior’
Standard Open NH Flat Race (5 ran); Martin Keighley’s 9th winner of the season – well done to the team. Tomorrow,
just one runner of interest at Southwell: 14:05
Lotus Pond (Alan King/Choc) – NH
Novices’ Hurdle I was able
to do my good deed for the day this morning ... Choc tweeted to say he
couldn’t find Ffos Las racecourse on his satnav or on google. So I checked the racecourse website and tweeted the postcode to him. He thanked me and, as he made his
engagements, I presume the information was correct! I know
that the racecourse is quite near to Swansea and the town of Kidwelly – I’ve visited the latter’s castle many moons
ago when on holiday in southwest Wales with my family ... before Choc was
born in fact! So I thought I’d check
to see how far it is to drive from Stow On The Wold to the racecourse – 142 miles
and taking more than two and a half hours.
It’s actually the equivalent of my driving from my home in
Hertfordshire to Market Rasen in Lincolnshire ...
which I have done twice!!! It’s the
back of beyond! Ptit Zig,
trained by Paul Nicholls, won the Grade 1 Prix
Renaud du Vivier at Auteuil
this afternoon. More I’ve actually spent much of the weekend in bed
but am feeling quite a lot better now, so it’s back to work as usual
tomorrow. And I believe I’ve also
booked this coming Friday as holiday. J |
|
Saturday 09
November 2013 |
|
Here are
today’s results of interest: Sandown Park: Frizzo (Alan King/Tom Bellamy)
finished 7th in the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (10 ran); a
promising comeback following a 580 day injury absence. Turn Over Sivola (Alan King/Choc)
finished 2nd in the Beginners’ Chase (4 ran); Market leaders Grandouet and Hinterland both made a hash of the last
when fighting out the finish, with the former unseating Barry Geraghty as a result. McVicar (Alan King/Choc) finished 3rd in the Handicap
Hurdle (13 ran). The
Rebecca Curtis trained Tara Road taking part in the Standard Open NH Flat
Race was subject to ‘musical jockeys’
– booking Choc, then Patrick Corbett and finally Barry Geraghty
to take the ride; he finished 3rd having faded in the home straight after
looking the likely winner. Viking
Mistress (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 7th
(9 ran). Wincanton: Money For
Nothing (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the NH Novices Hurdle
(11 ran). Call Me A
Star (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 9th in the Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
(13 ran); travelled into the race extremely well but appeared not to stay the
2 miles 6 furlongs. Also, not hooded today. Pantxoa (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) was pulled up in the Badger Ales Trophy [Listed Handicap Chase]
(13 ran); couldn’t dominate and the race has come at the end of the long,
busy spell for the horse. Meister
Eckhart (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was pulled up having slipped badly on
landing over 2 out when in last place in the Novices’ Chase (4 ran); Wayne
rode him back in, so he appeared fine following the incident ... hopefully
better luck next time. Ulzana’s Raid (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 6th in the Intermediate Open NH Flat Race (14 ran). All in
all, a disappointing Saturday. Melodic
Rendezvous won Wincanton’s Elite Hurdle in style. More And
Richard Hughes claimed his second Flat Jockeys’ Championship. More Three
runners of interest at Ffos Las tomorrow: 15:35 Bendant (Mrs DA Hamer/Choc) – Handicap Chase 16:10 Coyaba (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) & Leviche
(Alan King/Choc) – ‘Junior’ Standard Open NH Flat Race |
|
Friday 08
November 2013 |
|
There are
runners of interest at both Sandown Park and Wincanton tomorrow, with Wayne Hutchinson
having the bulk of engagements at the latter: Sandown Park: 12:45 Frizzo (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Conditional Jockeys’
Handicap Hurdle 13:20 Turn
Over Sivola (Alan King/Choc) – Beginners’ Chase; he’s got 3 rivals including Grandouet and Hinterland. 15:05 McVicar (Alan King/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle 16:10 Tara
Road (Rebecca Curtis/Choc) &
Viking Mistress (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Standard Open NH Flat Race Wincanton: 12:20
Money For Nothing (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – NH Novices Hurdle 13:30 Call
Me A Star (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Handicap Hurdle 14:40 Pantxoa (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Badger Ales Trophy
[Listed Handicap Chase] 15:15
Meister Eckhart (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Chase 15:50 Ulzana’s Raid (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Intermediate
Open NH Flat Race Here is a
link to Martin Keighley’s Stable Talk column on the Gloucestershire Echo
website. More I’m
feeling better today, but I’m still not 100%.
