JANUARY 2014
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Friday 31
January 2014 |
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Here are
the results from Kempton Park today: Kincora Fort (Noel
Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 9th in the Standard Open NH Flat Race Div
1 at 13:50 (15 ran). Castle
Cheetah (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 8th
and Simply A Legend (Alan King/Choc)
finished 6th in the Jumpers’ Bumper at 15:30 (11 ran). Lidar (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 8th in the Jumpers’ Bumper at 16:05 (13 ran). Georgian
King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 11th in the
Jumpers’ Bumper at 16:40 (14 ran); another good run from Bally Legend, who
completed in 2nd. Benbane Head (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 4th in the Jumpers’
Bumper at 17:10 (13 ran). Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 8th and Pyleigh
Lass (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 11th in
the Jumpers’ Bumper at 17:40 (16 ran). Also, Hail
Tiberius finished 2nd in a 2-mile Selling Handicap under Graham Lee on the
all-weather at Lingfield Park (7 ran). There is
concern regarding tomorrow’s fixtures succumbing to water-logging, with
Sandown Park having already switched to an all chase card in an attempt to ‘outfox’ the rain. More As it
turns out, the only card with runners of interest tomorrow is actually Sandown Park ... where Choc has 4
riding engagements: 13:15
Regal One (David Bridgwater/Choc)
– Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase 13:50
Oscar Hill (David Bridgwater/Choc)
& Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) –
Handicap Chase [2 miles, Class 2] 14:25 Manyriverstocross (Alan King/Choc) – Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase [Grade 1]; he’s up against Benvolio and Oscar Whisky in this 3-runner race. More 16:10
Speedy Bruere (David Bridgwater/Choc) – Handicap Chase [2 miles,
Class 3] So, the
good news is that Choc will be at Sandown Park subject to the all-clear being
given following the planned inspection BUT the bad news is that I’m still
full of cold, with my sinuses causing persistent pain when I ventured out in
the chill wind to the shops this morning; this being the first winter cold
I’ve caught since my sinus operation 21 months ago. What I need is someone to invent a ‘nose warmer’! Today has been another 2013 carried-over
annual leave day, not a sickie I hasten to add! Here is an
interesting photograph of Sandown Park taken in 1924: https://twitter.com/steeplechasing/status/429020572379389952/photo/1 And here
is a link to the full version of Geoff Lester’s blog on Alan King’s website. http://alankingracing.co.uk/news.htm Hannah
Bishop, who is owner Liz Prowting’s Racing Manager,
will be riding in a Greatwood charity race at
Newbury on 01 March. Here is an
interview with her and another of the competitors, with a link to their
respective Just Giving donation sites: http://www.betrescue.com/2014/01/greatwood-charity-raceday-preview/ The Chinese
Year started today and it’s the Year of the Horse; strangely enough, Choc is
indeed a horse! There being 12 Chinese
birth signs, thus the year in which he turns 36 will be his own sign. There was
sad news regarding two veteran chasers reported via the Racing Forum site
Memorials page yesterday. Poquelin is reported to have died from a heart attack,
although not on the track, having recently begun a point-to-point
career. And Woolcombe
Folly succumbed to a fatal attack of colic.
RIP both of them. L I’ve
finally upgraded my laptop to Explorer 8 ... hopefully I’ll feel brave enough
to attempt an Explorer 9 upgrade soon, which I had on my computer before it
was rebuilt in October 2012. However,
I need Service Pack 2 loaded before I can do that. It has already begun to pay dividends, as I
can now view more sites than previously without encountering a fatal
error. But the M&S site still
doesn’t permit me to purchase items online ... but maybe that is a good thing
after all!!! Nor can I
upload photos to twitter, via my laptop or my phone, the latter because the
application doesn’t run on the memory card, only the internal memory, and the
phone I chose has insufficient space thereon; in fact I had to remove the
application and now use the very limited facilities of the internet ‘mobile’ version instead. I’m looking forward to a quiet night, literally,
as the ‘clonking’ drain cover in
the road outside has finally been fixed; admittedly cars mainly missed the
target, but larger vehicles certainly didn’t and it was sometimes almost loud
enough to wake the dead! |
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Thursday 30
January 2014 |
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No racing
at Chepstow tomorrow, due to water-logging.
But National Hunt racing goes ahead at Catterick
and there’s an all-weather jumpers’ bumpers card at Kempton Park with a number of
runners of interest at the latter: 13:50 Kincora Fort (Noel Williams/Wayne Hutchinson) – Standard
Open NH Flat Race Div 1 15:30
Castle Cheetah (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) &
Simply A Legend (Alan King/Choc) –
Jumpers’ Bumper 16:05 Lidar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Jumpers’ Bumper 16:40
Georgian King (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) -
Jumpers’ Bumper 17:10 Benbane Head (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
- Jumpers’ Bumper 17:40 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) & Pyleigh Lass (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
- Jumpers’ Bumper Still no
sign of my Aintree Festival tickets.
And, if they are working through the alphabet, I will have to wait
until near the end. If I was a guy,
I’d think about changing my name to Aaron Aardvark to get my name to the top
of the list!!! Yesterday evening I felt a lot better and was
thinking that perhaps my virus wasn’t going to turn into a head cold,
although all week I’ve been having difficulty sleeping and resorting to
making cups of tea at all hours of the night!
