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                On the Gallops

It is a typical Bank Holiday Monday in the racing world today with seven meetings on around the country.  There are five on the flat at Epsom, Ripon, Chepstow, Newcastle and Warwick plus jumps card at Cartmel and Huntingdon.  I also say it is typical because it is raining!  It is a good day for our lorry drivers as they can take it easy and not get stuck in traffice jams as David does not have any runners today.  AP goes to Huntingdon and has six rides and three of them are favourites!  Richard Johnson goes to Cartmel and also has six rides with four favourites!  If the rest of the country has the amount of rain that we have had overnight down here in Brixham I would think there will be a lot of going changes so keep an eye out for this during the action.

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There are three meetings taking place this afternoon and just for a change there isn't a jumps card among them!  The action comes from Goodwood, Beverley and Yarmouth and I would be expecting a big crowd at the latter meeting.  A bank holiday meeting near the coast sounds like a perfect opportunity for holiday makers to take in a bit or racing action.  I used to pop over to Yarmouth when we were at the Newmarket sales and would often buy the winner of the seller for Martin.  You can tell it is a Bank Holiday weekend as the weather forecast is for cold weather and a lot of rain over the next few days and there could be another change in the going - it certainly doesn't seem like August!  Having said that, it was a lovely day on the gallops yesterday and we were joined by Gordon and Sue (pictured above, centre and second left) who own Lady Of Longstone and Houston Dynimo.

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Horses_going_up_gallops_sept13_web

There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with five on the level at York, Goodwood, Newmarket, Windsor and Redcar as well as a jumps card from Cartmel.  There is another competitive card at York with the big race of the day the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes for two year old colts and geldings.  Meanwhile there are plenty of runners at Cartmel with champion jockey A P McCoy making the long trip up north for three rides.  Cartmel is a unique racing experience and I would recommend it to any enthusiast, although don't expect to be getting out any time soon after the last as the lanes get totally jammed up!  I tried to leave early a number of years ago but failed miserably - the last time I went up by helicopter and that is definitely the way to travel with a lovely trip across Morecombe Bay.

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Purple_N_Gold_Uttoxeter_web

Although we didn't get into the winners enclosure yesterday, I thought that Purple 'N Gold (pictured above) ran well to finish third in the competitive handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot - he looked as though he stayed this longer trip of 2m3f, although he does not always find as much as anticipated off the bridle.  Even so, this should open up a few more options for him.  Skylander also finished third in the closing bumper, although he already looks as though he is going to want a longer trip.

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It's a busy day with five meetings taking place and for a change there is a bit of balance to the schedule.  There are three flat meetings taking place at York, Bath and Wolverhampton as well as a couple of meetings over jumps at Newton Abbot and Ffos Las and the stable has runners at each National Hunt fixture.  Weather Babe (pictured above) takes part in the 2m4f handicap hurdle at Ffos Las and she has been in good form this term although she doesn't seem to have an awful lot in hand of the handicapper.  Conditional jockey Michael Heard claims a useful 10lbs off her back.

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It is a busy day for a Wednesday with no less than five meetings taking place, sadly none of them are over the sticks.  The flat action comes from York, Musselburgh, Lingfield, Kempton and Southwell.  There is some fantastic action at  York this afternoon with the Judmonte featuring dual Derby hero Australia being the rightful feature.  With over £1million in prize money up for grabs it makes you wonder why you also need three low grade all-weather cards on the same day?  The prize money for the three meetings combined is only £100,000 for their twenty-one races - I bet the tracks are rubbing their hands together at the sight of their bank balances!

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Franklin_Roosevelt_Newton_Abbot

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon; three on the flat at Yarmouth, Brighton and Leicester as well as a jumps card at Worcester.  The stable is represented by one runner at Worcester; Franklin Roosevelt (pictured above) who takes part in the 2m7f handicap chase at 6.10pm.  He was a ready winner from a lower mark over hurdles at Newton Abbot last time, but reverts back to the larger obstacles this evening.  With Tom Scudamore currently on the sidelines this presents a good opportunity for young Kieron Edgar who has ridden him a couple of times before.  Kieron claims a handy 5lbs off his back in what looks like a competitive little race.

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