So, following Tuesday’s fainting episode, I’m going to make the safe
choice and remain at home tomorrow. A
shame really, as I’ve been waiting for two years to go to Sandown Park again
to see Choc ride. L But thank goodness I’ve got Racing UK, as Channel
4 is showing Wincanton and flat racing from Doncaster! |
|
Thursday 07
November 2013 |
|
The wait is over
... congratulations to AP McCoy who today, at
Towcester, rode his 4,000th career winner There are
a number of articles on ATR’s website relating to this milestone: To relive
the moment ... click here Friends
and family celebrate ... More Colleagues
hail AP’s accomplishment ... More And the
history behind this landmark ... More Also 10
magical McCoy career moments ... More Meanwhile,
back to my favourite jockey and his results from Towcester today: Hollow
Penny (Alan King/Choc) finished
7th in the Handicap Hurdle (16 ran). Brassbound
(Caroline Bailey/Choc) finished
3rd in the Handicap Chase (10 ran). Katie’s Massini (Henry Oliver/Choc) finished 12th in the Mares’ NH Maiden Hurdle (15 ran). May Hay (A
Carson/Choc) finished 3rd in the
Junior Fillies’ Standard Open NH Flat Race (11 ran). Choc, of
course, rode his 1,000th career winner at Towcester. Tomorrow’s
fixture at Fontwell Park has been abandoned due to waterlogging. And,
not surprisingly, there are no runners of interest at Musselburgh or
Hexham! Choc has tweeted two more photos of himself and William taken at
Huntingdon on 06 October. They are
both soooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/398215689288548352/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/398215771148804096/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton Gutted to
discover that Daryl Jacob is Horse and Hound’s new racing columnist ... and
his column is boring! There is,
however, an interesting article in the magazine about mares and fillies in
National Hunt racing; Alan King being a big supporter of the fairer sex, as
he trains for a number of owner-breeders.
He disagrees that you have to train mares differently, although he
does keep them all in one barn which is kept a degree or two warmer than the
others! He’s hoping that L’Unique and Call Me A Star will put up bold showings
this season, the latter also remaining over hurdles because of the new series
of listed races now being run. He says
it would be a dream to have a runner in the Cheltenham Festival race - that’s
the one which Quevega has won for the past five
years! Alan King
talks about his plans for yesterday’s Warwick winners in Geoff Lester’s news
blog. More On Tuesday, when interviewed at Exeter following Manyriverstocross’ victory, the trainer was undecided
about his runners entered at the weekend – it all depended on how the weather
was going to affect Wincanton and Sandown Park. But, as I still feel unwell, I fear it’s
going to be totally academic as to which fixture Choc rides at on Saturday
because I don’t feel up to going anywhere at the moment. L |
|
Wednesday 06
November 2013 |
|
It’s a double!!! J J And here
are today’s results: Warwick: Court In
Session (Martin Keighley/Jason Maguire) finished 3rd and Shady Lane (Alan
King/Choc) finished 2nd in the
Handicap Hurdle (16 ran). Herod The Great (Alan King/Choc) won the Juvenile Hurdle (6
ran); Choc’s 10th
winner of the
season. Balder Succes (Alan King/Choc) won the Novices’ Chase (5 ran);
Choc’s 11th
winner of the
season. Willoughby Hedge (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won and Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 3rd in the Novices’
Hurdle (8 ran); Wayne’s 26th winner of the season. Avispa (Alan King/Choc) finished 4th and Pattara (Noel Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 10th in
the Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race (17 ran). Chepstow: Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 2nd in the Maiden Hurdle (11 ran). Mauricetheathlete (Martin Keighley/Nick
Slatter) finished 12th in the Handicap Hurdle (13
ran). Merlin’s Wish
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in the
Handicap Chase (12 ran). Four
runners of interest at Towcester tomorrow: 14:10
Hollow Penny (Alan King/Choc) –
Handicap Hurdle 14:40
Brassbound (Caroline Bailey/Choc)
– Handicap Chase 15:40
Katie’s Massini (Henry Oliver/Choc) – Mares’ NH Maiden Hurdle 16:10 May
Hay (A Carson/Choc) – Junior
Fillies’ Standard Open NH Flat Race The AP
McCoy tour also moves on to Towcester tomorrow,
with the Champion Jockey now needing just one winner to reach his 4,000
target! More As I was still feeling under the weather
yesterday evening, I went to bed early again.
