Taunton, Warwick Runners

***UPDATE***

Bladoun a non-runner, 1.10pm Taunton

There are four meetings this afternoon with three National Hunt fixtures from Taunton, Warwick and Newcastle as well as an all-weather flat card from Kempton.  The stable runs Rathealy at Warwick, while at Taunton we are represented by Rathlin Rose, Bladoun and Minister Of Mayhem at Taunton.  Bladoun was a ready winner last time out at Leicester on soft ground and is well-treated under his 7lbs penalty - Tom Scudamore rides them all at Taunton with the exception of Minister Of Mayhem who is ridden by conditional of the moment, Michael Heard who claims a useful 7lbs off his back.  Meanwhile Conor O'Farrell is aboard Rathealy at Warwick - his form was given a timely boost when the horse who beat him on his debut ran a good race to finish second to Bidourey under a penalty earlier in the week.

It is not the first time I have asked the question and I am sure it won't be the last...why do we have all-weather racing?  I have been quite a few times and the first thing that strikes you is that the bookmakers normally outnumber the spectators.  Someone is clearly making money out of it - I'm guessing the track and the bookmakers.  It is not something that I would advise anyone to go and watch as there is absolutely no atmosphere.  I always thought the all-weather was there in case of inclement weather putting a stop to turf action - as it takes place all year round I guess I was wrong!

Talking of inclement weather I see that Cheltenham have the frost covers ready for Friday and Saturday's fixtures.  Rain is forecast for Friday and then the temperature is expected to drop.

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What a great win for Manchester City as they beat Roma 2-0 and in the process reach the last 16 of the Champions League.  In my opinion that is the best result of the season so far.   Meanwhile Chelsea won 3-1 against Sporting, although it is not such a bright story for Liverpool.  I see that bookies are already pricing manager Brendan Rogers up at 6/4 not to see out the season.  The trouble for him is that he did too well last season and there was no way they were going to improve on that, especially as they were essentially a one man team with Luis Suarez.

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I see that professional golfer Jason Palmer uses only one hand to perform chip shots from around 50 yards.  I can see a lot of amateurs trying this method out, although I'm not convinced that it gives you any extra control of the ball.  Palmer plays in his first European Tour event in the Alfred Dunhill in South Africa tomorrow.

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A train completed the longest ever single rail trip yesterday as it travelled the 8,000 miles from China to Spain.  Can you imagine getting on that wrong train by mistake?!