But today my nose has been running and this evening I’m totally bunged
up. This one appears to be a ‘slow burner’, so I’m not expecting to
feel better until Sunday if the old adage is correct – three days coming,
three days here and three days going. Just one more day of January to go and it doesn’t
seem five minutes since it was New Year’s Day. |
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Wednesday 29
January 2014 |
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News today
that 2013 Grand National winner Auroras Encore has been retired following
injury, having returned from running at Doncaster last Saturday with a
fractured leg. More A total of
115 entries have been received for this year’s event, including Godsmejudge, Walkon and
Midnight Appeal. More Mind you, my favourite
horse, Walkon, still needs to qualify! People are
beginning to tweet that they’ve recently received their tickets so, hopefully,
it will be my turn soon, especially as I ordered mine on the first day of
sales, 03 June last year! I gather
Choc has taken part in filming at Oaksey House
during the past few days, but not sure why ... and he’s been on the
treadmill! Sandown
has put in place a contingency plan for Saturday, just in case their hurdles
course is un-raceable on the day. More And it has been very
wet in the southeast today ... it was raining when I walked to work this
morning, raining when I visited Boots for a contact lenses appointment at
lunchtime and raining when I walked home too! Towcester has been abandoned,
but racing goes ahead at Wincanton tomorrow subject to a 07:30 inspection but
no runners of interest. My aforementioned optician appointment went well,
with no problems to report and no update to my prescription either. So, for the moment, I’ve topped up my
disposable contact lenses with an extra 30 days’ supply ... as I only wear
them to go to the races and for other special days out. |
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Tuesday 28
January 2014 |
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Racing got
the go ahead at Taunton today, so there’s one
result of interest: Friendly
Society (Noel Williams/Tom Garner) was pulled up in the Handicap Chase (6
ran). All of
tomorrow’s National Hunt fixtures, at Leicester, Ludlow and Newcastle, have
been abandoned due to water-logging. But with fixtures
being abandoned left, right and centre, Kempton Park has stepped in to put on
an all-weather Bumpers’ for Jumpers card this Friday. More Saturday’s
re-opened Sandown races have thrown up just one additional Alan King horse – Manyriverstocross in the Scilly Isles Novices’
Chase. And Willie Mullins has entered
unbeaten Un De Sceaux in the Contenders’ Hurdle. More And today’s bulletin regarding Letsby Avenue is encouraging. I think I may turn in early tonight, as my
blocked sinuses and coughing have given me a headache! |
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Monday 27
January 2014 |
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Choc has retweeted a flyer advertising a
charity event he is due to take part in next Saturday, 01 February, at Newbury
racecourse. My ancient browser won’t
let me view the page on the website, but my facebook
research suggests this has been in the pipeline since last September!
With the
rain continuing to fall on a regular basis, all this coming Saturday’s
fixtures are on ‘weather watch’. More With the
two feature races on Sandown’s card, the Scilly Isles’ Novices’ Chase and the
Contenders Hurdle having been re-opened due to insufficient entries, it’s
difficult to form a firm opinion as to where Choc will be on Saturday because
there’s no race-card entries published online for these races at the
moment. However, provisionally, Kumbeshwar and Midnight Appeal are entered at Sandown and
these are Wayne’s rides ... meanwhile, Medinas
holds an entry in the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos
Las, Oh Crick is also listed amongst entries later in the afternoon. There’s
racing at Taunton tomorrow, subject to the
course passing an inspection at 07:00, and one runner of interest: 15:10
Friendly Society (Noel Williams/Tom Garner) – Handicap Chase I have a horrible feeling ... in my throat in
fact (!) ... that I’m just about to succumb to my first cold of the winter. I’ve been surrounded by colleagues with
colds for the past couple of months, so it’s amazing this is the first one
which I’ve caught; especially as my fellow team member Sue has had three
colds during the past six weeks. If
this particular virus follows the usual course of events when I catch a cold,
I will be feeling pretty rough within two or three days, so may not even want
to venture out by the weekend. L I don’t ‘do’
cold remedies, as they make me feel strangely spaced-out! And, finally, fingers crossed for Letsby Avenue who has been recovering from a tendon
injury; he succumbed to colic over the weekend and has been operated
upon. Hannah Bishop, the owner’s
racing manager, relayed that there’s a positive report from the vets to say
he’s ‘bright and chirpy’ and has
grazed on ‘small picks’ of grass. |
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Sunday 26
January 2014 |
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Tomorrow’s
fixture at Plumpton has been abandoned due to
water-logging ... no surprise there then! More And Ayr is going to
inspect in the morning to see if Monday’s racing can go ahead. Paul Nicholls
reports that Big Buck’s has come out of yesterday’s Cleeve
Hurdle well and believes the horse will improve greatly ahead of the
Festival. More ATR’s
Sunday Forum spoke about Valdez’s win and mentioned the lung problems which
had been experienced within the Alan King yard during the past couple of
months. They alluded to the fact it
was probably related to the hay which the horses had been eating ... I know
how they feel, as I prefer to use paper tissues coated with Balsam to prevent
dust being breathed in, as untreated tissues give me a tickly throat and make
me cough! Alan King
has confirmed that Plan A for Valdez is the Arkle
Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival following yesterday’s victory at
Doncaster. More I revamped
another necklace today and did some cross-stitching too, although I did
suffer intermittent backache caused by leaning over the stand and frame! That’s happened before, 18 months ago, and
I’m not amused. The
underdog, Stan Wawrinka, won the Men’s Singles
title at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal having
succumbed to a back problem during the match.
