JUNE 2016
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Wednesday
29 June 2016 |
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Having
been laid very low since Friday evening due to my ‘drenching induced’ summer cold, there are a number of results to
catch up on. I
hate it when a backlog of blogs builds up, but I’ve felt unbelievably rough
these past few days, spending most of my time in bed sleeping and definitely
having no desire to log on to my computer.
Firstly I have to report the very sad
news which broke at the weekend, regarding the diminutive but very game mare
Cannon Fodder; her life has been claimed by colic. L
RIP Cannon Fodder Sunday’s results
were as follows: Uttoxeter: Turn Over Sivola (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished last in the Handicap Chase [1 mile 7 furlongs
& 214 yards] (11 ran). Their feature race, the listed Summer Cup
Handicap Chase, was won by Drop Out Joe for Charlie Longsdon
and Graham Watters. Cartmel: Kumbeshwar (Lucinda
Russell/Derek Fox) won the Handicap Chase [2 miles 1 furlong & 61 yards]
(7 ran). J Also,
Alan King and Willie Twiston-Davies had a winner at
Windsor on
Sunday, in a 1 mile 3 furlong Handicap, namely William Hunter. There
were two runners on interest on Monday: Wolverhampton: Dream
Dana (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) finished 10th in the 6
furlong Handicap for 3-year-olds (11 ran). Windsor: Whatalove
(Martin Keighley/Tom Queally) finished last in the
Median Auction Maiden Fillies Stakes for 2-year-olds (7 ran). However, the trainer mentioned there were
plenty of positives to take away from her racecourse debut, and the jockey
has also suggested a step up in trip. Stratford on Tuesday: Marley
Joe (Martin Keighley/Richard Johnson) finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles & 70 yards] (5 ran). Both
of Menace’s possible engagements this week have been postponed, as Cartmel was deemed too far away and too competitive, and
the ground at Stratford was feared to be too soft with further rain expected
during the afternoon/evening. The next
opportunities are one of two races at Uttoxeter on
05 July. Worcester today: Mille
Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) finished 10th in
the Handicap Chase [2 miles & 7 furlongs] (16 ran). Minella
Treasure (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 3rd and Ted’s Lad (Alan
King/Tom Bellamy) finished 6th in the Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). There
are no runners of interest tomorrow, Thursday, as there’s solely NH racing
from Perth … but a new series of Most Haunted returns on the Really TV
channel tomorrow! I
loved the first episode of BBC1’s The Living and the Dead; spooky. Evidently the entire series is already
available on BBC iPlayer … will I or won’t I be
able to resist watching more before next week’s programme? The writer wrote Life On Mars and Ashes to
Ashes, which may explain the intriguing encounter at the end
last night’s episode where the main character, who is living in 1894,
encountered a young woman from the present day! Professional
dancer Gleb Savchenko
won’t be taking part in this season’s Strictly Come Dancing due to ‘family commitments’ … which, as others
are saying, probably means he’s found something more lucrative to do
instead! The trouble with Gleb is that he’s extremely good looking and knows it too
… not a good combination! Tristan
isn’t returning either. I’ll stick
with Pasha as my favourite pro-dancer. J Three lady pro-dancers - Ola, Kristina and Aliona had already announced their intention to leave the
show. The
jump jockeys due to take part in this year’s Barbury
Castle ‘Challenge’ against the
3-Day Eventers are Richard Johnson (Team Captain),
