Adagio Wins At Warwick

The stable continues in good form and we enjoyed another victory yesterday at Warwick courtesy of hurdling newcomer Adagio.  Despite a couple of errors in the straight he pulled nicely clear of the favourite Duke Of Condicote in the closing stages to secure a 7½ length success.  He jumped really well on the whole and showed a good turn of speed to put the race to bed with the minimum of fuss.  He was well bought out of a Clairefontaine flat claimer in August where he absolutely bolted-up and he is already looking a bargain.  With the winner of this race last year going on to Grade 1 glory, the future looks very bright for Adagio.

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Chelmsford and Doncaster, whilst there are jumps fixtures from Aintree, Kelso and Wincanton.  David has no runners today, although we are in for a busy day tomorrow with runners at three meetings; Ffos Las, Sandown and Southwell.

Today marks the last day of the flat and they sign off in traditional fashion with the November handicap at Doncaster.  As usual it is a fiercely competitive 1m4f handicap with any number of runners that can be given a chance.  If pushed, I think I would side with Euchen Glen who has looked better than ever this season at the age of 7, producing a career best a fortnight ago to win a Group 3 contest on heavy ground.

Oisin Murphy will be crowned champion jockey for the second successive year this afternoon - a tremendous achievement and he looks sure to be challenging for the title for many more years to come.

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Neil Robertson edged Mark Selby 6-5 in an amazing semi-final for the Champion of Champions snooker last night.  Both players hit three century breaks as well as five more breaks of 50 or more in a match full of quality.  Robertson will now face the winner of today's match between Judd Trump and Mark Allen as he bids for back-to-back victories in the tournament.

Southampton moved to the top of the Premier League for the first time in club history yesterday when they beat Newcastle 2-0.  Of course, they have played an extra match, but it is a fantastic effort nonetheless.

The pick of today's action would appear to be Everton versus Manchester United which kicks-off at 12.30pm.  With not much to choose between the two sides, a draw looks to be on the cards to me.

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I went to the paper shop the other day.  Unfortunately it had blown away!

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