More
I didn’t see the trophy presentation, but I
expect Nadal was generous in defeat ... unlike Pete
Sampras who would never give any credit to his opponent – he always excused
his losses by saying he had played badly on the day and never gave credit to
the victor for playing well! I didn’t
like Sampras. It was raining mid-morning to mid-afternoon in
Hertfordshire and evidently there’s the possibility of a dusting of snow
overnight tonight, as the wind will be blowing in from the east. |
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Saturday 25
January 2014 |
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Winner, winner chicken dinner! And here are
today’s results: Doncaster: Jetnova (Alan King/Choc) finished 9th in the Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 3½ furlongs] (12 ran). Valdez (Alan King/Choc) won the Lightning Novices’
Chase (Grade 2) (5 ran); Choc’s 20th winner of the season.
More There was no Rock On
Ruby due to the ground ... but who cares?
You can only beat those who turn up! Cheltenham: Ronaldinho (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 5th in the Triumph Hurdle Trial (Grade 2 / Juveniles) (6
ran). Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished a very gallant 2nd in the Novices’
Handicap Chase (11 ran). Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 9th in the Handicap Chase (Grade 3) (10 ran). Champion
Court (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 6th in
the Argento Chase (Grade 2) (7 ran). Creepy
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in the
Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2) (6 ran). The upset of
the day was the defeat of Big Buck’s in the Cleeve
Hurdle, but he ran very well to finish 3rd, less than a length behind the
first two, following over a year away due to injury. The race was won by another veteran, Knockara Beau, his first win in sixteen attempts at the
course. Today he was priced at 66-1
and he beat At Fishers Cross by a short-head, the latter seemingly having
overcome his recent jumping-related issues caused by physical problems. More Following
a very disappointing early season, The Giant Bolster put in an excellent run
to win the Argento Chase. More Wishfull Thinking was on top form
today and won the Grade 3 Handicap Chase and, of course, Annacotty
put up a very brave front-running effort in the Novices’ Handicap Chase under
top weight, only losing out to the Donald McCain runner, Indian Castle. More Meanwhile,
at Doncaster, Irish raider Annie Power galloped away with the Grade 2 Mares’
Hurdle. More And The
Rainbow Hunter won the feature Sky Bet Chase.
More RUK’s Oli Bell is one of the horse’s owners! I was
surfing and this horoscope seems about right for me this month ... this particular
fuse-box is perfectly capable of losing her cool when the stresses are
running so high! http://www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk/blogs/horoscopes/4903-january-2014-horoscope-capricorn This morning I spent time revamping a couple of
necklaces and, of course, I’ve spent the afternoon watching the racing. Hopefully I’ll return to my cross-stitching
project tomorrow, as it may be my last opportunity to work on it before my
racing-related excursions commence again! The weather was pleasant and sunny this morning
but, by late afternoon, the strong winds and heavy rain had returned. Doncaster experienced a heavy shower at
around 14:30, and Cheltenham had a thunderstorm prior to the Cleeve Hurdle! |
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Friday 24
January 2014 |
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Three
results today, the first from Doncaster: Crescent
Beach (Henry Oliver/Choc) finished
6th in the Novices’ Handicap Chase (12 ran). And at Huntingdon: Seymour Eric
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 7th in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles 2
furlongs] (9 ran). Secret
Edge (Alan King/Stephen O’Donovan) ran very well to finish a close 3rd in the
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 5 furlongs] (7 ran). Tomorrow
there are runners of interest at both Doncaster and Cheltenham and I’m
so looking forward to the return of the Alan King horses, as it’s been so
quiet these past few weeks: Doncaster: 12:25 Jetnova (Alan King/Choc)
- Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 3½ furlongs] 12:55
Valdez (Alan King/Choc) -
Lightning Novices’ Chase (Grade 2) Cheltenham: 12:40 Ronaldinho (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) - Triumph Hurdle
Trial (Grade 2 / Juveniles) 13:15 Annacotty (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
- Novices’ Handicap Chase 13:50 Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) - Handicap Chase
(Grade 3) 14:25
Champion Court (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) - Argento Chase (Grade 2) 15:00
Creepy (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) - Novices’
Hurdle (Grade 2) Big Buck’s
returns to action in the Cleeve Hurdle at 15:35,
ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies. There’s no
fixture at Uttoxeter, as it has been abandoned. There’s an
overview of Martin Keighley’s Cheltenham runners on the Racecourse’s
website. http://www.cheltenham.co.uk/news-tv-and-radio/racing-news/keighley-squad-goes-on-trial/ And a new
entry regarding this weekend’s Alan King runners on his website too. More With Choc
riding ‘early’ tomorrow, I can
watch ATR for the first two races from Doncaster and then switch to Channel 4
and/or RUK for the remainder of the afternoon. Fontwell Park’s fixture
scheduled for Sunday has also been abandoned, leaving solely Sedgefield with
no runners of interest. I wonder if I will have the opportunity to go
racing a week tomorrow, with fixtures scheduled for Sandown Park, Ffos Las and Wetherby? I love Sandown
Park ... although I hate the time it takes to escape after racing! I’ve spent a restful day at home; this morning I
attempted a fourth full security scan on my laptop but, yet again, the system
closed itself down before it had completed 50% having got too hot! I need a new computer but feel I have to
save up a little more money, especially as my car tax, service and MOT is due
next month. My purchase deadline is
actually October, as that’s when my £150 voucher expires; having received
this as a ‘reward’ for 15 years’ service
at work. I complete 17 years’ service
next week and I need a bloomin’ medal!!! Late morning I did some of my current cross
stitch project; then I had lunch, including a Magnum ice cream. That made me feel cold ... as it always
does in winter ... so I wrapped myself up on the settee and promptly dropped
off to sleep for a couple of hours!
