Road To Wolverhampton

There are three meetings scheduled to go ahead this afternoon with jumps action from Hereford and Fontwell, while there is an all-weather card from Wolverhampton.  Hereford are to hold an inspection this morning to see whether their fixture can go ahead - in case you hadn't noticed, it has been cold of late!  David has one runner this afternoon as Tobacco Road contests the 1m6f flat handicap at Wolverhampton at 5.45pm.  He was a winner over timber at Taunton on his penultimate start and was a runner-up on the all-weather last term from a 3lbs higher mark.  Adam Kirby is a positive jockey booking and he is not without a chance.

The Welsh National at Chepstow on Saturday was won by 16 year old jockey James Bowen who was partnering a horse (Raz de Maree) who was only three years younger than him!  In the same race, I thought that the stable's Rathlin Rose ran a very good race, fading only after the last to finish sixth.  He travelled as well as anything for much of the way before not quite seeming to get home in the extremely testing conditions.  He still picked up £2,000 in prize money and there looks to be a nice prize in him.

For once, I agree with Mick Fitzgerald who says that there should be a veteran's chase at the Cheltenham Festival.  Everybody gets to know these old warriors after following them season after season and it would be a good opportunity for them to pick up a nice pot on the big stage once more against their own age group.

Watching the racing of late, I cannot recall a time that so many hurdles or fences were omitted.  Has the sun suddenly got a lot lower or were jockey's just more fearless years ago?  That is going to put the cat among the pigeons!

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Arsenal were dumped out of the FA Cup 4-2 by Nottingham Forest yesterday.  The Gunners manager Arsene Wenger had to watch from the stands and he was aggrieved about the penalty, claiming that Kieran Dowell touched the ball twice.  If he had done so, surely the replays would have shown as much?  Mind you, anything that upsets Wenger amuses me!

Tonight Brighton play Crystal Palace and Palace are 19/10 chances - that will do for me.  I just wonder what sort of team the manager will turn out?

England's cricketers looked second rate against the Aussies.  I did not think that the Australian's were that good before the series started.  Are they good or are England decidedly average?  I am being kind when I refer to them as average.

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What do you get when you ask a policeman for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?  Three different answers!

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