Lion At Lingfield

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Southwell and Lingfield as well as all-weather flat fixtures from Newcastle and Wolverhampton.  The stable has one runner today as Little Red Lion (pictured above) contests the 2m7½f handicap chase at Lingfield at 1.50pm.  He was unlucky to be brought down on his chasing debut at Ffos Las last time but had jumped well until that point.  He remains 7lbs above his winning mark over hurdles but is a progressive and lightly raced youngster.  Fergus Gillard takes the ride and claims a handy 5lbs off his back.  He runs in the colours of the David Pipe Racing Club and if anyone is still looking for a Christmas present for the racing enthusiast a subscription could be the answer.  You can find out more information by clicking here.

We are sorry to hear that Danny Cook is back on the sidelines after suffering vision injuries that are a result of a horrific fall at Market Rasen in October.  Danny, who rode at Pond House for several years, suffered multiple injuries to his face which required 50 stitches.  We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in action soon.

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Lewis Hamilton will not participate in the Grand Prix this weekend at Bahrain (on a different circuit to the one used last Sunday) as he has tested positive for Coronavirus.  It will be the first race that he has missed in thirteen years, although it makes little difference to the title as he has already sewn up a remarkable seventh world championship.  Let's hope he makes a swift recovery.

Despite progressing from their third round matches yesterday, both Judd Trump and Neil Robertson were less than happy, suggesting that the tables were awful due to the ambient temperature in the arena.  Apparently the temperature can affect the way in which the cushions play and is making life difficult for the players. 

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Two men are walking through the woods one day when they stumble across a big, deep hole.

The first guy peers into it and says, “Wow! That looks deep.”

The second guy says, “It sure does. Let’s throw a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is. We’ll be able to tell the depth by how long it is before we hear the noise of the pebbles landing.”

So they pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait. Nothing. There’s no noise.

The first guy says, “Wow! That is really deep. I know, let’s throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise.”

So they pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait… and wait… Again, nothing.

They look at each other in amazement. Then the first guy gets a determined look on his face and says, “Hey, over here in the weeds, there’s a railroad tie. Help me carry it over. When we toss that sucker in, it’s gotta make some noise.”

So the two of them drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Once again, not a sound comes from the hole.

Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as it’s legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole.

The two men are astonished with what they’ve just seen and look at each other in amazement.

Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over. He asks them, “Hey, have you guys seen my goat out here?”

The first guy says, “You bet we did! Strangest thing I ever saw. It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole and disappeared!”

“No”, says the farmer, “That couldn’t have been my goat. My goat was chained to a railroad tie.”

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