First Runner Of 2014!

Sadly Exeter has fallen foul of the weather and I can't say I'm surprised.  It hasn't stopped raining at the yard overnight, with 11ml lashing down.  That leaves us with five meetings to look forward to, headed by Cheltenham where we have one runner, Close House (pictured above) in the Grade Two Dipper novices' chase.  He was still travelling okay when coming to grief at the fourth last on his chase debut last time, although this does look like a tough race against the likes on of Oscar Whisky and Taquin de Seuil.  The other fixtures are at Musselburgh, Catterick and Fakenham over the sticks, while there is also an all-weather flat card taking place at Southwell.  The ground is going to be extremely testing, so make sure your selection is going to handle conditions before parting with your hard-earned.

I see that Alan King has said there is a problem with his string of horses and he will closing the yard for a while and will start again when they have come right.  It always seems that when you get problems with horses, it takes a long time to come right.

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Just think, if you had a spare £120million you could buy Luis Suarez from Liverpool.  That is the price of his get-out clause in his contract.  I know he is good, but is he really THAT good?

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My afternoon's viewing is taken care of!  Shortly after the racing finishes from Cheltenham, I will be switching over to watch Manchester United play at home to Spurs at 5.30pm (Mrs Barnes will be delighted!).  There should be plenty of goals and this will be a real test for new manager Tim Sherwood.  There are a couple of 'six-pointer' games today - Fulham versus my beloved West Ham and Crystal Palace versus Norwich.  It's tight at the top and the bottom of the Premiership.

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It is the final of the world darts championship tonight between our very own (Scottish!) Peter Wright and Michaiel Van Gerwen.  If you are tuning in, you may find it more entertaining to look at the crowd and try to pick out anyone that looks normal - they all wear fancy dress to these tournaments!