Nearly The Weekend!

It was a cold start to the morning here with sub-zero temperatures and a white frost on the ground.  Fortunately the weather hasn't further affected the fixture list and we have three meetings to look forward to - a jumps card at Sedgefield as well as a couple of all-weather flat meetings at Wolverhampton and Lingfield.  The stable does not have any runners today, although there is some excellent racing on this weekend and we will most definitely have some runners then (weather permitting!).

It was a cold start to the morning here with sub-zero temperatures and a white frost on the ground.  Fortunately the weather hasn't further affected the fixture list and we have three meetings to look forward to - a jumps card at Sedgefield as well as a couple of all-weather flat meetings at Wolverhampton and Lingfield.  The stable does not have any runners today, although there is some excellent racing on this weekend and we will most definitely have some runners then (weather permitting!).

One of those runners will be Notus de la Tour (pictured below).  He will be running in the handicap hurdle at Wetherby tomorrow and will certainly appreciate the soft ground.  Notus has been a cracking little horse down the years, finishing placed at the Cheltenham Festival and a Totesport Trophy as well as in Grade One company over fences - all this and he has only just turned eight.  He is owned by a small syndicate that includes Peter Deal, who has owned several top class horses down the years including Champion hurdler Make A Stand and dual Cheltenham Festival winner Blowing Wind.  Notus finshed third at Uttoxeter last time out, and as you can see from the photograph, he has been in good form at home.

A P McCoy once again demonstrated yesterday why he is the best in the business.  If you have a problem with a horse, you just call the champ up to ride - that is what Brian Ellison did yesterday at Catterick.  His Magic Skyline had previously pulled too hard for a 7lbs conditional jockey, but A P managed to get her much better settled before bolting up by 14 lengths!

It was a good day for the English jockeys at Meydaan yesterday, riding the winners of four of the six races.  The prize money is a bit better than what they are offering on the all-weather, with most races worth around the £40,000 mark.  Talking of all-weather, I see that Jamie Spencer rode at Southwell yesterday - he didn't have a winner.  I wonder why he isn't riding in Meydan?

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Watching the golf yesterday, I couldn't believe how much weight Darren Clarke has lost.  He has shed nearly 3 stone - he will be releasing a fitness video or book next!  I reckon the secret could be that he has cut-out drinking once a week!

I see that Butlins have all of the top darts players at Minehead between 28th November and 15th December...I hope they have reinforced all their beds!  Some of these darts players could do with Darren Clarke's diet sheet!

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What is this world coming to?  Just think, if you have 22 kids you can avoid going to prison!  It also helps if you are a drug dealer.  The offender in question was awarded an 18 month prison sentence for drug dealing which was suspended as he had to look after his latest child whilst the mother (32 years his junior) went to work.  The man in question hasn't worked for ten years as he has a bad back...I am not going to say anymore!