Weather Wreaks Havoc!

Talking of the Fighting Fifth, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Peddlers Cross. An excellent novice last season, he announced his arrival at the top table by beating Starluck and reigning Champion Hurdler Binocular, despite the race not being obviously run to suit. He looks sure to stay further and wouldn’t necessarily have been suited by the steady pace, but it was very encouraging that he had the speed to win this nonetheless. Despite looking a little flat in third, I am sure that a different Binocular will turn up for the Cheltenham Festival in March – his reappearance was reminiscent of last season, so it is far too early to be writing him off yet.

Although the predicted blizzards do not look likely to manifest, the freezing temperatures mean that there is likely to be very little racing on over the next few days. Indeed, as I write Hereford have been forced to abandon their Tuesday meeting, while Catterick is off on Wednesday and Wincanton plan to inspect on Wednesday ahead of their Thursday fixture.

I am all for the racecourses making every effort to race, but they must make a reasonable decision at a reasonable time and stick with it. This morning (Monday) there was a fracas at Folkestone after the meeting passed an early morning inspection, followed by a mid-morning inspection only to be abandoned with the horses at the start of the opening race. While I sympathise with the staff at Folkestone who doubtless worked tirelessly to make sure racing went ahead, things shouldn’t have been allowed to get that far…indeed, Tony McCoy had expressed his reservations during the second inspection. Once again it is the poor owners who get the worst of the deal – not only would most of them have travelled to the races to see their horses run, they have to cover the expense of getting the horses there as well. Add to that the cost of the jockeys (some of whom travel from a very long way away) and the public, and that adds up to a lot of people out of pocket.

Entries closed last week for the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow. We entered last season’s Cheltenham Festival Byrne Group Handicap Chase winner Great Endeavour and recent Ascot winner Matuhi for the Cheltenham race, while we put Faasel, Madison du Berlais and Master Overseer in the Welsh National. My father won the Welsh National five times in six years in the early 80’s/late 90’s (including a 1-2-3-4 in 1992), so it would be nice if we could add to those successes.

I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Dorchester Hotel in London last week when I attended the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Awards Luncheon. This year’s worthy recipient was Clive Brittain, who I am pleased to see is enjoying something of a renaissance over the last couple of years. The guest speaker was Sir Terry Wogan, who as usual was most amusing – I do miss him commentating on the Eurovision Song Contest! The event was a great success and helped to raise plenty of money for six welfare concerns.