Happy 2012!

Well, Happy New Year everyone!  I can't believe that it is 2012...I'm sure there will be a few sore heads around the yard this morning!  Anyway, there is a great day's National Hunt racing lined-up with Cheltenham heading the bill.  Matuhi represents us in the feature chase at Prestbury Park and with over £40,000 up for grabs, it is a very competitive contest as you would expect.  We also have two runners, African Broadway and Unex Degas at our local track, Exeter.  African Broadway takes a big drop in class having run against the likes of Fingal Bay last time, while Unex Degas makes his debut for the stable.

Well, Happy New Year everyone!  I can't believe that it is 2012...I'm sure there will be a few sore heads around the yard this morning!  Anyway, there is a great day's National Hunt racing lined-up with Cheltenham heading the bill.  Matuhi represents us in the feature chase at Prestbury Park and with over £40,000 up for grabs, it is a very competitive contest as you would expect.  We also have two runners, African Broadway and Unex Degas at our local track, Exeter.  African Broadway takes a big drop in class having run against the likes of Fingal Bay last time, while Unex Degas makes his debut for the stable.

Let's hope that one of the meetings takes place near you...I can't think of a better way of getting over a hangover than a day at the races.

I was watching the racing on Friday from Lingfield and was amused by one of the winning owners, Chris Beek, who greeted his winner with peroxide blonde hair.  He says that if his next horse wins, he will be going purple on top - there are certainly some exuberant owners about, although I am glad that the likes of David Johnson doesn't go to such lengths...he would be out of colours by now!  Perhaps as a fellow West Ham supporter we should consider going claret and blue for the New Year DJ?!

With the ground at Haydock proving very testing on Friday, the hurdles races were actually more like flat races.  The groundsmen had taken out the first two hurdles in the straight, meaning that there was a gap of six furlongs between the last two flights!

*****

It just goes to show how popular the King George VI Chase meeting at Kempton is on Boxing Day.  Over a million people tuned in to see Kauto Star land his fifth success in the race, and over 400,000 viewers watched The Morning Line.  It shows that great stories will bring in the spectators - we have plenty of wonderful characters and stories in racing at the moment aside from Kauto Star, so we must make sure that the product is better sold to the general public in 2012.