Vote For AP!

Talking of awards, I was even more delighted to see that A P McCoy was named Sportsman of the Year. The award was decided by a panel of sports editors and journalists, and hopefully this bodes as a good omen for his chances of lifting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in Birmingham on Sunday. I will be there myself, and while I am clearly biased I cannot think of a more worthy winner than AP. The racecourses have been rallying behind the champ and hopefully this year AP will gain the long overdue public recognition that he so richly deserves.

On Wednesday I attended a charitable fundraiser with Arnie Kaplan (owner of Matuhi). Arnie helps to organise the Gentelman’s Night Out in Birmingham and they raise a lot of money for children’s charities. I was amazed by how much organisation goes into the event - the night out has been going for fifteen years now and is a wonderful occasion.   I would like to think that I did my bit by buying a very expensive (and large) teddy bear for my son Jack – he loves it, so it was worth every penny.

It was a great effort from Cheltenham to bring us two days of wonderful racing at the weekend. Despite the abandonment of the cross country race, the course was in remarkably good shape. Great Endeavour went painfully close in the Vote AP Gold Cup handicap chase, while I’m So Lucky ran creditably in fourth in the rearranged Tingle Creek Chase.

Although forecasts suggest that it is going to get very cold again over the next few days, prospects for the week ahead (especially the early part) look a little more positive and we will have three runners at Folkestone on Tuesday. Let’s hope that we get a bit more action!