Weekend Jottings

There are just two meetings taking place this afternoon with a jumps card from Kelso supported by an all-weather flat fixture from Southwell.  Unsurprisingly there are no runners from Pond House today, although we are likely to be back tomorrow with representatives at Ffos Las.  Meanwhile, there is a good card at Punchestown in Ireland today that features a Grade 2 hurdle and a Grade 3 chase with some good prize money on offer.

There is an interesting piece in today's Racing Post in which former champion jockey John Francome has his say.  John is not one to mince his words but what he does say is usually worth listening to...they may have to edit out some of his swearing though!  He is always very welcoming of me and Martin when we go to visit him in Lambourn and Martin even drank one of his cups of tea.  For those of you who don't know him personally, Martin will not drink a cup of tea made by anybody other than Carol!

It is only January but there are already loads of advertisements for the Cheltenham Festival...some of them look quite expensive and I see one sleeps between 2 and 24 people - I bet that gets quite noisy!  Meanwhile, there is also a manor up for grabs for those with a fortune to spend...I wonder if the Lord moves out for the week?!  Most of the more reasonably priced accommodation near the course is booked out a year before the Festival.

Talking of the ad's, I noticed that someone was looking for a Hunter Chase form expert.  If that wasn't strange enough, the email address was 'jokerswild'...I wonder if someone is having a laugh?!

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The big footballl match today is Tottenham Hotspur versus Manchester United at 4.30pm.  Now they are up against one of the better teams, we will see if United have actually improved for their new manager.  You can back Spurs at 11/10, whilst Everton are 4/5 to beat Bournemouth.

I see that Lord Sugar's assistant Karen Brady has said 'big guns only have eyes for the Premiership'.  You can see whey she is chairwoman of a football club with an exclusive statement like that!  Incidentally, Martin once trained one for her father Terry.

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What do you call a lady standing in the middle of a tennis court?  Annette!  Keep smiling...

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