Wayne Hutchinson, Tom Scudamore and John Francome. Meanwhile,
one of Apple Tree Stud’s 3-year-old fillies, Empress Rock, hasn’t made it to
the racecourse and instead will be sold, in foal to Showcasing, at the Tattersalls July Sale; Lot 93. Damn. I missed The Flying Scotsman again. Evidently she travelled along the St
Pancras line early last Saturday whilst undertaking a London Victoria to York
excursion, as she’d also done on ‘Derby
Day’. My younger brother and
sister-in-law were lucky enough to see the train as she passed through Flitwick in Bedfordshire this weekend. It appears to have been the final
opportunity to catch a glimpse of the locomotive in this area at present, as
The Flying Scotman will be undertaking excursions elsewhere
for the next few months. Having spent two days off work due to
my cold, I returned today; in hindsight I think I wasn’t well enough to go
back. I was okay until around 12:30,
but then felt very rough for a couple of hours before rallying later in the
afternoon. |
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Saturday
25 June 2016 |
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There was one runner of interest on Thursday, at Newcastle on the all-weather: Jamacho (Brian Ellison/Dale
Swift) finished 4th in the Novice Stakes [6 furlongs]; raised by Apple Tree
Stud! (7 ran). There were two runners of interest today: Newcastle: Grumeti (Alan King/William Twiston-Davies) finished 14th in the Northumberland Vase
(2 miles 56 furlongs] (20 ran); it was the inaugural running of this
Northumberland Plate consolation race. Lingfield Park: Schoolboy Error (Jamie Osborne/Timmy
Murphy/part-owned by Apple Tree Stud) finished 3rd in the Handicap [1 mile 4
furlongs] (11 ran). Two runners of interest tomorrow: Uttoxeter: 16:35 Turn Over Sivola
(Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase [1 mile 7 furlongs & 214
yards]; will he finish 2nd? Cartmel: 15:55 Kumbeshwar
(Lucinda Russell/Derek Fox) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 1 furlong & 61
yards] The Listed Summer Cup Handicap Chase is also to
be run at the Staffordshire track tomorrow and entries include Menorah, Ballynagour, Al Co, Pacha Du
Polder, Grandads Horse and Standing Ovation. I’ve succumbed to a summer cold … I thought my
throat felt dry early yesterday afternoon and, by the time I got home, my
throat was swollen and sore. I’ve been
feeling down in the dumps for a number of weeks and got absolutely soaked on
my way home from work on Thursday evening due to a thunderstorm. It appears I may have already been
harbouring the virus and this was enough to tip me over the edge to develop a
cold; excellent. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/coldsandflu/Pages/Preventionandcure.aspx The 20 minutes with feet in cold water sounds
just like my walk home a couple of days ago … it was scary too, as there were
three flashes of lightening with the resultant thunder. I actually waited at work for ten minutes
then, thinking it couldn’t be that bad outside, decided to take my
chance. It transpired that a torrent
of water was flowing down the road and vehicles were splashing water over
anyone brave enough to walk along the pavements. Fortunately I didn’t get soaked from head to foot
by this, but decided that I had to take the longer route home in order to
avoid any spray issues from cars travelling along the busy main road. However, my feet, legs, skirt, backpack,
handbag and one sleeve (the hand thereof not holding the umbrella) were soon
sodden. I’d gambled by wearing my
Hotter-style M&S shoes to work on Thursday, instead of my genuine Hotter
shoes which I wore to walk to work all last winter; although I don’t think
I’d have fared much better in the latter!