However, I did wake in time to see (and record) Choc’s
ride aboard Crescent Beach, after which I turned over to see the remainder of
Escape To The Country ... I just love that programme and wish I could afford
to do the same. I then watched the
replay from Huntingdon on RUK, followed by dinner and Great Railway Journeys
on BBC2, where Michael Portillo began today’s leg of his journey in
Cheltenham; I watch the programme whenever I can, not just today because it
featured the Gloucestershire town. |
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Thursday 23
January 2014 |
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One runner
of interest this afternoon, at Warwick: Point
Guard (Don Cantillon/Choc) finished 4th in the Intermediate Open NH Flat Race (13
ran). Subject to
an inspection at 07:30, tomorrow Alan King will have his first runner since
01 January: Doncaster: 15:50
Crescent Beach (Henry Oliver/Choc)
– Novices’ Handicap Chase Huntingdon: 14:55
Seymour Eric (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap Hurdle [3 miles 2
furlongs] 16:00
Secret Edge (Alan King/Stephen O’Donovan) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 5
furlongs] Here is a link to the latest news on Alan King’s
website, where it is also mentioned that Secret Edge (lot 163) is due to go
to the sales next week. More I bought a copy of
Weekender today and, in his column, Alan mentions that Jetnova
(lot 164) is also heading to the sales ring on Tuesday; I’ve found an online
copy of the DBS catalogue and also listed is Lovcen
(lot 162). There is a lovely photo of
Valdez accompanying the Weekender column, presumably on the schooling
grounds, with Choc aboard included too. And just in case you’ve missed the reports
regarding the The Minack
who injured a leg in a first fence fall at Haydock
Park on Saturday ... it looked pretty bad for the horse immediately after the
incident, as he appeared to canter away from the fence on three legs and
later in the race could be seen limping around on four legs, loose on the
in-field. He was taken home to the
Paul Nicholls yard and a later x-ray on his off-fore revealed no fractures,
so he lives to fit another day. So
that’s good news. |
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Wednesday 22
January 2014 |
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A couple
of runners of interest at Southwell this afternoon and this is how they fared: Hydrant
(RC Guest/Choc) finished 8th in
the Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Bold Tara
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½
a furlong] (7 ran); the race notes mention that she was reluctant to race
today ... and I gather there was also a delay during the afternoon due to a
non-racing incident. One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Warwick: 16:20
Point Guard (Don Cantillon/Choc) – Intermediate Open NH Flat Race News on
Sprinter Sacre today. More And Frankie Dettori
returned to action today following his injury break and rode a double at Lingfield Park ... he has now jetted off to Meydan to ride! More |
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Tuesday 21
January 2014 |
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Here are
today’s results from Leicester: Fine
Moment (Kevin Frost/Choc) finished
3rd in the Mares’ NH Novices Hurdle; Crazy Jane completed in 4th (5 ran). Westerly
Breeze (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was a
non-runner and Epic Storm (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall)
finished 7th in the Handicap Hurdle (8 ran). A couple
of runners of interest at Southwell tomorrow: 13:50
Hydrant (RC Guest/Choc) – Novices’
Hurdle 15:55 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½ a furlong] Choc spent time schooling at Martin Keighley’s
this morning; he rode Champion Court and Benbane
Head. Martin reported that RUK’s Nick
Luck visited the yard today to interview him regarding Saturday’s Cheltenham
runners and we have to keep a look out for the film being broadcast on the
racing channel tomorrow and going forward to the weekend. My work is back in order, for the moment, and
I’ve booked Friday as holiday because I still need to use up 4 days leave
before the end of February. But I’ve
no racing plans for Saturday as, although a number of Alan King’s horses will
be back in action at the weekend, Choc appears to be engaged to ride at
Doncaster. It’s a shame the racecourse
is around 150 miles away. L |
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Monday 20
January 2014 |
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Two
National Hunt fixtures tomorrow, both subject to a precautionary inspection
at 08:00, Wetherby and Leicester, with
runners of interest at the latter: 14:15 Fine
Moment (Kevin Frost/Choc) – Mares’
NH Novices Hurdle ... although perhaps a different ride would have been more
appropriate, namely Crazy Jane! 15:55
Westerly Breeze (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) &
Epic Storm (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) – Handicap
Hurdle Here is a
link showing Big Buck’s preparing for his comeback run, new pilot Sam Twiston-Davies aboard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxSzTcVHq9w&feature=youtu.be Good news, no tears at work today and I was able
to take a lunch-break too; hopefully the worst is over for a few days ...