So I’ve now got a 2-day backlog of race recordings to transfer onto
DVD. But hopefully I’ll be able to
make inroads into this before I turn in tonight. |
|
Tuesday 05
November 2013 |
|
There were
three runners of interest at Exeter this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Master
Butcher (Rebecca Curtis/Choc)
finished 6th in the NH Novices’ Hurdle (12 ran). Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Haldon Gold Cup
(Grade 2 Handicap) (6 ran); Mad Moose was feeling under the weather, so
didn’t make the line-up. Manyriverstocross (Alan King/Choc) won the Novices’ Chase (5 ran);
Choc’s 9th
winner of the
season. The Haldon Gold Cup was won by Somersby, in a close fought
battle with Module. More And,
having drawn a blank today, the AP circus moves on to Chepstow. More Here are
tomorrow’s runners of interest: Warwick: 12:50
Court In Session (Martin Keighley/Jason Maguire) & Shady Lane (Alan King/Choc) – Handicap Hurdle 13:50
Herod The Great (Alan King/Choc) –
Juvenile Hurdle 14:20
Balder Succes (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Chase 14:50
Willoughby Hedge (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) & Kyles
Faith (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) – Novices’
Hurdle 16:00 Avispa (Alan King/Choc)
& Pattara (Noel Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) –
Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race Chepstow: 13:10
Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Maiden Hurdle 14:40 Mauricetheathlete (Martin Keighley/Nick Slatter) – Handicap Hurdle 15:50
Merlin’s Wish (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Chase I nearly
didn’t make it to work today as, having felt off-colour yesterday evening, I
went to bed before 21:00. However, I
spent the middle of the night tossing and turning because I woke up and
couldn’t get back to sleep again. I
eventually managed to dose off and got up at the usual time. But when I had my shower, I started to feel
nauseous and, so much so, that I thought I was going to be physically
sick. I headed for the loo, opened the
door but cannot remember anything between then and finding my head wedged
between the loo and the wall. I must
have fainted, as my chin is bruised where I presume I hit it on the way down! Scary.
But as I felt better thereafter, I walked to work and carried on as
usual, although every now and then throughout the day I’ve felt sick and I’m
not eating anything this evening. But the good news is that my Hennessy Gold Cup
day ticket has arrived in today’s post.
