Classy Kingman

It looks like being a relatively quiet afternoon with three meetings taking place.  There are a couple of flat cards at Windsor and Pontefract as well as National Hunt card at Hexham - unsurprisingly the stable has no runners today.  Of our runners from the weekend I thought that Swing Bowler ran particularly well to finish a close fourth in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, especially as she was 9lbs wrong at the weights.  Mikey Ennis' 7lb claim helped offset some of that discrepancy and she picked up £3,700 for her efforts - the only trouble is she will probably be taking a hike in the weights for this.  His Excellency was also in the money, finishing fourth - he has plenty of ability so hopefully his turn is not far away.

It looks like being a relatively quiet afternoon with three meetings taking place.  There are a couple of flat cards at Windsor and Pontefract as well as National Hunt card at Hexham - unsurprisingly the stable has no runners today.  Of our runners from the weekend I thought that Swing Bowler ran particularly well to finish a close fourth in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, especially as she was 9lbs wrong at the weights.  Mikey Ennis' 7lb claim helped offset some of that discrepancy and she picked up £3,700 for her efforts - the only trouble is she will probably be taking a hike in the weights for this.  His Excellency was also in the money, finishing fourth - he has plenty of ability so hopefully his turn is not far away.

How impressive was Kingman in the Greenham at Newbury on Saturday?  John Gosden's colt posted a facile success in the race won by Frankel in 2011and he certainly looks a worthy short-priced favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.  He was certainly a little more impressive than Aldpopicgros who narrowly landed odds of 1/5 in an ordinary novices' hurdle at Wincanton yesterday for Paul Nicholls - I bet the punter who staked £1,000 to win £200 had a few nervous moments before the favourite prevailed by a head.

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The next runners from the yard will come tomorrow when we will be represented at Exeter and Kempton.  Tom Scudamore will be aboard dual scorer Virtuel d'Oudon at our local track, as will Barton Stacey (pictured right), while Bygones Sovereign will run at Kempton and will be partnered by Liam Heard.

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It was the London marathon yesterday and I see that Richard Hannon posted a time of 6 hours and 48 minutes - he has already missed first lot this morning!  Welsh trainer Evan Williams was obviously a little straighter than his flat counterpart, recording a time of just over 4 hours.  Apparently Hannon was sick from all of the jelly babies he had eaten, although he was a little better by 21 miles when someone revived him with a pint of cider.  I wonder if that is how he trains his horses?!

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I see that one of our former owners Professor David Silk is 70 today.  David had a whole host of good horses with us down the years, most notably Copeland and Carryonharry.  Many happy returns David.

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Liverpool looked great against Manchester City yesterday afternoon as they beat them 3-2. They looked so quick and sharp and I thought that Sterling looked outstanding.  If he can reproduce that sort of form, he must play for England.  Stevie Gerard was very emotional after the game - he has remained faithful to Liverpool for the duration of his career and now they have a real shot at landing the Premier League.  Chelsea won 1-0 against ten man Swansea and did not look like Premiership material on this evidence.

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Bubba Watson won the US Masters for the second time at the weekend and his successes gives hope to every club golfer playing the game.  Bubba has a terrible swing, the ball does go a long way although it can go all over the place.  Meanwhile Rory McIlroy totally lost it and threw his ball into the lake...he seems to struggle under pressure on the big occasion.

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