My shoes
are currently drying out in the airing cupboard but I think my earlier fears
that they will have been ruined won’t come to fruition, although the leather
may be a less flexible now. I choose a
pair of shoes to wear throughout autumn/winter/spring and another through
spring/summer/autumn, depending on when the weather improves or deteriorates, so will be annoyed if they don’t last beyond
late June; especially as they are very comfortable. |
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Wednesday
22 June 2016 |
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There were
three runners of interest at Worcester today and this is how
they fared: Weyburn (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
unseated two out in the Novices’ Handicap Chase when in with a chance of
winning (4 ran). Toffee
Holland (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished
4th in the Standard Open NH Flat Race Div II (9 ran). The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Tom Bellamy) finished 3rd in
the Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (11 ran). One runner
of interest tomorrow, on the all-weather at Newcastle: 14:20 Jamacho (Brian Ellison/Dale Swift) – Novice Stakes [6
furlongs]; raised by Apple Tree Stud! AP McCoy
went to collect his knighthood medal at Buckingham Palace today, accompanied
by wife Chanelle, daughter Eve and son Archie. I’ve almost finished reading ‘Winner’ My Racing Life; AP’s most
recent autobiography. Racing
biographies are my favourite reads. |
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Tuesday
21 June 2016 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Leicester: Tyrell
(Alan King/Willie Twiston-Davies/Apple Tree Stud)
finished 8th in the Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 3 furlongs & 183
yards] (12 ran). Newton
Abbot: Double
Chocolate (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was
pulled up in the Handicap Chase [3 miles 1 furlong & 170 yards] (8 ran). There are
three runners of interest at Worcester tomorrow: 14:50 Weyburn (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Handicap Chase 15:55
Toffee Holland (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Standard Open NH Flat Race Div II 18:05 The Kvilleken (Martin Keighley/Tom Bellamy) – Conditional
Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle |
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Monday
20 June 2016 |
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There was one runner of interest today, at Southwell: Monty’s Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was pulled up in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 7
furlongs & 209 yards] (9 ran). The
race notes state that he wasn’t keen once headed, and Martin has suggested
that retirement may be beckoning. There are
two runners of interest tomorrow: Leicester: 18:10
Tyrell (Alan King/Willie Twiston-Davies/Apple Tree
Stud) – Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 3 furlongs & 183 yards] Newton
Abbot: 19:30
Double Chocolate (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [3 miles 1 furlong & 170 yards] It’s a
short blog this evening as, at 21:00, I shall be watching The Musketeers J ... they triumphed over The Sewing Bee this
week! |
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Sunday
19 June 2016 |
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Kumbeshwar ran today, at Hexham, and he finished 5th in a Handicap Hurdle (12
ran). Londonia, one of the EPDS
Syndicate horses, finished 6th in a Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Worcester. For the
record, Dineur won a Handicap Chase at Worcester
today too. There is one runner of interest tomorrow, at Southwell: 15:15 Monty’s Revenge (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs & 209
yards] Willie Twiston-Davies
celebrates his win aboard the Alan King-trained Primitivo
at Royal Ascot on Thursday: https://twitter.com/samtwiston/status/743557109611139072 Jockey Dougie Costello
was very emotional following his first Royal Ascot winner; Quiet Reflection
in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup: https://twitter.com/Channel4Racing/status/743897985516331009 Gordon Elliot trained the winner of the final
race at this year’s Royal Ascot, the Queen Alexandra Stakes – Commissioned
which was purchased following the dispersal of the Bloomfields
horses at the end of last season.
Gordon missed it, he was in Barbados evidently. This is cute, I love recently sheared alpacas: https://twitter.com/BarnacreAlpacas/status/744485355097841664 I believe I’ve found one of Apple Tree Stud’s
yearlings they sold last year, the one trained by Brian Ellison; he’s been
named Jamacho (Camacho/Obsessive Secret) and
finished 3rd of 11 in a race at Redcar on 16 May. I’ve not managed to track down the other yearling
which was purchased by Sir Mark Prescott (Tamayuz/Duo
De Choc). I know I’m being a little remiss with my blogs at
the moment, but it’s quiet at this time of the year, and I was out all day
yesterday with Lesley, Fay, Angy and her 7-year-old
daughter Rebecca, in Brighton. Lesley
drove us down to East Sussex; it took around 2 hours and 20 minutes from St
Albans due to congestion on the M25.
But it was a lot cheaper, as we don’t purchase our tickets in
advance. It took less time on the
return journey. And, today, I finished off my final drafted notes
relating to Cheltenham. All I need to
do now is copy and paste them into my existing template, proof read and
upload. Three days down and four to go
and it’s nearly the Summer Solstice. Aaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!
But I’m not going to worry too much, as I am keeping to my planned
schedule. Springwatch may have finished,
but it’s the re-scheduled Musketeers tomorrow evening, although I will have
to miss The Sewing Bee, which is annoying.
