Six Meetings Today

It looks like being a busy day of action this afternoon as there are no less than six meetings taking place - five on the level at Goodwood, Haydock, Yarmouth, Musselburgh and Catterick as well as a fixture over the jumps at Towcester.  The stable doesn't have any runners today.  Yesterday Junior finished fifth in the competitive staying handicap chase at Wetherby, a serious blunder at the second last not helping his cause although he was beaten at the time - I am sure there will be other days for him.  A P McCoy was aboard the winner of that race, Lost Glory and he has already ridden eight winners since returning from injury, meaning that he is now only 11 winners behing Jason Maguire.

It looks like being a busy day of action this afternoon as there are no less than six meetings taking place - five on the level at Goodwood, Haydock, Yarmouth, Musselburgh and Catterick as well as a fixture over the jumps at Towcester.  The stable doesn't have any runners today.  Yesterday Junior finished fifth in the competitive staying handicap chase at Wetherby, a serious blunder at the second last not helping his cause although he was beaten at the time - I am sure there will be other days for him.  A P McCoy was aboard the winner of that race, Lost Glory and he has already ridden eight winners since returning from injury, meaning that he is now only 11 winners behing Jason Maguire.

Above: Shaking Hands (left) and Master Overseer (right) enjoying their summer break

It is that time of the year when many of the horses have gone out to grass for their summer holidays and as you can see from the picture above of doughty stayers Shaking Hands and Master Overseer they are certainly enjoying a bit of sun on their backs.  It is great to see them enjoying some rest and recuperation having been on the go throughout the winter.

Looking at the flat jockeys' championship I see that reigning champion Richard Hughes is in front again on 54 winners, but he is hotly pursued by former champ Ryan Moore on 52.  The pair of them are 23 winners ahead of the rest of the jockeys and it looks like being a tremendous battle barring injuries.

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Surely Stoke manager Tony Pulis did a fantastic job?  Just to keep Stoke City in the Premiership is a bonus - the board of directors clearly seem to think that a new manager is going to make them a better team.  The trouble is that most of these people do not have a clue what they are talking about.  Tony Pulis is a great manager and it shouldn't be long before he has another chance to prove it.

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I am looking forward to the fight between Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler tomorrow night - it should be a great contest.  Froch has been a great fighter for many years and has never really had the credit that he deserves.  Since 2010 Kessler has only fought 13 rounds so he could be a little rusty, meaning that Froch has a great chance to lift the title.

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Onto golf and I thought that Rory McIlroy played well for the first 12 holes in the BMW PGA Championship.  However he bogeyed five of the last six holes and it is going to be very difficult for him to make the cut at Huntworth.  He has seemed to lose concentration during recent tournaments and will need to find his focus and post a low score in the second round to make the cut.