Weekend Jottings!

Following on from our frantic Saturday at four meetings, things return to a more sedate pace today with just two meetings taking place at Huntingdon and Kelso, although we do still have runners at both meetings.  Saint John Henry and Susie Sheep run at Huntingdon and will be partnered by Conor O'Farrell, while Tom Scudamore makes the long journey north to partner Virtuel d'Oudon and Shotavodka.  I wonder if Tom has ever sold a low mileage car in his life?!  I will be joining David by flying up to Huntingdon this afternoon - it has been a long time since I have been there, in fact Sabin du Loir beat Desert Orchid in the Peterborough Chase the last time I was there...happy memories indeed!

The only down side to going racing this afternoon is that I am going to miss West Ham versus Swansea on the television at 1.30pm.  I can see the Hammers in Europe next season...I certainly hope so - the last time we were in Europe the fans let the sails down and threw the cannons overboard!

I guess the bookies must be feeling the pinch from their on-line competitors.  It seems to me that they all want to give us punters something these days...bet £50 and get two free £50 bets, money back if your horse finishes second, money back if your horse falls in any race, money back if your horse finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th in yesterday's Becher Chase at Aintree.  They just want to give us money...where is the catch I wonder?!

Looking through the jockeys and trainers championships I see that David is currently leading the way in terms of the number of winners trained with 62 so far this season.  I know I have been banging on about it for some time, but how can it be right that it is decided on prize money won?  Just look at the flat table for the season that has recently come to a close...is it right that the likes of Aidan O'Brien with 11 winners should finish in front of William Haggas with 118 wins for instance?  Indeed, the master of Ballydoyle was narrowly beaten by Mark Johnston who recorded 216 successes!  Of course it is not O'Brien's fault, although I do believe it highlights an intrinsic fault in the way in which the championships are decided.  Going back to the sticks, it would certainly make things more interesting and a lot more competitive if it were decided by winners trained - there are probably ten trainers out there who could have in excess of 100 winners in a season - it used to be done like this, so why can it not be changed back?

Meanwhile Tom Scudamore is enjoying a fine time of it this season with 84 winners on the board.  Last season was a break out one for him with his maiden century and it has done his confidence no harm at all - he is well on course for his best season ever.

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Tiger Woods seemed to recapture a little bit of his old form yesterday in Florida although his short game, including his chipping in the first round looked more like that of an 18 handicapper.  He can't hit the ball as long as he used to and it is certainly time he accepted that.

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Can you believe that the goal of the week came from Stephanie Roche of Peamount United in Ireland?  It was a great 25 yard volley and fortunately the cameras were there to capture the moment.  The video has gone viral on the internet and has sparked comments of admiration from leading pundits including the likes of Matt Le Tissier.  It was certainly a real beauty and I am not only talking about the goal!