Ayr, Bangor Runners

There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Newbury, Nottingham, Thirsk and Wolverhampton as well as a couple of jumps fixtures from Ayr and Bangor On Dee.  David has runners at Ayr and Bangor today with Vaniteux and Moon Racer competing at Ayr and Warthog at Bangor.  Vaniteux runs in the 1.45pm race a 2m½f Listed handicap chase that he won last year from a 6lbs higher mark - he gets his ground for the first time this season and a big run looks to be on the cards under Tom Scudamore.  Moon Racer runs in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle at 4.40pm, his first try at distances beyond the minimum.  He didn't run badly at the Cheltenham Festival last time and he looks well worth a go at this sort of distance.  I see that Sam Twiston-Davies is tipping him up in his column in the Post - he obviously remembers seeing the back of him a few times aboard Ballyandy, form that would see him in with a great chance here.

Meanwhile, over at Bangor Warthog runs in the 2m7f maiden hurdle at 2.10pm.  He has shown a consistent level of form and he should be more than capable of winning a race of this nature.  It doesn't look to be the deepest of races despite the 13 runners and he looks sure to go well under David Noonan.

The big race of the day is the Scottish National at 4.05pm.  There are 30 runners taking on the four mile marathon and the one that stands out to me is Joe Farrell, who could prove to be well handicapped with only 10-6 on his back.

I see that Ruby Walsh has failed to heal sufficiently and will miss Punchestown next week.  He says that he is now concentrating on next season - it is a shame that he misses the big festival as he is a star in the saddle and racing needs it's stars on display.

Many happy returns to the Queen who is 92 today.  She still looks very well...that should help with the knighthood!

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I will be having a little double on Manchester United at 12/5 and Chelsea at 18/35 to win their FA Cup semi-finals today.  That's the Cup sorted out, now onto Arsenal...Arsene Wenger has finally called time on his career as the boss of the Gunners.  What a legend he has been for the club, especially during the early part of his tenure.  Unfortunately he just ran out of ideas towards the end and probably stayed in the job a little too long.

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I went on a bus tour yesterday.  What a rip-off, £10 just to look around a double decker!

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