famous last words! Although my heart
was pounding when I went to sleep last night, worried what today might bring
... |
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Saturday 18
January 2014 |
|
Taunton passed its early
morning inspection and this is how my ‘runners
of interest’ fared: The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 5th and Kayfleur (Henry Daly/Choc) finished 2nd in the NH Novices’
Hurdle (10 ran). Mister
Snowball (Chris Down/Choc) was
pulled up in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½ furlong] (9 ran). Water
Wagtail (Emma Lavelle/Choc)
finished 2nd and Typhon De Guye
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was a non- runner in
the Novices’ Handicap Chase (9 ran). Itsuptoyou (Arthur Whiting/Choc) finished 5th in the Novices’
Limited Handicap Chase (6 ran). Whispering
Harry (Henry Oliver/Choc) finished
2nd in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 1 furlong] (16 ran). At Ascot Sire
De Grugy won the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase; his
main rival Somersby unseated at the 5th fence. More Wychwoods Brook won the Peter
Marsh Chase at Haydock Park for trainer Evan
Williams and jockey Conor Ring. More I notice from the
results that Ugly Bug ran today, finishing 3rd in the 3-mile Handicap Hurdle
... I’ve not watched any of the action from Haydock
Park yet as, of course, I was glued to ATR for the Taunton coverage! At least two jockeys were clocking up the miles
today, with William Kennedy riding in the first at Ascot and the last at
Taunton. Paddy Brennan won for Tom
George at Ascot and then flew up to Haydock Park to
win again for Tom. Evan Williams
trained 2 winners at Haydock and 3 at Taunton; and
Noel Fehily rode a hat-trick at Ascot. Choc also rode a hat-trick ... but they
were 2nds unfortunately. L In other words, Thornton at Taunton suffers
a bout of seconditis! |
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Friday 17
January 2014 |
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One result
today, from Musselburgh: Dorset
Naga (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) was pulled up in the Handicap Chase (11 ran). A long
journey for a disappointing result; Choc and William Kennedy having flown
from Bristol to Edinburgh. But there
are a couple of piccies, the first from William
Kennedy showing Choc in Costa Coffee: https://mobile.twitter.com/WTKJockey/status/424101950100365312/photo/1?screen_name=WTKJockey And the
other one showing William, also in Costa Coffee, wearing his infamous green
trousers ... well, he is Irish! https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/424102557217488896/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton Having
looked ahead to the weekend a few days ago, my intuition told me that Choc
would be at Taunton tomorrow; the fixture
being subject to a precautionary inspection at 07:30: 12:30 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
& Kayfleur (Henry Daly/Choc) – NH Novices’ Hurdle 13:40
Mister Snowball (Chris Down/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle [3 miles ½ furlong] 14:15
Water Wagtail (Emma Lavelle/Choc)
& Typhon De Guye
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Novices’ Handicap
Chase 15:25 Itsuptoyou (Arthur Whiting/Choc) – Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase 16:00
Whispering Harry (Henry Oliver/Choc)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 1 furlong] No runners
of interest on Sunday. Here is a link
to Alan King’s news blog ... next weekend appears to be the earliest that any
of his charges will be back in action.
More
But, looking on the bright side, perhaps the
horses will be able to extend their season, ground permitting. With no fixtures to attend, it also gives me the
chance to get much needed shut-eye, with no diaries to write at the
moment. All rest is currently welcome,
as I awoke at 05:00 this morning and was in tears again before I went to
work. I hate stress, as it also makes
me irritable. However, I have weaned myself off the ‘stress’ tablets which my doctor
prescribed in November, as they made me feel generally tired, gave me
headaches, and caused dizziness and my vision to go almost black when I stood
up ... it didn’t look good me holding onto office furniture. I could walk only two thirds of the way to
work before feeling exhausted, and I was also worried about feeling unwell
when out and about on my own, such as attending the races. And the tablets, which according to the
enclosed leaflet were beta-blockers, resulted in vivid dreams too ... which
is of little use if you have no control over what you dream about! I think it was a case of using a mallet to ‘crack a nut’ as they must have
lowered my blood pressure too much. |
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Thursday 16
January 2014 |
|
Levels of
stress remain extremely high ... aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhh
... with tears once more. L Just two
runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Wincanton: Marie Des Anges (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) finished 5th in the Handicap
Chase (8 ran). Ludlow: Mauricetheathlete (Martin Keighley/JS
Knox) finished 8th in the Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase (13 ran). Having seen
that Chepstow has been abandoned, I was going to write that there was racing
at Musselburgh tomorrow but no runners of interest ... but I’d have been
wrong! Musselburgh: 15:20 Dorset Naga (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) – Handicap Chase |
|
Wednesday 15
January 2014 |
|
Just two
runners of interest tomorrow, one at Wincanton: 13:50
Marie Des Anges (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) – Handicap Chase; she’s only ‘diddy’ but
hopefully Choc will get on well with her, as he seems to have an affinity
with the fairer sex ... mares that is!!! The other
at Ludlow: 14:10 Mauricetheathlete (Martin Keighley/JS Knox) – Amateur
Riders’ Handicap Chase Tomorrow
will be a busy day on RUK, as Market Rasen also has
a fixture scheduled. Choc rode
out for Martin Keighley this morning. News today