What makes the BBC think that Musketeers fans don’t enjoy sewing? I wonder if I’ll have the time or the
inclination to draft any of my other race notes later in the week; it depends
on my workload at work I guess and whether I’m too tired. I’ve only got this week before Wimbledon
takes over my evening viewing schedule for a fortnight. |
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Thursday
16 June 2016 |
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Congratulations to trainer Alan
King and the team at Barbury
Castle Alan King
trained his first Royal Ascot winner today, when Primitivo won the 1 mile 4
furlong King George V Stakes, the final race on today’s card. It was also jockey Willie Twiston-Davies’ first Royal Ascot winner. Alan said he
loves flat racing and to train a winner at the Royal Meeting has been an
ambition since he first attended the event almost 30 years ago. It wasn’t
a good day for The Queen, sadly; her runner in the same race, Guy Fawkes,
lost his life having suffered a compound fracture to his ‘right foot’. Is that his off-fore pastern? Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest, at Ffos Las: Double
Chocolate (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was a
non-runner in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs & 177 yards] Devil To
Pay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 7th in the Handicap Chase [2 miles
3 furlongs & 83 yards] (9 ran). Theatre
Goer (Noel Williams/James Banks) finished 5th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles
7 furlongs & 191 yards] (9 ran). There’s
National Hunt racing at Market Rasen tomorrow, but
no runners of interest. Following Mortlestown’s disappointing run at Stratford earlier in
the week, the Keighley’s expect to find him a new home and career. |
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Wednesday
15 June 2016 |
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There are
no results to report from Uttoxeter, as Weyburn, Mortlestown
and Double Chocolate were all non-runners! Chelmsford: Dream Dana
(Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) finished a short-head 2nd in the
Handicap for 3-year-olds [6 furlongs] (8 ran). It was a very close finish between 3
runners; Dream Dana led, was headed by Poplar, fought back to lead but just
got collared on the line by Desert River. Unlucky. She was a 20-1 shot today,
but will presumably be a shorter price next time. There are
three runners of interest tomorrow, at Ffos Las: 18:40
Double Chocolate (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs & 177 yards] 19:10
Devil To Pay (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase [2 miles 3
furlongs & 83 yards] 20:10 Theatre
Goer (Noel Williams/James Banks) – Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs &
191 yards] Menace is
still pencilled in to run at either Cartmel on
Sunday 26 June or at Stratford at Tuesday 28 June; sadly the latter is an
evening fixture ... and obviously the other is hundreds of miles away in the
Lake District! I think I
need to have my eyes retested before I do too much more night driving; they
have changed again. My right eye,
which was my good eye, then my bad eye since May last year, is now my good
eye again! The left one has suddenly
succumbed to dryness too and, in fact, is now drier than my right eye! I’ve gone back to wearing my old ‘PC screen’ glasses at work because,
although not perfect, they are now not as bad as my newest prescription ones. It’s crazy.
Weirdly, I have no problem whatsoever viewing the screen of my laptop
at home ... and I don’t need to wear glasses at all to do that! Needless
to say, I have to spend far too much time stuck in front of a PC whilst at
work – the majority of my days are still 9 hours without a break, much of
which is spent at my desk. It’s hell
... |
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Tuesday
14 June 2016 |
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Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Stratford: Mortlestown (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
was pulled up in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 6 furlongs & 125 yards] (7
ran). Toffee
Holland (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) ran out
after one furlong in the Intermediate Open NH Flat Race (11 ran). Brighton: Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud)
finished 4th in the Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 1 furlong & 209
yards] (10 ran). There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow too: Uttoxeter: 15:30 Weyburn (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Novices’ Handicap Chase 16:05 Mortlestown (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 7 furlongs & 70 yards]; presumably a backup
plan, as he ran today. 17:20
Double Chocolate (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Handicap Chase [3 miles 2 furlongs & 13 yards] Chelmsford: 20:40
Dream Dana (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) – Handicap for
3-year-olds [6 furlongs] It wasn’t
a winning send off for jockey Brian Toomey who retired from the saddle at
Stratford today; sadly his mount, a mare named City Dreams, was brought down
and suffered a fatal injury as a result.
