Chepstow Abandoned

Sadly the Welsh National meeting at Chepstow that was scheduled to take place this afternoon has been abandoned due to the inclement weather.  The big race is now due to be rescheduled for some time in January.  That leaves us with just three meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Kempton and Wetherby while there is an all-weather flat card from Wolverhampton.  David has one runner today as Vaniteux contests the 2.30pm race at Kempton; a two mile chase worth £90,000.  There are only four runners, but as you can imagine for that sort of cash they are fairly good!  Vaniteux would need to improve on his most recent outings to win this, although even the fourth home picks up nearly £5,000...that is more than you get for winning quite a few races.  Meanwhile, David Noonan has picked up some outside rides at Wetherby - it's a long way to go, so let's hope he is among the winners.

I thought that River Dun ran a very good first race for the stable when beaten only a neck at Fontwell in the conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle yesterday.  She looks more than capable of winning something similar before long.  Over at Wincanton, Abracadabra Sivola finished fourth and in so doing picked up a bit of prize money.

I see that champion jockey Richard Johnson is due to miss a day or two after banging his head and will need to pass a concussion test before being able to return to race riding.

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Jose Mourinho has told the board at Manchester United that he needs to spend £300 million to sort the team out.  I think the first thing I would be looking to do is getting the goal keeper signed up to a long term contract - he has been their best player by far and clearly demonstrates that defense is key.  Meanwhile, my beloved West Ham drew 3-3 with Bournemouth and I reckon that the referee needs glasses.  The decision to let Bournemouth's third goal stand is one of the worst decisions I have ever seen...do I sound a bit annoyed?!

I see that England are fighting back in the fourth Ashes test match - it is the first time they have shown any fight in the series.  Australia made 327 in their first innings while the visitors are currently on 158-2 with Cook on 85 not out.

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What surrounded a medieval castle?  Moat-zzarella!  Have a nice day...

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