Wincanton Abandon

Following an early morning inspection, Wincanton have taken the decision to abandon their meeting this afternoon leaving just three fixtures today.  There is jumps action from Market Rasen and Ludlow as well as an all-weather flat fixture from Newcastle.  We were due to have three runners at Wincanton today but the inclement conditions means that we now have a blank day.  Tom Scudamore and David Noonan were also both due to ride at the meeting so it is a shame all round.

Our next runners are due to come at Chepstow tomorrow.  The weather forecast isn't great for this afternoon, so let's hope they can beat the elements.

Talking of jockeys, I see there could be trouble brewing for the nine riders who were beaten in the concluding 2m apprentice race at Wolverhampton yesterday.  Winning jockey Dylan Hogan rode his rivals to sleep aboard Wanaasah, stealing a large lead from an early stage and never looking likely to relinquish it.  It wasn't the finest hour for those in behind, who all said that they felt the winner had gone too fast.  The BHA have decided to look into the riding of those in behind, assessing sectional timings and also at betting patterns.  The clock would suggest that Hogan got it absolutely right - the race was the slowest on the card with the winning time over seven seconds outside of standard.  It is fair to suggest that this was a race for inexperienced jockeys, but the BHA are right to take a look nonetheless.

*****

Manchester United managed to get the verdict in a tight third round FA Cup replay over Wolves.  Meanwhile, there was a exciting match as Cardiff edged a seven goal thriller against League 2 side Carlisle 4-3.  Carlisle will rue letting a 2-0 lead slip in the first meeting and again led here.

England take on South Africa in the third match of their test series.  They produced a thrilling win last time in Cape Town to level the series 1-1 so let's hope they can use that momentum to move ahead of the hosts.

*****

I was sacked from my job at the clock factory.  Apparently I wasn't putting in enough hours!

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