that Frankel’s first offspring has been born. More I’m stressed ... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Work-related stress – too much to do and
too little time, as usual. I hate my
job. L |
|
Tuesday 14
January 2014 |
|
One runner
of interest today, at Exeter, and this is how he
fared: Swincombe Stone (Anthony Honeyball/Choc)
finished 8th in the Handicap Chase (9 ran). Racing at
Newcastle and Newbury tomorrow, but no ‘runners
of interest’. Sad news
that St Nicholas Abbey has lost his battle for life today. Having survived a fractured pastern, a bout
of colic, the breakage of the load bearing pin in his leg, and laminitis, he
suffered a second bout of colic which proved inoperable. More There’s
news regarding two of Alan King’s new yard inmates, the Henry Ponsonby-owned Tiger Cliff and First Mohican. More Today Richard Johnson attained his 100th winner
of the season for the 18th consecutive time. More |
|
Monday 13
January 2014 |
|
Both Ffos Las and Lingfield Park
have been abandoned tomorrow due to water-logging. However,
there is a ‘new’ fixture scheduled
for Exeter with one runner of
interest: 12:55 Swincombe Stone (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) – Handicap Chase There’s
still no sign of Alan King’s horses returning to action, with none listed to
run as far ahead as next Saturday. I had a dentist check-up today, along with
hygienist, and I had been worried that I might need something done as there
had been some sensitivity somewhere in the upper left quadrant leading up to
and over Christmas; however, my dentist couldn’t find anything wrong and the
x-rays didn’t show anything either. My
‘pocket’ is pleased too as, despite
this good news, it has already cost £110 in total as my practice is a private
one. I’m fortunate to have very good
teeth, but I do suffer from gum disease to a degree which, I gather, is
hereditary. Hence my next hygienist
appointment is scheduled for April! |
|
Sunday 12
January 2014 |
|
Kelso’s
fixture was abandoned today ... very few fixtures are having much luck at
present. There’s due to be racing at Plumpton tomorrow, but no ‘runners of interest’. There’s
further explanation today from Paul Nicholls regarding the choice of jockey
ahead of Big Buck’s’ comeback run. More Also hopes
that the bad cut sustained by Deputy Dan at Warwick yesterday will not prove
to be a setback. More I had an
inkling that Choc might attend today’s Heythrop
point-to-point at Cocklebarrow Farm, hence my mention
yesterday ... and he’s tweeted a couple of photos of William: https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/422406865017122816/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/422406952350937089/photo/1?screen_name=Choc_Thornton It’s a
shame I’m not quite up to travelling far at this time of the year. Besides, the new Cocklebarrow
course needed to pass an inspection this morning and I wouldn’t have been
able to set off from such a distance (around 80 miles) when not 100% sure
it’s not going to be cancelled! After yesterday’s sunny weather, clear skies
caused the worse frost in this area so far this year. It was only one degree when I went out to
fill my petrol tank at 08:00 this morning so was too cold to wash my car, as
I’d intended, upon my return. Not for
me personally but for the car, as the brakes can stick when the residue water
freezes; and that is despite the fact that I always park the car by putting
it in first gear under the carport as opposed to using the handbrake. It had clouded over by lunchtime, with more
rained expected this evening ... just for a change! |
|
Saturday 11
January 2014 |
|
Here are
today’s results, but rather a disappointing day for my ‘runners of interest’: Warwick: Flementime (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in the Mares’ Hurdle [Listed] (7
ran). George Nympton (B Barr/Choc)
was pulled up in the Handicap Chase for Edward Courage Cup (9 ran). Seymour
Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was pulled up in
the Handicap Hurdle (12 ran). Creepy (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in the Novices’
Hurdle (8 ran). Victors
Serenade (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) was pulled up and Any Currency (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in the Classic Chase (15 ran). More Jeans Lady
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 8th in the ‘Newcomers’ Standard Open NH Flat Race (9 ran). Kempton Park: Champion Court
(Martin Keighley/AP McCoy) finished 2nd in the Chase [Listed] (6 ran); but he
did win the best turned-out prize.
This time he had to play second-fiddle to Captain Chris, but hopefully
his luck will change soon. More Royal Boy
won the re-arranged Tolworth Hurdle. More Personally I would have chosen
Josses Hill too, as I took particular notice of him when he ran at Newbury
recently, a very good looking horse. And Paul
Nicholls landed the Lanzarote Hurdle with Saphir Du Rheu. More Wayne Hutchinson rode a
double at Wetherby today. Yesyoucan for
Brian Ellison in a Novices’ Chase and Allied Answer for Steve Gollings in a Handicap Hurdle. That’s his 36th and 37th winner of the season and
he’s now only one short of last season’s total! Sam Twiston-Davies has
been given the ride aboard star long-distance hurdler Big Buck’s ... and I
think that is an excellent ‘young
blood’ choice. More National Hunt racing at solely Kelso tomorrow;
but there is point-to-pointing at Cocklebarrow Farm
in the Cotswolds! Fingers crossed that Alan King’s horses will be
back in action soon, as I missed having a trip to the races on such a
beautiful winter’s day! |
|
Friday 10
January 2014 |
|
Three
National Hunt fixtures tomorrow, with runners of interest at Warwick and
Kempton Park: Warwick: 12:10 Flementime (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Mares’ Hurdle [Listed] 13:55
George Nympton (B Barr/Choc) – Handicap Chase for Edward Courage Cup 14:25
Seymour Eric (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Handicap Hurdle 15:00
Creepy (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Novices’
Hurdle 15:35
