Busy Day Ahead!

First Lord De Cuet runs at Exeter today!

Today there are three jumps meetings at Ayr, Exeter and Leicester and while we don’t make the trip to Scotland, we are represented at both of the other jumps meetings.  We have three runners at Leicester, American Sniper, Texard and Heure De Gloire and four runners at Exeter, Kingofthewest, First Lord Du Cuet, Itacare and Astigar.  Tom Scu rides all three of our runners at Leicester and American Sniper runs in the 2.35pm EBF novices hurdle at 2.35pm.  He has been a model of consistency this season and has already won two novices hurdles and he ran a cracker in his first go in a handicap at Taunton last time to be second.  He shoulders a double penalty for his wins but I think he will enjoy the more galloping track today and if the ratings of the horses are all correct then he should win or go very close.

Texard runs in the 2m4f handicap chase at 3.10pm.  He has won two races for us since coming over from France and found the ground way to lively when last in action at Wetherby back in October where he finished third.  He is not the easiest to train at home but he definitely has plenty of ability and at 14/1 he looks to have a small each way chance.

Heure De Gloire runs in the mares handicap hurdle at 3.45pm over two miles.  She has been very consistent this season without managing to get her head in front and she ran a lovely race in a much hotter contest at Newbury last time to be third.  She was also third over 2m4f at this course on her seasonal reappearance with the stiff two miles likely to suit better this afternoon.  I see she is about third in the betting and fingers crossed she can run well.

Over at Exeter, our first runner of the afternoon is Kingofthewest in the opening conditional jockeys handicap hurdle over 2m2f with Fergus Gillard on board.  He has only had one run this season where he was a never nearer third over 2m4f at Worcester.  The stiffer track today will suit and he is a previous course winner.  It looks a competitive race but he is a horse a like and hopefully he won’t be too far away come the finish.

First Lord Du Cuet runs in the three miles novices chase at 1.35pm with Fergus Gillard in the saddle.  There are only four runners and it is a tricky little race but I hope our grey can get his first win over the larger obstacles.  He has finished second on all four of his starts over fences to date and he deserves to get that elusive first victory.  It looks a good opportunity on paper so fingers crossed!

Itacare runs in the 3.55pm handicap hurdle, division one of the race with Philip Armson on board.  I think he has runned better than the recent form figures may suggest and the handicapper is slowly relenting from his Ludlow win which will give him a chance.  He will appreciate the drying ground although he is one of the outsiders in the field.

Astigar runs in the second division of this staying hurdle race with Fegrus Gillard in the plate.  This again looks competitive but hopefully he has an each way chance.  He does possess a fair bit of ability but he is very lightly raced and has had a bit of a start stop career to date.  This is only his second start in a handicap and I think there is scope from it as he tries the trip for the first time.  He ran well at Cheltenham in November before getting a little tired late on and hopefully we will see a bit more of what he can really do this afternoon.

In yesterday’s action, we actually made New Age Dawning a non-runner at Lingfield later on due to the ground.  It had dried out more than we had hoped and even though the horse was at the track we decided to wait for another day.  Lock Out ran a little below expectations to be fourth while Jet Smart appeared not to try too hard.  He has plenty of ability but we just need to find the key to unlock it!

In the football last night Newcastle beat Southampton 2-1.

My team, Manchester United are in action tonight at home to Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg.  They take a 3-0 lead into this game so fingers crossed they will not go to pieces and go through to the final without too much trouble!

Two cats are having a swimming race.  One is called “One two three” the other “Un Deux Trois”.  Which cat won?

“One two three” because “Un Deau Trois Cat Sank”!  Happy Wednesday!