But at least Brian has retired in one piece, having made a miraculous
recovery from a life threatening riding injury. I’ve been
‘slug slinging’ again ... the heavy
rain showers have brought the damn things out again; they were all over the
lawn, which is fine, but I don’t want them to attack the poorly annual
begonia as it’s beginning to sprout some tiny reddish-coloured leaves. It’s a white flowered one, with dark
leaves. I’m gutted
... I discovered that I missed The Flying Scotsman when it picked up
passengers from our City Station on Saturday 04 June. I wonder if the steam-train will pass this
way again anytime soon. I love a bit of
nostalgia. |
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Monday
13 June 2016 |
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There are
three runners of interest tomorrow: Stratford: 15:30 Mortlestown (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
– Handicap Chase [2 miles 6 furlongs & 125 yards] 17:20
Toffee Holland (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) –
Intermediate Open NH Flat Race Brighton: 18:50 Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) –
Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 1 furlong & 209 yards] |
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Sunday
12 June 2016 |
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No runners
of interest yesterday or today, but I thought I’d better round-up Friday’s
results: Newton
Abbot: Dun Bay
Creek (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Novices’ Hurdle (8 ran); Wayne’s 10th winner of the season Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) was pulled up in the
Handicap Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs & 216 yards] (4 ran). Avispa (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the
Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (9 ran). Aintree: Pantxoa (Richard Phillips/Ian Popham)
finished 6th in the Handicap Chase [3 miles & 210 yards] (12 ran). Goodwood: Sam Missile (James Fanshawe/Daniel
Muscutt) finished 4th in the Handicap for 3-year-olds
[1 mile 1 furlong & 192 yards] (6 ran). Choc and Jennie have been clay pigeon shooting: https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/741886562649133057 I had a go at that 20 years ago – I hit the first
four but then couldn’t hit a final one, so had to give up! Ptit Zig
won the Grade 1 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil (considered to be the French Champion Hurdle)
today; Un Temps Pour Tout won it last year.
The winning prize was £122,000 plus.
Un De Sceaux was too keen (6th) and spent
much of the race vying with Blue Dragon for the lead; he didn’t stay
either. The other UK/Irish raiders
were Ubak (10th), Aubusson
(4th), Thousand Stars (7th), Silsol (8th), and
Whiteout (pulled up) (12 ran). However, Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh were
luckier with Footpad; they won the Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil
which is one of the biggest 4-year-old hurdles. I was out
all day yesterday, visiting my friend Denise in Caversham,
but I have been working on my Cheltenham diaries today. I was going to visit the annual Oaklands Summer Fayre before
lunch, but the weather wasn’t promising.
We had rain mid-morning, followed by overcast skies, although the sun
did put in an appearance this afternoon … but it was too late to change my
plans by then. My main worry was
thunderstorms but, as yet, we’ve not had any of those, unlike
mid-Bedfordshire where it’s been atrocious!
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Thursday
09 June 2016 |
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There were three runners of interest today and
this is how they fared: Uttoxeter: Celtic Artisan (Rebecca Menzies/Bridget
Andrews/EPDS Racing) finished 9th in the Handicap Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlongs
& 168 yards] (14 ran). Creepy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was pulled up in the Handicap Chase [3 miles
& 2 yards] (9 ran). Haydock Park: Schoolboy
Error (Jamie Osborne/William Carson/part-owned Apple Tree Stud) finished 2nd
in the Handicap [1 mile 2 furlongs & 95 yards] (6 ran). There are
a number of runners of interest tomorrow: Newton
Abbot: 14:10 Dun
Bay Creek (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Novices’ Hurdle 14:45
Mille Nautique (Alan King/Tom Bellamy) – Handicap
Chase [2 miles 4 furlongs & 216 yards] 15:20 Avispa (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Novices’
Hurdle Aintree: 19:05 Pantxoa (Richard Phillips/Ian Popham)
– Handicap Chase [3 miles & 210 yards]; yes, the horse has transferred
from Alan King’s yard to Adlestrop. Goodwood: 19:20 Sam
Missile (James Fanshawe/Daniel Muscutt)
– Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 1 furlong & 192 yards] Another
Frankel offspring ran today, a grey colt named Frankuus
... and he won. So that’s four from
five so far for the superstar stallion.
