Weekend Jottings

There are just two meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps fixtures from Sandown and Ffos Las.  There are no runners from Pond House today although stable jockeys Tom Scudamore and David Noonan have both picked up a couple of spare rides at Sandown and Ffos Las respectively.

There is an interesting veteran's chase at 3.30pm today and it looks like a tough handicap with plenty of winners among them.  I know that David is a keen advocate of these sort of races as they give the older generation a chance to compete for a nice pot without the fear of bumping into a young improver.  They are also very popular with racegoers who get attached to these old-timers owing the longevity of their career.

I see that Hereford have been forced to give up their fixture on Tuesday owing to unseasonably fast ground and a further dry forecast.  It was a similar scenario before their first scheduled meeting of the new season - given how wet it has been everywhere else, it is hard to believe isn't it?!

Warwick are tightening up on dog walkers and have placed signs asking them to refrain from letting their hounds on the course.  Apparently one of the jockeys recently got some poo on his face - a sticky situation I am sure.

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Marseille have sacked Patrice Evra following his karate kick on one of his fans before kick off recently - quite rightly so too.  Meanwhile FIFA have slapped a season-long ban on the disgraced player for his Eric Cantona style assault.  I have seen it several times and it does look pretty nasty.

I see that Mo Farah has now decided that he wants to challenge for a medal in the marathon at the 2020 Olympic Games.  He will have to improve a bit as he has four minutes to make up on Wilson Kipsang from London in 2014.

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After several karate lessons I can now break a five inch board...with my cast!

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