|
|
Monday 04
November 2013 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Kempton Park: Fine Words
(Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in
the NH Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) won the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (9 ran);
he won well and his jumping was exemplary, unlike many of the field as only 3
finished – 3 fell, 1 unseated and 3 pulled up! Well done to the team, their 8th winner of the season. Seventh
Sign (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [Pertemps Qualifier] (6 ran); Grands
Crus finished a disappointing 5th in this race,
although the winner did almost take him out on the run to the last! Uriah Heep (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 2nd in the
Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (9 ran). Plumpton: Always
Bold (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 4th in
the Novices’ Handicap Chase (7 ran). Bold Tara
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 5th Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap
Hurdle (9 ran). Having
ridden a double at Kempton Park today, AP McCoy is just two away from 4,000
career winners. Exeter is now gearing up for the possible celebration, as he
has three rides there tomorrow. It
would be fitting to reach this target at the course, as he rode his first
winner in England at Exeter back in September 1994. More Nicky
Henderson’s former-Assistant, Ben Pauling, trained his first winner today,
Raven’s Tower at Plumpton. There are
three runners of interest at Exeter tomorrow: 13:50
Master Butcher (Rebecca Curtis/Choc)
– NH Novices’ Hurdle 14:50 Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Haldon Gold Cup (Grade 2 Handicap); Cue Card heads the
field ... with Mad Moose probably bringing up the rear, if he consents to
start!!! 15:20 Manyriverstocross (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Chase I’ve not been anywhere today ... so I packed away
my summer clothes this morning and have been lounging around watching the
racing this afternoon. Couch
potato! But I did go for a walk
yesterday morning, my usual route and distance. My expedition took me through the local
agricultural college, where the horses from the equestrian centre were turned
out in the field to one side of the drive, and sheep to the other. Further on
were the goats, two huge sows and the alpacas. |
|
Sunday 03
November 2013 |
|
There were
runners of interest at Huntingdon this afternoon ...
but the hoodoo continues: Smad Place (Alan King/Choc) unseated at the last in the
Novices’ Chase (5 ran). Sego
Success (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was brought down in the Novices’ Hurdle
(10 ran). Typhon De Guye (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
was a non-runner in the Handicap Hurdle due to the ground. In
addition to being brought down upon his Alan King ride, Wayne took a purler when his mount Topthorn
crashed out in the feature Handicap Chase ... have the yard’s jockeys been
cursed? Here is
the brief overview of today’s mishap as reported by ATR. More Runners of
interest at Kempton Park and Plumpton tomorrow: Kempton Park: 13:35 Fine
Words (Alan King/Choc) – NH
Novices’ Hurdle 14:05 Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase 14:40
Seventh Sign (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Hurdle [Pertemps Qualifier] 16:15
Uriah Heep (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle Plumpton: 14:25
Always Bold (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) –
Novices’ Handicap Chase 16:05 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle With Choc
having just one ride at Kempton Park tomorrow I’m now a doubtful runner, as
my minimum requirement for a trip to the races is at least two riding
engagements. So I wonder when the next
opportunity of a outing will be. Sandown Park on Saturday? Or will Choc go to Wincanton instead? It’s Cheltenham’s Open Meeting the
following weekend, but that’s a little too far at this time of the year. Then Ascot the weekend after that, or will
he go to Haydock Park? Kempton Park on Monday 25 November
perhaps? But the Hennessy at Newbury
is a definite at the end of this month regardless! Having ridden two winners today, AP McCoy has now
accumulated 3,996 career victories, but with just 3 rides at Kempton Park
tomorrow he can’t reach his goal until later in the week. More |
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Saturday 02
November 2013 |
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Here are
today’s results of interest: Wetherby: Gone Too Far (Alan
King/AP McCoy) won the
Novices’ Hurdle (10 ran). L’Unique (Alan King/Choc) finished 6th in the Mares’
Hurdle (Listed) (9 ran). Fair Trade
(Alan King/Choc) unseated in the
Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (3 ran). Medinas (Alan King/Choc) finished 2nd in the Hurdle
