Gold Rush!

***Bygones Sovereign - Non Runner 3.10pm Leicester***

Legacy Gold produced a good first performance over hurdles when winning the mares' maiden under Tom Scudamore at Uttoxeter yesterday.  She won with a fair amount in hand with the first two coming well clear of the remainder and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see plenty of winners coming out of this race.  I am sure Legacy Gold will go on to better things and she looks to be another exciting youngster for the yard

On the same card Wintered Well was the impressive winner of the novices' handicap hurdle - he looks to be well-treated from a mark of 83 and I think connections will have to turn this one out again quickly under a penalty before the handicapper can have his say.

Today there are four meetings taking place - two over the sticks at Hexham and Leicester and two all-weather flat cards at Lingfield and Kempton.  Unbelievably there is some really good money up for grabs on the all-weather today with Kempton's meeting worth over £100,000.  With Bygones Sovereign now a non-runner, we rely on Garde Ville in the 3.10pm race.  He is an intriguing recruit, having his first start in this country after three starts in France.  He hasn't troubled the judge in France, yet the handicapper has given him a rating of 123 - it must be a nightmare trying to assess the merits of these sort of horses...let's hope that he is as good as the handicapper thinks he is!

David revealed earlier in the week that former RSA Chase winner Bostons Angel has been retired after just one start for the Pond House team.  He didn't show much enthusiasm at Aintree and I think it is the right decision - in fairness to David, he has always been very good at knowing the right time to draw stumps.  He retires sound and healthy and that has to be a good thing - we all wish him a long and happy retirement.

There was a great picture doing the rounds on Twitter yesterday (right).  Jockey Mikey Ennis was minding his own business in Wellington yesterday lunctime when the familiar sound of hooves came galloping towards him - it was a pony that had managed to escape from somewhere and was heading down the busy High Street.  Quick to react, Mikey managed to capture the escapee before he was able to do any harm, averting a possibly dangerous situation for the pony and road users and Christmas shoppers alike...

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Can you believe it?!  Manchester United actually scored and won a match at Old Trafford!  Mind you, it was a defender, Bill Jones who scored the goal - to me, it looks like they need four or five new players in the January transfer market.  Manchester City were 2-0 down against Bayern Munich but produced a great performance to come back to win 3-2 - a great result.

By the way, I hope you had a few quid on my football treble yesterday!

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Did anybody watch the Royal Variety Show?  It really was terrible - I am not sure who finds the acts but I am sure that Prince Charles and Camilla aren't really into rap music.  Not only that, the comedians weren't even funny...they would have been better off asking me to do some stand-up!  Why was one of them in his underpants?  All it needed was Bruce Forsythe to turn the thing into a complete disaster!