Weather Woes

There is no jumps action in England today with Leicester having being called off even before entry stage and Kelso falling victim to the weather yesterday.  There was due to be some jumps racing in Ireland at Down Royal but that has just been called off after an early morning inspection.  I was going to say at least we have some all-weather action to watch but there is in fact an 8am inspection at Wolverhampton this morning due to the threat of snow. Fingers crossed that will be on and we will have so flat racing from there and also from Southwell today.  Prospects do not look a whole lot better for racing on Wednesday in Britain either with both Catterick and Wincanton inspecting today.  Wincanton are having a look at 8am while Catterick are expected to announce a time for some point today.  I see there were some cries on social media up North as to why for example the Kelso fixture could not be arranged sor a day later this week.  They have had 8 fixtures in the North cancelled recently so I think if the track is keen, why not?  They do this in Ireland and it seems to work really well so I definitely think it is something the BHA should consider doing.

Plumpton just about got away with racing yesterday and despite inspections at 8am, 10am and 12 noon it was still touch and go whether racing went ahead or not.  I do feel a touch sorry for clerk of the courses as they are in a bit of a no win situation some times.  They are trying their best to get racing on so want to leave decisions to as late as possible but this is not helpful for trainers, owners, jockeys etc.  Our horses set off at 7am yesterday morning and were already at the track by the third inspection.  We were grateful that Plumpton gave the track every chance to race but obviously if it had been called off at that late stage we would not have been very happy and the owners will have had all the expense to bear.  While there were a host of non runners in the first couple of races and people watching were questioning that racing should have even gone ahead still I was pleased that as the afternoon went on there were less withdrawals and we got to see some competitive action.

We had slight reservations about the track suiting our first runner yesterday, Hugo N Taz and it did not help his chance.  He is a lovely big horse, measuring over 17.2hh and the tight bends did not help him travel or get into a nice rhythm at anytime during the race.  A return to a more galloping track should hopefully see him in better light next time.  It was nice to see Poker Play return to form to finish second yesterday in the three mile handicap hurdle.  In truth, he had not shown much enthusiasm in his last two appearances on the track and so David left off all the headgear and he really seemed to enjoy himself and it was much more like what we know he can do yesterday.  We knew he was in good form at home but they still need to show it on the racecourse as well.  A slight mistake two out probably cost him his chance in winning but he battled on well to the line to finish second.  It was a good run and fingers crossed he can build on this next time.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable Tuesday.