Horses for Sale

   Tuxedo Junction (GB) 


Exciting dual purpose prospect,
click here for details!

 

    Fighter Allen (FR)  


Exciting new horse with proven form, 
click here for details!

 

 

There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Ayr and Bangor while there are flat cards from Newbury, Nottingham, Thirsk and Wolverhampton.  David has two runners this afternoon; Father Edward (pictured above) and Gone Too Far who both contest the four mile Scottish Grand National from Ayr at 3.55pm.  There are thirty runners and our pair are 66/1 chances so will need to run personal bests to figure - conditional jockey Michael Heard rides Gone Too Far while David Noonan is aboard Father Edward.  Father Edward was not at all disgraced in the Topham at Aintree last time, finishing a never-nearer ninth having been impeded a couple of times early on.

I have good and bad memories of the Scottish Grand National.  I still vividly recall being asked by Martin to go up to Ayr in 1993 and accompany one of his runners (who was notoriously quirky) at the start to make sure that he jumped off on terms.  I was joined at the start by one of Martin's assistants, Alistair Lidderdale (a trainer himself these days) - what could possibly go wrong?  Well, the horse was duly left at the start and hopelessly tailed off!  Alistair started running back towards the stands to report to the guv'nor to which I said, "What are you doing?  Slow down, we are going to get an almighty rollicking!"

By halfway around the final circuit, the horse had somehow managed to work his way into a challenging position and I said we had better run back after all!  We arrived back just as he got up on the line to win in a photo finish.  The horse in question?  Run For Free and between him and jockey Mark Perrett they certainly helped me and Alistair dodge a bullet.  Let's hope for a similar result this time around, although it may prove a little more difficult...if you are thinking of having a wager, at least you can rest easy in the knowledge that I will not be at the start this year!

Stable jockey Tom Scudamore is still chasing his seasonal century and he needs four more winners.  He heads to Bangor where he has picked up six outside rides and he looks to have some decent chances of edging a little bit closer to the hundred.

I see that Grand National winning jockey Derek Fox was on the scoreboard for the first time since his Aintree success aboard One For Arthur at Ayr yesterday when he steered 50/1 shot Jennys Melody to victory in the mares' hurdle.  Two weeks is a long time in racing so let's hope this winner helps him regather his momentum.

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How important is the Chelsea versus Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup semi-final this afternoon at 5.15pm?  They are currently first and second in this season's far more important Premier League and I have no doubt which tournament either side will be taking more seriously.  Even so, at odds of 9/5 Spurs look to be a bit of value so I will be having a little interest on them.  Meanwhile, I will probably include Hull at 19/20 to beat Watford and Swansea at 5/4 to beat Stoke a cheeky acca.

I was watching the snooker between former champions Ronnie O'Sullivan and Shaun Murphy yesterday and I never cease to be amazed at just how good these guys are at potting.  If you play a bit of snooker like I try to, you will know just how difficult it is.  Anyway, Ronnie heads into this morning's session 10-6 ahead and needing just three more frames to progress to the quarter-finals.

It was a shame to see Ian Poulter miss the cut for the Texas Open meaning that he has lost his tour card.  He can still play in the PGA tour events but now has to rely on sponsors invitations for the remainder of the season.

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Finally, a thought for the day...I used to file my nails until I thought what's the point in keeping them?!  Have a nice weekend...

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