Ffos Las Romp For Rouge

It was a real Welsh day at Ffos Las yesterday, with only one English trained winner on the entire card.  That sole success came courtesy of David's Vieux Lion Rouge in the concluding bumper, although it's not exactly a good old fashioned English name!  The three year old clearly relished the testing conditions and came further and further clear in the straight to score by an impressive fourteen lengths on his racecourse debut and he looks like yet another promising bumper horse that David has to work with.

Above: Vieux Lion Rouge posts an impressive debut success in the
newcomers' bumper at Ffos Las yesterday afternoon 

It was a real Welsh day at Ffos Las yesterday, with only one English trained winner on the entire card.  That sole success came courtesy of David's Vieux Lion Rouge in the concluding bumper, although it's not exactly a good old fashioned English name!  The three year old clearly relished the testing conditions and came further and further clear in the straight to score by an impressive fourteen lengths on his racecourse debut and he looks like yet another promising bumper horse that David has to work with.

Today there are three meetings taking place, two over the sticks at Catterick and Folkestone as well as an all-weather flat card at Lingfield.  Sadly today marks Folkestone's last ever meeting after 114 years of racing.  This follows on from the closure of Hereford last week who have been operating for over 240 years...two tracks closing within a week of each other, worrying times indeed.

It just goes to show you how difficult it is to even get a horse to the racetrack, nevermind keep bringing them back year after year.  Just ask Paul Nicholls who broke the news that stars Big Buck's and Al Ferof were both out for the remainder of the season last night.  This surely comes as a massive blow to his prospects in the trainers' championship, while Big Buck's will be sadly missed come the Festival where he would have been bidding for an unprecendented fifth World Hurdle.

I was amused to read about Richard Rowe's reaction to the omission of so many obstacles due to the low sun, he said "When I rode I always shut my eyes when I went over a fence!"...I don't think he was joking!  But seriously though, why are they dolling off these fences now?  They didn't twenty years ago - the world has gone mad...afterall, the sun has always been there, hasn't it?!

*****

There is a picture of Alfie Moon (Shane Ritchie) on the back page of today's Post.  It is an article about which television programme will bring in the highest viewing figures on Christmas day.  If Eastenders is the number one watched programme on Christmas day, I would imagine there will be a number long faces about...it isn't exactly what you would call 'feel good' viewing!  Alfie was one of the umpires when I used to play ping pong at Pontins and (unlike me!) he hasn't changed a bit - he used to go by the name Shane Skywalker back then!

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Is it just me or is something wrong?  I saw this morning that a bank in America is handing out a novel gift if you open up an account with them.  No, it isn't a sat nav or a Parker pen, but a revolver!  How on earth are they ever going to change the gun culture in the States and avoid the tragedies like last week in Connecticut if they are so irresponsible with firearms?