Entries & Recent Form
- Thursday, 21 April 2011 07:06
- Written by James C Smith
Where has all the common sense gone? Darryl Holland failed to weigh-in after finishing fourth at Southwell yesterday afternoon and was consequently handed a four day ban which rules him out of the Chester Cup meeting next month. Fair enough I hear you say, but dig a little deeper and you will realise that with only nine runners, it wouldn't affect betting on the race, and furthermore there was no prizemoney for the fourth horse - so where is the problem? Surely a slap on the wrist would have sufficed rather than putting him on the sidelines for four days - the world has gone mad!
- Wednesday, 20 April 2011 07:47
- Written by James C Smith
I am pleased to report that Tom Scudamore underwent successful surgery on his dislocated shoulder on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately the Pond House stable jockey is still likely to face a spell on the sidelines of around four months as his arm recuperates following a fall from the David Bridgwater trained The Giant Bolster at Aintree's Grand National meeting. I am sure that Tom will be climbing the walls (figuratively speaking!), but at least this is a positive piece of news.
- Tuesday, 19 April 2011 14:08
- Written by James C Smith
To follow, an open letter to British Telecom from Carol Pipe - I am sure many of you will know where we are coming from!:
19th April 2011
Dear whoever the faceless wonder is that is (in charge of) running BT,
This seems to be the only way that I may be able to speak to anyone who knows how BT works (or on this occasion, doesn’t).
I won’t bore you with all of the details, so will give you the abridged version…I spoke with one of your business advisors about how we could reduce the cost of our business telephone charges. We agreed to disconnect one of our defunct lines, and to sign up to a two year deal with reduced charges – all very good.
- Tuesday, 19 April 2011 06:51
- Written by James C Smith
As owner Sarah Ling said in the Racing Post, "You wait for a bus and they all come along together!" She was of course referring to her horse Laustra Bad, who was winning his second race within the space of a month having previously endured a losing run stretching back almost four years. The handicapper reacted by putting him up by 10lbs for that last success and I must admit, I thought that was harsh. I have to put my hands up and say that he was right after our eight year old bolted up again yesterday from his revised mark - he received a positive ride from our rapidly improving conditional jockey Conor O'Farrell to win by ten lengths. It was a good bit of placement from David who found a terrible race for him, even so he will probably have to turn him out again under a penalty as the handicapper is bound to take a dim view.
- Monday, 18 April 2011 07:01
- Written by James C Smith
What a great leveller this sport of ours is...just look at poor little Willie Twiston-Davies for proof. Only last month the sixteen year old jock was on the floor in tears having just parted company with hot favourite Baby Run in the Foxhunters at the Cheltenham Festival with the race seemingly at his mercy. Three weeks later he was on top of the world having atoned for that misfortune by landing the Aintree equivalent aboard the same horse. Yesterday the poor lad broke his leg in a fall at Stratford and will need surgery to help repair it. He says, "It's my first serious injury and I'll need to have an operation. I'm in pain but it's got to be done". The lad is probably still doing a paper round, yet he still sounds a lot braver than me!
- Sunday, 17 April 2011 00:00
- Written by James C Smith
I see that the Taunton Vale Harriers are hosting a point-to-point at Fennington Farm on Easter Monday, 25th April. Some of the meetings lately have been decimated by firm ground meaning that there have been very few runners. They will be taking no chances a week on Monday and will be watering three or four days in advance of the fixture to ensure that the ground is okay and there is a good turnout. If you have never been pointing, it is an enjoyable day out where you will get to see plenty of familiar names that used to compete under rules, as well as maybe a potential star or two of the future.
- Saturday, 16 April 2011 07:31
- Written by James C Smith
Sure Josie Sure finished a good second at Ayr yesterday afternoon trying to concede 4lbs to the A P McCoy ridden Remember Now. We also filled the runner-up spot with I'msingingtheblues in the handicap chase, both horses are entered again at the Scottish track this afternoon although Sure Josie Sure will not take her chance. Our other runners yesterday afternoon were in the handicap hurdle at Chepstow and while Spanish Cruise ran creditably to finish second, hot favourite Spirit Of Barbados ducked left at the first flight, running out and depositing rider Rhys Flint. With three seconds yesterday, we really did have a case of seconditis - let's hope that we can go one better this afternoon with our runners.
