Delface Delivers

Delface produced a gutsy performance to land the 2m novices' handicap chase at Hereford yesterday afternoon.  Given a good, positive ride by Fergus Gillard, he jumped well until clouting the last couple of fences and after being headed at the last, he responded bravely to get back up by the narrowest of margins.  The members of the Pipe's Prospectors syndicate will be delighted I am sure.  Delface was beaten by a length in this race last year from a mark of 105 and prevailed this year by a nose from 104 so it looks like the handicapper had it absolutely right...you don't hear that very often, although I wouldn't be saying it if we were beaten by a nose!

Elan de Balme also ran creditably, finishing runner-up in the 3m1f handicap chase, staying on well in the closing stages to grab second on the run-in.  Bumpy Johnson finished third in the novices' hurdle, displaying great promise.  His hurdling was not as fluent as it can be so improvement can be found there going forward and he remains an exciting prospect.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Lingfield and Taunton and all-weather flat fixtures from Chelmsford City and Southwell.  David has two runners at Taunton today; Nobel Joshua and Nordic Combined.  Nobel Joshua contests the 3m handicap hurdle at 1.11pm.  He has finished in the frame on both starts since joining the stable, posting a good effort when second at Exeter last time.  He is 2lbs higher in the weights this afternoon but a repeat of that effort would give him every chance under Fergus Gillard (who is claiming 7lbs for the last time today).

Nordic Combined runs in the 2m3f handicap hurdle at 2.41pm and it is a fiercely competitive race.  The bookies go 11/2 the field - the favourite for the Grand National wasn't that big (the last time it was held in 2019)!  Nordic Combined has plenty of ability and won at the track last season.  He remains 7lbs higher than that winning mark but was far from disgraced behind a very promising type at Sandown last time and has each-way claims with Fergus Gillard taking 7lbs off.

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There were mixed results for the English clubs in Champions League action last night.  Manchester City won away, but Liverpool surprisingly lost at home 2-0 to Atalanta, meaning they are yet to be assured of qualifying despite still heading their group.  They reds looked below par as they slipped to their first home loss (within 90 minutes) since September 2018.

There has been some quality play in the UK Championship snooker already with Stuart Bingham making a maximum 147 break on his way to victory yesterday.  This follows hot on the heels of Kyren Wilson who also performed the feat on Tuesday.  Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson also progressed to the second round, whilst Jimmy White rolled back the years by beating Alan McManus 6-4 in his 100th match at the tournament.

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How many ears does Dr Spock have?  Three...a left ear, a right ear and a final front ear!

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