Victors Serenade (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) & Any Currency (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) – Classic Chase 16:05
Jeans Lady (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – ‘Newcomers’ Standard Open NH Flat Race Kempton Park: 13:35
Creepy (Martin Keighley) – second preference – Tolworth
Hurdle [Grade 1 Novices’ Hurdle] 14:10
Champion Court (Martin Keighley/AP McCoy) – Chase [Listed] There’s an
interesting article about Martin Keighley written by Marcus Armytage which can be read in the Telegraph online here. And a link
to this week’s Martin Keighley Stable Talk column in the Gloucestershire Echo
too. More With all
the lost fixtures in recent days due to water-logging, an additional meeting
has been scheduled for next Tuesday, at Exeter. More Cue Card has been given an entry into the Ryanair Chase and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham
Festival, but not the Champion Chase regardless of whether Sprinter Sacre runs. |
|
Thursday 09
January 2014 |
|
Mad Moose is banned! Two
runners of interest this afternoon at Catterick and this is how they
fared: Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
finished 5th in the Novices’ Hurdle (6 ran). Merlin’s
Wish (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 2nd in
the North Yorkshire Grand National Handicap Chase (9 ran). With
Huntingdon lost due to water-logging, the sole National Hunt racing takes
place at Sedgefield tomorrow and no runners of interest. Mad Moose
has been banned from racing by the BHA ... I know it has been obvious for a
long time that he no longer enjoyed to race and was just too intelligent for
his own good, but he did brightened up many a dull day wondering if he would
consent to run! More Solwhit has been ruled out
for the season, making Big Buck’s an even stronger favourite to regain his
World Hurdle Title in March. More There’s a
further update today on the situation at Alan King’s yard via Geoff Lester’s
blog ... Trigger The Light didn’t pass muster on the health front so won’t be
running at Warwick on Saturday after all. |
|
Wednesday 08
January 2014 |
|
Winner winner chicken dinner!!! Two
runners of interest at Doncaster this afternoon and
this is how they fared: Donapollo (Ian Williams/Choc) was pulled up in the
Maiden Hurdle Div II (11 ran). Chasse En Mer (Mrs Caroline Bailey/Choc) won the Mares’
Handicap Hurdle (6 ran); Choc’s 19th winner of the season. Also, the
Martin Keighley-trained Hail Tiberius ran on the all-weather at Lingfield today, ridden by Graham Lee, finishing 3rd in
the Selling Handicap (13 ran). Jason
Maguire rode his 100th winner of the season today. More And two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Catterick: 13:05
Johnny Og (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
– Novices’ Hurdle 14:35
Merlin’s Wish (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – North
Yorkshire Grand National Handicap Chase.
More Friday’s
fixture scheduled for Huntingdon has been abandoned. As things
currently stand, Choc is likely to ride at Warwick on Saturday; Alan King has
one horse with an engagement this weekend – Trigger The Light in Warwick’s
Classic Chase with Wayne Hutchinson to ride.
But a number of Alan King ‘early
entries’ are now beginning to appear: 2013 victor Bobs Worth is amongst 36 entries for
this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. More I can’t
believe that the Cheltenham Festival is only just over two months away now! The countdown on David Pipe’s website
states 61 days and a number of hours ... TV viewing tonight is Star Gazing Live followed
by a new episode of Midsomer Murders on ITV
+1! As that takes me through until
23:00, I’ll transfer today’s Doncaster action to DVD either tomorrow or
Friday evening. |
|
Tuesday 07
January 2014 |
|
Two
runners of interest at Doncaster tomorrow: 13:10 Donapollo (Ian Williams/Choc) – Maiden
Hurdle Div II 15:20
Chasse En Mer (Mrs Caroline Bailey/Choc) - Mares’ Handicap
Hurdle Wayne Hutchinson rode the Nick
Williams-trained Hint Of Mint to victory in a Novices’ Hurdle at Leicester
today; his 35th winner of the
season. |
|
Monday 06
January 2014 |
|
Four
runners of interest at Southwell this afternoon and this is how they fared: Epic Storm
(Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) finished 5th and Dustland Fairytale (Ian Williams/Choc) finished last in the Novices’ Hurdle (7 ran). Bold Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) won the Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles 4½ furlongs] (10 ran); well done to the team, their 15th winner of the season. Lily Waugh
(Anthony Honeyball/Choc) finished 2nd in the Mares’ NH Maiden Hurdle (6 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing from Leicester tomorrow but no specific runners of
interest. However, Ludlow’s fixture scheduled for Wednesday
has been abandoned due to ... water-logging! More |
|
Sunday 05
January 2014 |
|
Four
runners of interest at Southwell tomorrow; although the fixture is subject to an inspection at
07:00. 14:30 Epic
Storm (Martin Keighley/Tom Siddall) & Dustland Fairytale (Ian Williams/Choc) – Novices’ Hurdle 15:00 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 4½ furlongs] 15:30 Lily
Waugh (Anthony Honeyball/Choc) – Mares’ NH Maiden Hurdle Plumpton went ahead today and
the Sussex National was won by the Gary Moore-trained Reblis. Also, Venetia Williams trained four of the
other winners on the card, all ridden by Aidan Coleman. More But Chepstow
has been abandoned for Tuesday, and Leicester is subject to an inspection
early tomorrow. Fontwell
Park has lost its Thursday fixture and Huntingdon’s Friday meeting is in
doubt too. More Sad news
today that ex-jockey Terry Biddlecombe has passed
away aged 72. More Being older than I
would ever like to admit, I remember him well from my childhood days of
watching racing on TV. It has also
been announced that Portuguese football star Eusebio,
top goalscorer at the 1966 World Cup, has also
passed away. He was 71. I’m another year older but haven’t done anything
to celebrate as such; it’s just not the right time of the year to have a birthday.
