Rain At Aintree

There are three meetings taking place this afternoon with all of the action on the level from Musselburgh, Lingfield and Wolverhampton.  It's a shame they didn't think to slip a jumps meeting in there somewhere.  Still, the jumps are back tomorrow and the Grand National meeting from Liverpool starts on Thursday so the wait for more top class National Hunt is nearly over.

I see that it is Barry Hills' 82nd birthday today.  He still goes and oversees the gallops and looked after Martin and myself when we went to Lambourn recently.  He even sorted me out with a fried breakfast...don't tell Mrs Barnes!  We were there with Carol whilst Oaksey House were sorting out her arm.  They are currently doing a fantastic job on Bryony Frost's shoulder and remember, they do all of this through charitable contributions which is a great pity as they should certainly get some sort of funding from the government.  It is a great place to pay a visit (hopefully not with an injury!) - the last time I was there I bumped into former champion flat jockey Joe Mercer.

There was a big crowd at Chelmsford yesterday afternoon.  You will get big crowds if you let everyone in free of charge.  I am sure the course will have made plenty back through food and beverages and hopefully some of those in attendance will go racing again.  We definitely need some people with fresh ideas to encourage the racegoers back onto the track.

Despite the course getting 10mm of rain overnight, the Aintree weather forecast doesn't sound as though there is any more significant rain over the coming days.  It is a good job they are putting water on the track - I know that David will be doing a rain dance for a few of his intended runners, not least his Grand National pair Ramses de Teillee and Vieux Lion Rouge.

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Arsenal went third in the Premier League last night following their 2-0 defeat of Newcastle.  The big match tonight is between Wolves and Manchester United and it is on Sky at 7.45pm.  Wolves may be the underdogs but look well worth a punt at 3/1 at home.  Meanwhile, Watford take on Fulham and look a good bet at 8/11.

I watched the Kash Ali fight against David Price.  I think that Kash's trainer meant he wanted more bite in his fighter's punches, not for him to bite his opponent!  Well, he has had his boxing licence suspended and his £20,000 purse withheld.  It did look bad on television and I reckon it was worse if you were in the ring with him.  I seem to remember Mike Tyson doing something similar.

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What do you get if you cross a cocker spaniel with a rooster and a poodle?  Cockerpoodledoo!  Have a nice day...

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