(Grade 2) (6 ran). Ardlui (Alan King/Choc) was pulled up in the Handicap
Hurdle (9 ran); the ground got the better of 5 horses, as they all pulled up
before 3 out. Ascot: Bless The
Wings (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 6th in the United House Gold Cup
Handicap Chase (16 ran). With two
victories today, AP McCoy has just six winners to go until he reaches the
incredible 4,000 career winners milestone. More Six winners at
Carlisle tomorrow might be pushing it a little ... but maybe he could reach
the target at Kempton Park on Monday ... I’d like to see that. Cockney
Sparrow took the Mares’ Listed Hurdle, in which L’Unique
disappointed. More Winning
jockey Dougie Costello said that Choc’s mount was already beaten by the time she’d reached
the end of the back straight, so the mistake she made 3 out made little
difference. And Tidal Bay
mugged the very game little Medinas on the line in
the feature hurdle race. More Harry Topper
won the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase; Long Run was a big disappointment. More The
departure of Fair Trade was Choc’s 5th mishap since
his return from injury; another spectacular unseat. Always in last place, the horse had
blundered at the first and second fences; he warmed to his task before
another error occurred at the open-ditch 5 out. Having given up the ghost and settled for
last place, Fair Trade got far too low 4 out and shot Choc over his
shoulder. It’s probably time for the
6-year-old to find a new career ... having taken part in the 2010 Two
Thousand Guineas and already disappointed when switched to hurdles. Meanwhile,
at Ascot, the big race was won by the Venetia Williams trained Houblon Des Obeaux; the trainer
and jockey scoring a treble on the day. More And news
that Reve De Sivola took
a big race in France today. More And
Rolling Aces won at Down Royal. More Tomorrow
there are three runners of interest at Huntingdon: 13:15 Smad Place (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’ Chase 14:55 Sego
Success (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Hurdle 15:30 Typhon De Guye (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Hurdle In addition to my website currently being
up-to-date, so is my race recordings transfer to DVD. I decided to start my viewing of
yesterday’s Uttoxeter action from the beginning of
the ATR recording and was rewarded with a 4-minute pre-races interview;
presenter Robert Cooper having accosted Choc as he returned from walking the
course. Wicked. |
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Friday 01
November 2013 |
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It’s a treble!!! and a second place, from 4 rides J J J And here
are those excellent results: Uttoxeter: Carraig Mor (Alan King/Choc) won the Novices’ Hurdle (12
ran); Choc’s 6th
winner of the
season. The
Pirate’s Queen (Alan King/Choc)
finished 2nd in the Mares’ Maiden Hurdle (16 ran). Raya Star (Alan King/Choc) won the Beginners’ Chase (3
ran); Choc’s 7th
winner of the
season. Wilde Blue Yonder (Alan King/Choc) won the Standard Open NH Flat
Race (8 ran); Choc’s 8th winner of the
season. And it was
one in the eye for one member of the Wilde Blue Yonder syndicate, who had expressed
his misguided views via twitter regarding Choc’s versus Wayne’s respective
abilities as a jockey. Today will have
done marvels for Choc’s confidence too ... onwards
and upwards! Wetherby: Unknown
Legend (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 8th in the National Hunt
Novices’ Hurdle (10 ran). A number
of runners of interest tomorrow: Wetherby: 13:15 Gone
Too Far (Alan King/AP McCoy) – Novices’ Hurdle 13:50 L’Unique (Alan King/Choc)
– Mares’ Hurdle (Listed) 14:25 Fair
Trade (Alan King/Choc) – Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase 15:00 Medinas (Alan King/Choc)
– Hurdle (Grade 2) 16:05 Ardlui (Alan King/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle Ascot: 15:20
Bless The Wings (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – United House Gold Cup Handicap
Chase News
today, straight from the horse’s mouth, that Nick Scholfield
has been appointed to the role of Paul Nicholls’ second jockey. More Here is a
link to this week’s Martin Keighley column in the Gloucestershire Echo. More And
there’s a run-down on this weekend’s runners on Alan King’s website. More As
surmised earlier in the week, there will be no Ascot trip tomorrow and, with just
one riding engagement on Sunday, no trip to Huntingdon either. However I do have a day’s leave booked for
Monday, so will find out Sunday lunchtime if a Kempton Park trip is on the
cards. Not surprisingly,
I’m looking forward to watching today’s recorded action from Uttoxeter later this evening! And, finally, today is the 5th anniversary of my website and first ever blog! |
