Open Starts Today

I thought that American Art ran a decent enough race when second under Conor O'Farrell at Uttoxeter yesterday afternoon.  The ground would have been soft enough for him but he turned in a good effort on his seasonal debut behind a useful performer for the grade (to whom we were conceding 5lbs), the pair of them thirteen lengths clear of the third.  The race was slow by some 18 seconds and that shows how soft the ground was - I am sure American Art will be winning again, especially when the ground dries out a bit.  Unfortunately Worcester was abandoned so we did not get a chance to see Lahib The Fifth in action for the first time since joining us at Pond House.

I thought that American Art ran a decent enough race when second under Conor O'Farrell at Uttoxeter yesterday afternoon.  The ground would have been soft enough for him but he turned in a good effort on his seasonal debut behind a useful performer for the grade (to whom we were conceding 5lbs), the pair of them thirteen lengths clear of the third.  The race was slow by some 18 seconds and that shows how soft the ground was - I am sure American Art will be winning again, especially when the ground dries out a bit.  Unfortunately Worcester was abandoned so we did not get a chance to see Lahib The Fifth in action for the first time since joining us at Pond House.

There are five flat meetings taking place this afternoon at Hamilton, Brighton, Epsom, Bath and Doncaster - the trouble is, with so much rain about this summer you need to find horses that handle some cut in the ground.  It is certainly making for some funny results and punting very difficult.  One horse who certainly handled underfoot conditions and looked like a useful type was two year old Dominate who landed the maiden at Sandown yesterday.  Trainer Richard Hannon has so many useful two year old's that I am sure even he is not quite sure where Dominate fits into the pecking order at East Everleigh, but he certainly looks more than capable of winning further races.

*****

It's the beginnning of the Open today at Royal Lytham and I for one cannot wait for the action to unfold.  I see that one Ladbrokes punter in Stockport placed a £15,000 each way wager on Justin Rose at 33/1 - where do you keep that sort of cash?...I am surprised that he was not mugged on the way to the shop!  You often hear of these lumpy bets being placed, but I for one know that if I wandered into my local Ladbrokes with £30,000 there is no way they would take my bet - I remember the staff used to have to phone up their head office if I had £100 on a horse!