Post's Stable Tour Soon!

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with three fixtures on the flat from Lingfield, Nottingham and Kempton and a National Hunt card from Wetherby.  Much as you would expect however, the most prize money today is on offer at Punchestown over in Ireland!  The stable has no runners today with the next action from the stable likely coming tomorrow at Uttoxeter and Wincanton.  David will be parading a couple of the stable stars, Cheltenham Festival winner Ballynagour (pictured above) and Greatwood Hurdle winner Dell' Arca before racing at Wincanton and with other big names also in the line-up it should be an interesting start to the season there tomorrow.

I see that it is Reg Lomas' 83rd birthday today.  For years Reg was the head groundsman at Cheltenham and Stratford racecourses.  Peter Scudamore would always track down Reg before racing and find out where the best ground was and follow him to the letter.  Many happy returns Reg!

As you will most likely have read here or on David's blog, we have had Ben Newton and Ed Whitaker from the Racing Post at the yard for the past couple of days as they prepare for David's stable tour which will be in the paper next Monday.  It was a good opportunity for Ed to come down and get a few pointers from me on how to take some really cracking pictures!  The stable tour is always a good read and I keep all of the tours - it makes fascinating reading looking back at who the best judges are.

Above: Stars Over The Sea schools over hurdles under Tom Scudamore

Talking of Ed Whitaker, the award winning photographer has a book out later this week called 'In The Frame' and is a pictorial tribute to A P McCoy taken over the duration of his 20 year career on these shores.  While there can be little doubt that A P is the finest jockey of all, I wouldn't have thought that he was the finest subject for a photographer!...only joking A P!  The perennial champion was back in the saddle yesterday following a few days off after a horrible fall and he quickly set about making up for lost time with a treble at Huntingdon taking him onto a barely believable 149 wins for the season.

Peter, Tom and Michael Scudamore will be at the Cheltenham and Three Counties Race Club tonight at the New Victory Club in Cheltenham.  Admission is £6 for visitors and free for members - it should certainly be an interesting evening and I bet the three could tell some tales between them.  Just ask Peter about High Knowl...we famously exchanged words after one of his races and I still enjoy reminding him of it to this day!

*****

Looking through the cost of season tickets for the Premier League football teams, I notice that Arsenal's cheapest price is £1,014, while their most expensive is £2,015 - they are the most expensive at either end of the scale.  Compare that with Barcelona at £105 and Bayern Munich at £109 and clearly something is very wrong.

?