Good Money At Gowran

Today it's all systems go with the jumps cards at Warwick and Kelso going ahead, while there is all-weather flat action from Southwell and Chelmsford City.  Mind you, the most prize money on offer (and by over £100,000) is at Gowran Park in Ireland.  It is a quiet day for the stable with no runners and I see that jockeys Tom Scudamore and David Noonan also have a rare day off.

I was watching the action on the all-weather from Lingfield yesterday afternoon and there was a poignant success when Ay Ay won the 1m2f handicap.  He was named after a good friend of Martin and myself; Alan Argeband who passed away recently.  Alan was a great mate of Harry Redknapp, in fact Alan took us all out for dinner at Rick Stein's for a meal not that long ago.  He was a tremendous racing character and is still very much missed.

Catterick put up £15,800 for the 2m3f novices' limited handicap chase at their fixture yesterday and they will have been disappointed by the three runner field that turned up to compete for the prize.  These novices' events clearly do not appeal to trainers - either there is a problem with the type of races that are being served up, or there just aren't enough horses in this category.  Small fields will mark the downfall of racing.

It seems as though there are a lot of flat jockeys riding at Meydaan this afternoon.  A lot more of our trainers seem to be having runners over there too.  With excellent prize money (and weather) it is hardly surprising that people choose to go there instead of Southwell!  Charlie Appleby's Gold Town looks to have a good chance there today.

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Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 last night and now face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on 25th February.  Talking of Arsenal, I did not realise that Arsene Wenger had lifted the FA Cup a record seven times, although he has never won the League Cup.  He has been a great manager down the years, but I still reckon he is past his best.

Anna Hursey will represent Wales in the table tennis tournament at the Commonwealth Games in Australia this April.  You may be asking what is so special about that, well, she is only 11 years old.  I saw her playing on television recently and she looks really useful - it would be great if she can gain some publicity for my old sport.

How well is British tennis player Kyle Edmund playing at the moment?  He now meets Marin Cilic in the Australian Open semi-final and he is guaranteed a payout of at least £468,000.  Apparently he is a real petrol head, so a Ferrari could be on the shopping list!

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How do you make a water bed more bouncy?  Add spring water!  Keep smiling...

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