5 Star From General

We may not have been on the scoreboard on the main card at Cheltenham yesterday but we did not leave the Prestbury course empty handed after landing the charity race with Three Star General under a canny ride from former employee Ben Moore. The pair bided their time as the front runners went off very hard and coming with a well-timed ride, he scored a shade cosily for delighted owners Stuart Mercer and James Igoe - it just goes to show that a winner at Cheltenham is very special indeed.  Ben, who rode a couple of winners for Martin was helping to raise money for Bob Champion's Cancer Trust and Hannah's Willberry Wonderpony cancer charity - causes very close to his heart as he has had a cancerous tumour removed, while his daughter is currently fighting leukemia.

I had to laugh when La Casa Tarifa won the Cock O' The North handicap at Ripon yesterday - she was the only filly in the race...just my warped sense of humour!

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Ayr, Fontwell and Southwell as well as flat cards from Newbury and Bath.  David has no runners today although stable jockey Tom Scudamore heads off to Fontwell in his quest to reach his seasonal century - he needs five more winners before the end of the month to reach that goal and he looks to have some solid chances today.

David will be doubly represented in the Scottish National at Ayr tomorrow with Gone Too Far and Father Edward both making the final line-up.  On a sunny day Ayr is a great place to visit and the place is always packed with real racing enthusiasts.

With the recent nice weather the ground has dried out to such an extent that Exeter have been forced to abandon their chase races at their forthcoming fixture on Wednesday and will instead hold an all-hurdle card.

Many happy returns to the Queen who is 91 today - I am sure she will be thrilled to have her name mentioned as she often reads my column!

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Tiger Woods has had more surgery on his back and is expected to be out of action for another six months.  It is the fourth major surgery that Woods has undergone in the last four years.  The question is whether he will ever come back - I can't see Tiger ever roaring again...maybe a little meow!

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Did you hear about the troublesome teaspoon?  It went into the kitchen and caused a stir!

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