General Second At Warwick

Three Star General ran another solid race at Warwick yesterday afternoon to finish runner-up in the 3m2f handicap hurdle.  He has now finished second on four of his last five starts.  It will be interesting to see what the handicapper does to him.  As far as I am concerned he should drop him a few pounds to give him a chance of winning, although I expect he will put him up again.  The system just doesn't seem right to me.  Anyway, colourful owner Stuart Mercer was there, pictured with a few friends in a scene reminiscent of something out of Charlie's Angels.  You older readers will know what I am talking about!

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Wetherby and Huntingdon as well as flat cards from Chelmsford City and Newcastle.  There is one runner from Pond House today as David saddles Buster Edwards to compete in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle at Wetherby at 4.00pm.  Our six year old ran a good first race when narrowly denied on his rules debut at Worcester and showed a good deal of promise at Chepstow last time on his second run back after a long absence.  He should appreciate this trip and looks to have fair claims on this handicap debut under Tom Scudamore.

I know I keep saying it, but why don't stewards use a bit of common sense?  They took 25 minutes to reverse the placings of the fourth and fifth horses in the 7f handicap at Lingfield, whilst connections, racegoers and bookmakers all assumed incorrectly that the inquiry involved the first two home.  Noisy bookmaker Barry Dennis criticised their handling of the matter and he was right again.

Jockey Robbie Dunne is in trouble having taken a piece of lead from a stable employee prior to the weigh-in after a race he won at Chepstow in 2017 and hiding it in his breeches.  It all goes on in the weighing room.  Give the inquiry another couple of years and it will all be sorted out!

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The Masters gets underway today and I always have a few bets to keep me entertained.  This year I am on Dustin Johnson at 12/1, Tommy Fleetwood at 30's and Matt Kuchar at 40/1.  I haven't spotted AP in the practice rounds yet!

I watched the Manchester United versus Barcelona match last night with United losing 1-0 at home.  Lionel Messi looked to be in a bit of a mess after a tackle from Chris Smalling left him with what looked like a broken nose and a lovely black eye.  United have an impossible job going to Barcelona trying to get a result in the second leg.

Arsenal play Napoli tonight and the Gunners look to be a big price at 29/20 considering they are the home team.

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I've been trying to hire a librarian...Unfortunately they are all fully booked!

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