The other three were colt Cunco, and fillies Fair Eva and Queen Kindly. Mind you, if you owned the fifth one you’d
be a bit peeved; although it may have been poor placement. There must be plenty more to run and they
can’t all win can they? |
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Wednesday
08 June 2016 |
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There was one runner of interest, at Kempton Park on the all-weather: Tyrell (Alan King/William Twiston-Davies)
finished 4th in the Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 3 furlongs] (12
ran). Young Willie was scrubbing the
horse along from the start, but he stayed on at the end to finish
placed. Tyrell is a ‘gullumper’ but
I reckon he’d make an okay hurdler in time ... which may be why he’s with
Alan King! There are three runners of interest tomorrow: Uttoxeter: 19:05 Celtic Artisan (Rebecca Menzies/Bridget
Andrews/EPDS Racing) – Handicap Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlongs & 168 yards] 19:35 Creepy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) – Handicap Chase [3 miles & 2 yards] Haydock Park: 19:15
Schoolboy Error (Jamie Osborne/William Carson/part-owned Apple Tree Stud) –
Handicap [1 mile 2 furlongs & 95 yards] The usual
suspects, who of course consider themselves perfect, have had their customary
dig at the Keighley’s regarding the Any Currency situation. But, as Thumper would say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say
nothin’ at all”. I’ve been
‘slug slinging’ this evening ...
there are 18 annual begonias planted in a wall surrounding the patio, one of
which is very poorly. So it didn’t help
when a massive slug decided to eat its largest leaf. So I took a trowel and slung it into
farthest corner of the garden; being 104 feet, it should take some time for
it to return. And I
found something very strange in one of the planters when I watered it on
Monday – half a slice of granary bread buried under the soil. The soil had been disturbed slightly so I
decided to smooth it out, and that’s what I found, completely hidden beneath. Weird.
I wonder if it was a squirrel or a bird? It was in the front garden, so the culprit
might even have been human! |
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Tuesday
07 June 2016 |
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Devastating news today that Any Currency is at
severe risk of losing his Cheltenham Festival crown. Martin Keighley explains what has happened in his
blog today: http://www.martinkeighleyracing.com/Martins_blog.php The story has also made the racing press: It just goes to show that you have to be so
vigilant when administering legal drugs and, even if you err on the very
conservative side with regard to the treatment window, it may still cause an
expected issue when tested. I notice that someone has already pointed out to
Hector O’Heochagain that the BetBright
Cup will then stand at 15-13 to the Irish if Woody loses the race. Nooooooooooooo! Choc tweeted a flushed face emoticon in
reply! I’ve now discovered that the Spanish lady who won
Sunday’s French Open Singles title was last year’s runner up in the Women’s
Singles at Wimbledon. I presume I
never noticed because, not only did I go to the Barbury
Horse Trials that day instead of viewing Wimbledon on TV, women’s tennis is
the kind of sport you only watch whilst waiting for the men’s matches to
start! I like tennis, but not women’s tennis, and they are
certainly not worth equal prize money … it’s a scandal – if they want
equality, it should be best of 5 sets for everyone
so that they actually earn their money. The new Bravissimo
catalogue arrived today and I couldn’t resist logging on this evening and
buying one of these; I love the Satine bra and have
4 already in different colours and patterns: There is one result today, from Southwell: Anti Cool (Robin Dickin/Charlie
Poste/EPDS Racing) finished 4th in the NH Novices’
Hurdle (5 ran); he needed the run after a break. Tomorrow there is one runner of interest, at Kempton Park on the all-weather: 19:30 Tyrell (Alan King/William Twiston-Davies) – Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 3
furlongs] For the record,
the veteran Menorah was unable to give away tons of weight at Perth on
Sunday, but he did run gamely to finish 2nd to Gold Futures (5 ran). |
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Saturday
04 June 2016 |
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Sorry there was no blog again yesterday but the
racing ended late in the evening, at 21:00, by which time I’d become so
engrossed in adding to my Day 2 Cheltenham diary that I eventually overran my
bedtime!!! I was actually surprised
that I felt like slaving over a hot laptop at that time of the day, having already
completed over 9 hours without a break at work! So, firstly, here the results for yesterday’s
runners of interest: Bath: Dream Dana
(Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) finished 4th in the Maiden
Fillies’ Stakes (10 ran). Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud)
finished 4th in the Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 2 furlongs & 46
yards] (10 ran). Market Rasen: Hindon Road (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd
in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 3 furlongs & 34 yards] (7 ran); the winner
was the ex-Alan King-trained Gold Ingot.
