Dell A Nice Little Earner!

What a star Dell' Arca is!  He won the Pertemps qualifier with seemingly a bit in hand yesterday afternoon at Newbury.  That win was from a mark of 140 - and there I was saying that he could do with a bit of respite from the handicapper!  He seems to have been around for ages yet is still only 8 years old.  He is a versatile type who is effective over all distances and does have the option of going back over fences at some point.  It just goes to show, horses can make fools of you...sounds like a television show!  Irish Prince ran respectably on his racecourse debut in what was probably quite a deep bumper - with more experience and a greater test of stamina he will be winning races.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps fixtures from Warwick, Hexham and Fontwell supported by a flat card from Newcastle. David has two runners today as Lady Of Longstone contests the 3m2f handicap hurdle at 1.30pm at Fontwell and Miss Tynte run in the bumper at Warwick.  Lady Of Longstone ran well at Taunton last time out when runner-up and goes from the same mark of 102 and is 3lbs ahead of the handicapper who saw fit to stick her back up for that run.  She is still well-treated on her best form (a winner from 123 in the past) and a similar run to last time will make her hard to beat, even from the welter burden of 12-2.  Regular rider Michael Heard is on board again and claims a handy 5lbs off her back.

Over at Warwick Miss Tynte contests the bumper at 3.50pm.  There is no substitute for experience and she has posted a couple of decent efforts in similar contests at Punchestown and Carlisle and she should go well under Tom Scudamore.

*****

England take on Germany tonight in a friendly match on ITV at 8pm.  It seems that England manager Gareth Southgate will have trouble turning a team out as 8 of his players have withdrawn.  German midfield Sami Khedira has had a pop at them saying that no German would cry off and I would have to say that I agree with him.  I just wonder how injured all our players are?  It should be the greatest honour to play for your country.  There was no luck for Ireland or Scotland last night as they both lost 1-0 so let's hope England fare better tonight.

I see that Lewis Hamilton has been dodging questions about his £3.3 million VAT returns.  I don't think he is that popular anyway, so this certainly won't help his cause (not that I'm sure he cares!).  As a four time world champion he should be universally lauded but he just seems to have an uncanny knack of upsetting people.

*****

Thought for the day...the first time I see a smiling jogger, I will consider it!

Tweet