On with the Flat

         Gemma & Jo meet Tiger Roll

With jumps racing taking a few days break it is on with the flat today.  There are five flat cards today although Salisbury does have to pas an 8am inspection.  The other meetings are at Wolverhampton, Thirsk, Windsor and Southwell.  If Salisbury does go ahead they have a two year old race with 8 runners and I would think the heavy ground will be a shock to these horses!  I think there will be a few non runners should the meeting be on.  Cracksman won the Group 1 at Longchamp yesterday in fantastic style.  He made the rest of the field look very ordinary and Frankie Dettori really played up to the crowd.  It was a good performance all round.

Gemma from the office had her first visit to Punchestown the end of last week.  They also visited Gordon Elliott's yard where Jo rode out and they got to meet a few of the stable stars including Tiger Roll and Samcro who thankfully was none to worse for his fall the previous day.  They had a great time at Gordon's and at the races although they tell me it will take them a few days to get over the experience after enjoying a guiness or two!

What about the Coral punter who won £847,999 after backing the first six winners on the card at Sandown on Saturday in a £30 Heinz bet.  I wonder if he told his wife?  It was a new record pay out for Coral's. 

I would like to wish Tom Dascombe a very Happy Birthday today.  He was a former jockey here at Pond House and he is now a very good trainer. He is 45 today and this makes me feel very old as I remember him as a seven pound claimer!

Let's not talk about football!  My team were quite literally hammered by Man City who beat them 4-1.  Mind you, two of their goals were own goals by West Ham players.  Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-1 after they scored the winner in injury time.  Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho presented Arsene Wenger with a trophy at Old Trafford which was a nice touch.  I love the Wenger quote, "once you're not a danger anymore everyone loves you!"  How right he is.  Spurs play Watford tonight and I think Harry Kane can score some goals and win the Golden boot for a third straight year.  Mind you, Mo Salah is 5 clear at the moment so Kane needs at least a couple of goals in this game.  Spurs are too short to back at 6/1 on.

My wife calls me a five times a night man...but hey I've always had a week bladder!  Have a nice day.