Andrew Thornton rode the winner, for trainer Caroline Bailey, so
that’s another triumph to take him closer to his 1,000 winner goal. Today there were five runners of interest: Hexham: Classic Colori (Martin
Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 5th in the
Selling Hurdle (9 ran). Jazzy (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler)
was pulled up in the Juvenile Hurdle (10 ran); just 3 finished. Monty’s Revenge (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) was pulled up in the Handicap Chases [3 miles
& 41 yards] (11 ran); only 5 finished. Bobble Emerald (Martin Keighley/Andrew Tinkler) finished 4th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles
& 48 yards] (8 ran). Worcester: The Tourard Man (Alan King/Wayne
Hutchinson) won the Novices’ Chase (9
ran); he was nimble at the first fence, as he had to hurdle a faller in order
to avoid being brought down too; It was Wayne’s 9th winner of the
season. Tomorrow there’s National Hunt racing from Perth,
with the feature horse being Menorah which runs in the Perth Gold Cup
Handicap Chase at 16:20. Grand National winning jockey David Mullins broke
a collarbone at Ballinrobe last Tuesday and,
presumably, also punctured a lung: https://twitter.com/PTownend/status/738413060424142849 I gather colleague Paul Townend
is currently on the sidelines too, possibly with a fractured ankle. I watched ATR’s racing coverage whilst waiting
for the Bath races to be run, and there was a guest commentator at Tramore – none other than young Jonathan Burke and he was
bloomin’ brilliant.
The current Irish race commentators had watch out for their jobs, if
Jonathan’s riding career goes awry!
He’s currently on the side-lines due to a back injury; fractured
vertebrae I believe. Today’s interesting fact is that the actress who
plays Demelza in the TV remake of Poldark, Eleanor Tomlinson, is the daughter of
northern-based racing commentator (and actor) Malcolm Tomlinson. RUK’s Tom Stanley interviewed them both at
Epsom today. On dear, it was a whitewash for the Irish in
today’s Derby, with them claiming the first three places. The winning horse was Harzand,
trained by Dermot Weld and ridden by Pat Smullen. It was the Aga Khan’s fifth victory in the
English Classic, following Shergar’s win in 1981, Shahrastani
in 1986, Kahyasi
in 1988, and Sinndar
in 2000. The horse’s participation had been in doubt right
up until the last moment, as he’d spread a plate this morning. His foot was sore as a result, so they’d
used hot water and a hot poltice, before putting
the horse’s foot in an ice bucket for four hours; the horse’s shoe was then
put back on again. The jockey was also
given instructions to scratch Harzard if he was not
happy with the horse’s soundness having travelled to the starting gate. Sad news that Towcester
stalwart, the veteran Jolly Boys
Outing has been put to sleep. RIP https://twitter.com/HorseRacingRIP/status/738360538908987392 Further sad news is that Letsby Avenue has been euthanized.
