Two Runners At Newton

It is a damp and miserable morning although we have five meetings to lift the spirits this afternoon with action taking place on the flat at Leicester, Redcar, Lingfield and Yarmouth as well as a jumps card taking place just down the road at Newton Abbot.  Of all five meetings, Newton Abbot are offering the most prize money with £41,000 on offer which I reckon is a pretty good effort from the little Devon track.  I live about 10 minutes down the road from Newton Abbot and we had quite a bit of rain overnight - I know they have been watering the course, so let's hope that last nights downpours have not penetrated the ground too much.  The stable has two runners, Palace Jester (pictured above, left) and Keep The Cash, both of whom appear to hold decent chances in competitive races.

The big story in the Post today following the announcement yesterday morning is that Ruby Walsh is set to leave his position as number one jockey to Paul Nicholls so he can concentrate his efforts in Ireland as Willie Mullins' retained jockey.  He will be a very hard act to follow but what an opportunity for Daryl Jacob, who steps into his shoes at Ditcheat.  There has long been discussion about the merits of Ruby versus AP and you know where I stand on that one - for my money AP is the finest jockey there has ever been - he always gives every ride 100% whether it is in a seller or the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

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I know I have said it several times already, but how bad a team does the New Zealand international cricket side look?!  Despite a less than pleasant weather forecast England are still 4/5 to win the match and even money to claim a draw.  If they can get enough play in, there is no way that England cannot win this match so the next job is to find out which firm is offering the 4/5...the Racing Post didn't mention that bit!

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I see that controversial snooker superstar and world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is in the limelight again after withdrawing from the qualifier for the Wuxi Classic.  As you know Ronnie has now paid the school fees from his world championship winnings so he doesn't need to work for a while again, but it does amaze me how the governing body continue to allow him to pick and choose whether he competes or not.  I know he is supremely talented and a great draw for the crowd but the 'will he won't he' over whether he retires from the sport is getting very tiresome - why would you disrespect the sport that has given you such a good living like this?