Grands Crus Follows Up!

Sponsors Betfair also put up a £200 prize for the winning groom – the staff work long and sometimes unsociable hours for the love of their horses. Whilst there is often a best turned out prize, it is not very often that they receive a cash sum for winning a race - it is nice when their efforts are recognised and rewarded in such a way.

Talking of prize money, last week I alluded to the amazing difference in prize money awarded in some races compared to the corresponding meeting 12 months prior. It doesn’t just end their either – there has also been an alarming decrease in the amount of appearance money awarded for runners on a Sunday. Not so long ago, owners were given £300 for having a Sunday runner – today the figure stands at £120…a decrease of a massive 60%. The cost of owning a racehorse (the same as in life in general!) certainly hasn’t decreased and I wonder what incentive there is for owners to have runners in this country? These are worrying times for the British racing industry indeed…

Now, I would like to clear one matter up…thanks to literary geniuses Chester (through his daily chat) and Dave Mitchell at the Mirror I have been branded “Basil” as in Basil Fawlty. This all came about when they got hold of a picture of me apparently doing a John Cleese silly walk – what they didn’t tell you was that this was the last in a series of action shots of me trying to convert a rugby ball in Cheltenham’s parade ring – you will see to the right, the first in the series and you can also see from my perfect body positioning and kicking action that I could have been an England rugby player if I hadn’t taken up training!  Forget Basil, my nickname should be Wilkinson!

Tonight I am on my travels as I journey up to London for the Hennessy reception and preview evening at Grosvenor Crescent. Channel 4 presenter Nick Luck will be hosting what should be a very enjoyable evening. It was the confirmation stage for Newbury’s big race this morning and we left 2008 victor Madison du Berlais in at the five day stage.  To hear my thoughts on Madison's chances ahead of Saturday's big race, click here.

Finally, it was with great sadness that I heard of the tragic news of Peter Monteith’s passing. Peter, who trained in Midlothian, enjoyed a Cheltenham Festival winner (Dizzy in the 1994 County Hurdle) as well as numerous other successes. He was a very talented trainer who did extremely well with the horses in his care. It is a sad loss for racing, especially in such tragic circumstances and in the wake of the death of another trainer Frank Jordan who sadly lost his battle with cancer last week.

Picture by kind permission of Gavin James, GJ Multimedia