He’d not run since providing Choc with a winning comeback from injury
at Stratford in September 2013. I
vaguely recall he’d suffered a self-inflicted tendon injury, for which he
received stem-cell treatment; however, during the course of his recovery, he
succumbed to colic and had to be operated upon at the Royal Veterinary
College. Letsby Avenue made a full
recovery from that and had undergone rehabilitation exercise throughout the
winter before being gradually brought back into work at Barbury
Castle. However, he recently suffered
a major setback and it was decided the kindest action would be to put him to
sleep, rather than for him to endure further treatment. RIP As always, I’m pleased that Serena Williams
failed to win the French Open Women’s title today; it was won by a Spanish
lady I’d never heard of! I expect Andy
Murray will lose out to Novak Djokovic tomorrow in
the Men’s final. It’s annoying when
one player dominates the game. Being
dedicated … or possibly just plain crazy … I was up again at 05:30 this
morning to continue with my diary writing.
However, after just one race, my plans for the day went awry and I was
side-tracked by chores, gardening and visitors, along with watching much of
the Derby day coverage from Epsom.
However, I’ve returned to my diary writing this evening and have now
completed Day 2, although I still have to copy and paste my notes into the template
before proof-reading it prior to upload.
The same applies to Day 1. |
|
Thursday
02 June 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Lingfield Park: Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) was
a non-runner in the Selling Stakes [1 mile 3 furlongs & 106 yards] Invocation
(Alan King/Fergus Sweeney) finished 4th in the Maiden Auction Stakes [1 mile
3 furlongs & 106 yards] (5 ran). Ffos Las: Miss
Crick (Alan
King/Wayne Hutchinson) won the Mares’ Novices’
Hurdle (7 ran); Wayne’s 8th
winner of the
season. Londonia (Graeme
McPherson/Richard Johnson/EPDS Racing) won
the Handicap Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlong & 202 yards]; Richard was
deputising for Graeme’s stable jockey Kielan Woods
who broke his arm recently. Londonia aka ‘Lenny’
pulled very hard but was able to win convincingly; there were only three back
straight hurdles to jump due to the low sun!
He’d been purchased off the flat, so was able to draw on his earlier
experience too. There are
three runners of interest tomorrow: Bath: 19:30
Dream Dana (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) – Maiden Fillies’
Stakes 21:00 Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) –
Handicap for 3-year-olds [1 mile 2 furlongs & 46 yards] Market Rasen: 15:25 Hindon Road (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Handicap Chase
[2 miles 3 furlongs & 34 yards] I’m gutted
that BHS has finally reached the end of the road ... especially as the past
two owners have been blood-sucking the life out of the retail company,
allegedly. It seems to me that many
other clothes retailers have lost the plot, including M & S and Next, as
I can barely find anything that I like in their stores these days. I loved BHS coats and cardigans, so don’t
know what I will do now. I would never
buy shoes from BHS or Next, as they are not comfortable and even M & S
has been superseded by Hotter in the main!
|
|
Wednesday
01 June 2016 |
|
Here are
today’s results for my runners of interest: Fontwell Park: Hindon Road (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) was a
non-runner in the Handicap Chase [2 miles 5 furlongs & 31 yards] Alaskan
Poet (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) finished 2nd in the Standard Open NH Flat
Race (7 ran). Ripon: Daliance (Noel Williams/Tony Hamilton/EPDS Racing)
finished 6th in the Handicap [2 miles] (7 ran). There are
four runners of interest tomorrow: Lingfield Park: 15:40 Dalavand (Jamie Osborne/Timmy Murphy/Apple Tree Stud) –
Selling Stakes [1 mile 3 furlongs & 106 yards] 16:10
Invocation (Alan King/Fergus Sweeney) – Maiden Auction Stakes [1 mile 3
furlongs & 106 yards] Ffos Las: 19:30 Miss
Crick (Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson) – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 21:00 Londonia (Graeme McPherson/Richard Johnson/EPDS Racing) –
Handicap Hurdle [1 mile 7 furlongs & 202 yards] Menace is
reported to be fine following yesterday’s race and he will be stepped up in
trip again for his next outing. For
the record, yesterday’s 4th place prize money was £238.50. I’m fed up
with this fabulous June weather ... it was drizzling when I walked to work
this morning ... drizzling when I walked to the bank at lunch-time ... and
drizzling when I walked home this evening.
Boring! |
