Parchment at Kempton

It is a busy jumps racing Monday with three meetings across the country at Kempton, Ludlow and Sedgefield.  We have one runner, Parchment who runs in the opening race at Kempton, the 12.25pm juvenile hurdle and Jack Tudor rides.  We are a short priced favourite for this race and even though he carries a penalty I think he can win.  He is a horse we hold in high regard and it is good to get him started over here.  He arrived over at Pond House earlier in the summer having won his only start in France over hurdles easily.  We turned him away for a holiday and this is his first outing in Britain.  He has an engine and a likeable attitude and while there are a couple of useful flat recruits in opposition today I hope he can put his hurdling experience to good use and show us all what he can do.

There are some good races at Kempton and Ludlow today and it should be an intriguing Monday! There is no racing in Ireland but the flat action comes on the all-weather at Newcastle and Wolverhampton later on in the afternoon into the evening.

It was a great racing and sporting weekend on the whole, apart from the cricket with England losing the first Ashes Test to Australia!  Phantomofthepoints ran a terrific race in the stayers hurdle up at Haydock on Saturday and he was a joy to watch leading the field a merry dance and jumping superbly.  I thought Jack kicked on and nearly stole the race approaching two out but was just reeled in after the last to finish third in the end.  Off a five pound higher mark than when he finished third in the race twelve months ago this was a great effort on ground that was a bit quicker than ideal and he has come out of the race fine which is the main thing. I am sure David will have a chat with his owners now and he may switch to chasing as he is a lovely big horse who should improve further for the larger obstacles.

It was a slightly disappointing day at Exeter yesterday but that is racing!  I thought Punta Del Este ran better than he has been of late, staying on well which he has not done previously.  This was a race he can build on next time.  Best Night ran well enough in a competitive little race to be fifth while Harry Junior probably found the race coming soon enough and was well below his winning form from Lingfield last time.  He seems fine this morning and we shall freshen him up and I am sure he can bounce back next time.

There was some great racing in Ireland over the weekend and a stunning performance from Lossiemouth to win on Saturday while yesterday Gaelic Warrior outbattled stablemate Fact or File to winning the John Durkan chase in a thriller.  Grey Dawning was also an impressive winner of the Betfair chase and there was plenty to take from all the races over the weekend looking further ahead for the season.

There was a good win for the Exeter Chiefs in the rugby against the Bristol Bears on Saturday, while England remain undefeated after beating Argentina yesterday.  Wales lost to New Zealand and Ireland lost to South Africa.  There was a win for Scotland against Tonga.

It was not a great weekend for Liverpool who lost 3-0 to Nottingham Forrest or Manchester City who lost at Newcastle but there was an easy win for Arsenal who beat Spurs 4-1 yesterday.  Manchester United play Everton at 8pm this evening.

I gave my friend an apple.

He said he'd prefer a pear, so I gave him another apple.

Have a great Monday!