Nordic Third At Ascot

I thought that Nordic Combined put up a good first effort of the season when third in the valuable Listed Sodexo handicap hurdle at Ascot, beaten only three lengths.  He was staying on well in the closing stages and looks sure to be winning sooner rather than later, perhaps over slightly further and on softer ground.  It seems amazing that he remains a maiden over hurdles given the good placed form that he has shown thus far.  There was drama in the big chase at Ascot on Saturday when Diego du Charmil completely took his stablemate out of the race at the last fence, yet after a lengthy stewards inquiry, was allowed to keep the race.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Newcastle and Kempton as well as jumps fixtures from Hereford and Plumpton.  There are no runners from the stable today, although Tom Scudamore has picked up four outside rides at Plumpton, whilst David Noonan has a mount at Hereford, although it is forecast to go off at long odds.

Looking through the Plumpton card, there is some decent prize money on offer for their 2½ mile handicap hurdle at 2.40pm.  Air Horse One is on a handy mark if benefiting from a wind operation over the summer and with conditions to suit, could go well at a fair price.

For those of you who struggle to sleep, the Melbourne Cup takes place at Flemington, Australia in the early hours of tomorrow morning.  There is plenty of interest with 9 of the 24 runners European trained, whilst there are former northern hemisphere performers such as Rostropovich and Southern France that are now trained in Australia.  Last year's winner, the Charlie Appleby trained Cross Counter is topweight and will be be ridden by William Buick.  Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore and Jamie Spencer are also riding in the race - they are doing some jet-setting at present having been competing in the Breeders' Cup in the USA on Friday and Saturday.

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Stoke take on West Brom in the Championship tonight with coverage on Sky Sports from 7.30pm.  Stoke are bottom of the table and have it to do against promotion chasing West Brom who can be backed at 6/4.

The third T20 match between England and New Zealand takes place this evening and is on Sky Sports from 1am.  England were poor last time, allowing the Kiwi's to tie the series at 1-1.  They will need to be more positive if they are to get a result and are 11/10 to do just that.

Lewis Hamilton duly wrapped up a sixth world championship when finishing second to team-mate Bottas in the US Grand Prix last night.  Ferrari seem to have lost their way again with Vettel suffering a mechanical retirement and Leclerc not showing the pace that the Italian team have had from mid-season onward.  Should they not progress in the off-season, it is hard to see anyone challenging Mercedes dominance.  After six years, it is about time somebody did!

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How does a Welshman eat his cheese?  Caerphilly!

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