Ludlow, Plumpton Runners

Today we have three meetings to look forward to with jump cards from Ludlow and Plumpton and an all-weather flat fixture from Wolverhampton.  The stable runs Race To Glory and Northern Bay at Ludlow as well as Obistar and Multimedia at Plumpton.  I see that the bookmakers make Obistar (pictured above, left) favourite following his good second at Exeter on heavy ground last time.  The step up in trip looks as though it will suit him well and he looks to have sound claims under stable jockey Tom Scudamore.

I guess the debate will continue to rage on about Dynaste.  Did he get the trip at Cheltenham on Saturday?  He ran a sound race to finish a close third behind improving Hennessy winner Many Clouds.  As far as I am concerned he needs dropping back in trip and I think that he will win the Ryanair again if that is his chosen target.  Meanwhile Un Temps Pour Tout ran a cracker to finish third in the Cleeve Hurdle on his first start since last May and he should be very difficult to beat wherever he goes next.  Dell' Arca was another to run well, failing only narrowly to concede 16lbs to the winner of the 2m1f handicap hurdle, while Bladoun also finished runner-up at Uttoxeter although he did run a funny sort of race.

I went to Cheltenham on Saturday and I bumped into Big Mac - that's John McCririck, not a beef burger!  He was smoking a cigar that was so big, he would have needed planning permission to smoke it!  Anyway, (unsurprisingly) McCririck (pictured right with MCP) was in rude health and agrees with me that he should be back on Channel 4 Racing alongside John Francome.

Yesterday definitely belonged to the incredible Hurricane Fly who landed a historic fifth Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown, where he was winning his tenth race from ten starts.  I thought that he looked in trouble for much of the race but he just does not know when he is beaten and went on to score an amazing 22nd Grade One win.

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Chelsea were sent crashing out of the FA Cup at the weekend after they were beaten 4-2 by Bradford on Saturday.  It just goes to show that you cannot afford to be complacent in these competitions and you need to send out your best eleven players.  I thought that Bradford were the better side and deserved the result.  I agree with Robbie Fowler, it is possible for these players to play two matches a week.

Meanwhile Manchester City were also beaten as they lost 2-0 to Middlesborough, although I thought that City were the better team in terms of possession and play.

What a job Pardew is doing at Crystal Palace - they won 3-2 away at Southampton at the weekend - I bet there are a few Geordies who now wish they stuck with Pardew as manager.

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I was quite interested to see a 'map' of Celebrity Big Brother star Alicia Duval and her surgery.  I am not sure which parts of her body are original and I reckon she would fail an MOT on spare parts!