Perfect Start To The Season!

We got off the mark for the season yesterday afternoon at Exeter with Lucy's Perfect.  Sixteen times champion jockey A P McCoy was aboard and he too was enjoying his first winner of the new campaign when making all aboard our five year old mare.  She never looked to be in any danger - she obviously stays very well and looks the type to follow-up while the ground is riding quite quick.  While Lucy's Perfect clearly enjoys the ground, others certainly didn't and consequently there were quite a few non-runners.

Lucy's Perfect gets us off the mark at Exeter yesterday

We got off the mark for the season yesterday afternoon at Exeter with Lucy's Perfect.  Sixteen times champion jockey A P McCoy was aboard and he too was enjoying his first winner of the new campaign when making all aboard our five year old mare.  She never looked to be in any danger - she obviously stays very well and looks the type to follow-up while the ground is riding quite quick.  While Lucy's Perfect clearly enjoys the ground, others certainly didn't and consequently there were quite a few non-runners.

According to AP though, the small field sizes are not just down to the ground but due to the people at race planning.  I completely agree with the champ when he says that there are too many race meetings on for this time of year (five jumps cards on Monday and another two yesterday) and not enough horses to go around.  He suggests speading the fixtures out a little more evenly or even getting rid of some of the fixtures and improving the prize money at those meetings left.  Let's hope that someone at race planning is listening.

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Is Gordon Elliott half Scottish?  Our former amateur jockey turned successful trainer seems to spend half his time in Scotland and he loves nothing better than to raid their meetings at Perth.  It used to be Nigel Twiston-Davies speciality, but Gordon is certainly giving him a run for his money these days.  I remember going up there with six of Martin's horses for the two day meeting years ago - five of them won, but Martin still asked me how the other one managed to get beaten!

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I thought that Manchester United looked very good last night as they beat Schalke 2-0 in the Champions League.  Maybe they are better than I have been giving them credit for?...Just don't go telling our head lad Eddie!

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A mate of mine from the local bookies told me the other day that he wished there was a Royal Wedding every year - I said that I didn't realise that he was a monarchist.  He told me that he wasn't - he would just get an extra day off work.  I wonder how many clever people out there with normal Monday to Friday 9-5 jobs have managed to wangle themselves an extended holiday?  If you had used just three days of leave this week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) you would have bagged yourself twelve days off in total...good work if you can get it!