L |
|
Saturday 04
January 2014 |
|
No
surprises that Wincanton was abandoned due to water-logging, so no result to
report. Going forward, Taunton’s
Monday fixture has also been lost. These
cancelled fixtures are not such good news for the jockeys, but it does mean
that Alan King’s horses aren’t actually missing many engagements because
there is little racing anyway! Fortunately
the St Albans area is not affected by floods, having solely the River Ver flowing at the bottom of a steep hill below the main
city area; and its flow has been greatly decreased by water extraction in
recent years. However, I’m sure there
will be a few residential roads just a little too close to the banks which
may be in danger. But it
would have been a totally different story if the Thames had retained its
original pre-Ice Age route through Hertfordshire! More |
|
Friday 03
January 2014 |
|
The rain has
claimed tomorrow’s fixture at Sandown Park and, not surprisingly, Wincanton
will be inspected at 07:00 in the morning. More The Surrey racecourse later confirmed that
the Tolworth Hurdle is to be transferred to
Kempton’s card on Lanzarote Hurdle Day, 11
January. More However,
if Wincanton goes ahead there will
be one runner of interest: 15:50 Jaja De Jau (Anthony Honeyball/Choc)
– Novices’ Handicap Hurdle There’s
further news regarding Sprinter Sacre, who went for
his first canter today following last Friday’s health scare. More There will be a Seven
Barrows ‘special’ on tomorrow’s Morning
Line. Sir Des
Champs has sustained a tendon injury and is now sidelined for the remainder
of the season. More No
surprise that Bryan Cooper has been appointed to the role of retained jockey
for the Gigginstown House Stud, replacing Davy
Russell. More Choc has
tweeted a photograph of William celebrating his birthday with his dad,
belatedly yesterday: https://mobile.twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/418845658364534786?p=v Unfortunately my birthday candles will take a lot
more puff than this on Sunday! |
|
Thursday 02
January 2014 |
|
Huntingdon went ahead, so there
is one result today: Westerly
Breeze (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 3rd in
the Maiden Hurdle (8 ran). Tomorrow’s
fixture at Lingfield was abandoned earlier in the
week due to water-logging ... and snorkels will probably be compulsory this
weekend with rain forecast tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday in the southeast if
not elsewhere too. Having rummaged through my small pile of unused
tickets last week when looking for the Kempton Park Boxing Day envelope, it
became apparent that I’d not received my Grand National fixture tickets
yet. I’ve been waiting until the end
of the holiday period to contact the ticket hotline to ask what’s happened to
them; and when I called this morning there was a voicemail message telling
callers that tickets will be despatched early in the New Year ... so that’s
put my mind at rest and they should arrive very soon! I’m surprised they haven’t begun the process
sooner, as I bought the tickets on 03 June last year, and the emailed
confirmation did state a despatch date of September onwards; last year my
tickets arrived in early November! I
know this because I still have the postmarked envelope containing the tickets
in one of the Really Useful boxes where I stash all my old tickets and
programmes, etc. |
|
Wednesday 01
January 2014 |
|
Happy New
Year What a
horribly foul day, weather wise; with conditions soft, heavy in places at
Cheltenham. There were
four runners of interest today and this is how they fared: Cheltenham: Flementime (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was a non-runner in the Novices’ Hurdle. Kumbeshwar (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) finished 3rd and Pickamus (Henry Daly/Choc) finished 4th in the Handicap
Chase (7 ran); Double Ross followed up his Cheltenham win last month by
claiming this prize, only four horses finished, the other three having been
pulled up after floundering in the ground.
Coyaba (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 8th and Looks Like Power (Mrs DA Hamer/Choc)
finished 5th in the ‘Junior’
Standard Open NH Flat Race [Listed] (10 ran). Exeter was abandoned, so Mauricetheathlete (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) didn’t
get the opportunity to run in the Handicap Chase [3 miles]. I notice
that Hot Whiskey, who is still owned by Harry Redknapp,
has been transferred to Brendan Powell’s yard. Here is a link to Geoff Lester’s blog on Alan
King’s website, in which the trainer explains his reason for not running any
of his charges for the next week or so.
He mentions that Grumeti has been on
antibiotics since his disappointing run in the Christmas Hurdle. http://alankingracing.co.uk/news.htm In light of
the current situation, there’s just one runner of interest tomorrow, at Huntingdon, which is subject to
a precautionary inspection at 07:30 in the morning: 14:40
Westerly Breeze (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) –
Maiden Hurdle Here’s a
link to a video about the Heythrop’s new
point-to-point track at Cocklebarrow Farm in
Gloucestershire; that’s the farm where their Country Fair, with driven Donkey
Derby, is held each June. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YiWgq12sZo&feature=sharenoembed Not being a party animal, I was awake by 08:00
this morning ... although this is late for me! So I did my washing, took down the
Christmas decorations, watched the racing and did some cross stitching
too. Christmas decorations should be taken down by
Twelfth Night which is the evening of 05 January; in medieval times, a day
began when darkness fell, hence Twelfth Night being 05 January and Twelfth
Day 06 January! I finished my Kempton Park Boxing Day diary
yesterday evening, and here is a link to it.
Obviously, with the current stable shut-down, I don’t envisage a trip
to Sandown Park this Saturday. |
