Heavy Ground

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with the action coming from Catterick and Leicester on the turf and Lingfield and Southwell on the all-weather.  The rain has taken it's toll with the ground at Catterick currently soft, whilst Leicester is heavy (soft in places) so if you are thinking of having a wager, make sure that your selection will handle the ground as plenty of these won't.

I see that the opening race at Leicester is a 1m2f seller for three year old's and I am sure that there will be a few jumps trainers looking at the race with interest, especially as the ground will be extremely testing.  I don't know why there aren't more races of this type as they provide the trainers a decent opportunity for their lower grade horses, the track with good revenue and purchasers with the opportunity to grab a bargain...what's not to like?!

It was no surprise to hear that Arc hero Sottsass has been retired following his victory at the weekend.  A 50% share in the four year old had been bought by Coolmoore back in January after he had finished third in the 2019 running of the race.  Meanwhile, a decision on Enable's future is yet to be made, with talk persisting at a possible final tilt at the Breeder's Cup.

Above is a picture of popular grey staying hurdler/chaser Ramses de Teillee on the Pond House gallops.  Our eight year old has been something of a standard-bearer for the stable in recent seasons and is doing nicely ahead of the coming campaign.

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Arsenal fans will no doubt be happy after the club signed Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey for a record deal of £45million on transfer deadline day.  Arsenal have been on the up in recent months and this latest signing should do nothing to halt that progression.

The Kansas City Chiefs maintained their perfect start to the season as they beat the Cam Newton-less New England Patriots.  In doing so, the Chiefs became the first team in history to win their first four games in four consecutive seasons.  The Patriots were without their quarterback Cam Newton due to a positive Covid-19 test and rarely looked likely to give the Chiefs a stern test.  Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers went to 4-0 by beating the winless Atlanta Falcons.

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I hope Elon Musk never gets involved in a scandal...Elon-gate would be really drawn out!

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