There are five flat meetings taking place this afternoon with action from Leicester, Hamilton, Chepstow, Doncaster and Epsom.  I would love to know why one of yesterday's jumps cards from Worcester or Uttoxeter could not have taken place today and given a bit more balance for National Hunt fans - I reckon plenty of people would have attended both meetings had they been on different days, but then again what do I know?!  Following the defection of Street Entertainer, Susie Sheep was our only runner yesterday and she finished fourth in the 2m4f handicap chase.  She was beaten about seven lengths from a mark of 118 - remember she was second on her previous outing from 112 but the handicapper put her up by 6lbs.  If she can't win from 112, how is she supposed to win from 118?  I bet she doesn't get dropped by 6lbs!

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There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat action from Lingfield, Catterick and Sandown as well as a couple of most welcome jumps fixtures from Uttoxeter and Worcester.  Stable jockey Tom Scudamore is at Uttoxeter for the ride aboard Susie Sheep in the last.  Our mare ran a good second on this track last time in her first start over fences, looking all over the winner for much of the contest - she went up 6lbs for getting beaten which seems a bit harsh to me but with that experience under her belt she should go well once again.  Over at the other meeting Michael Heard partners Street Entertainer (pictured above) who has been in good form this season.  Michael takes a handy 7lbs off his back and he too should give a good account.

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The flat jockeys championship became a lot more interesting last week when Ryan Moore sustained an injury.  The resultant shake-up in the market means that Silvestre de Sousa is the new favourite at 8/13 - he is just two winners behind Moore (pictured with me above, right at A P McCoy's retirement party) so a lot will depend on how long Moore's neck injury will keep him out of action.  William Hill make Ryan Moore a 10/1 chance which seems like a big price to me and I am tempted to have a small interest...get well soon Ryan!  I just love this picture and by the way, did you know that between the three of us we hold 28 British titles? 

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Today we have four meetings, all on the flat at Wetherby, Ayr, Windsor and Wolverhampton.  There is a 7 race card at Wolverhampton for £30,000 so pretty poor prize money.  I still find it hard to remember that Wetherby is a flat track!  Purple N Gold and My Brother Sylvest both finished fourth at Stratford yesterday and both ran okay.  Lets just hope the handicapper drops them a few pounds.  Both Sir Frank Morgan and Skylander were disappointing at Southwell.  They were talking about Gordon Elliott going through the card at Perth.  In the end he never had a winner - it's a funny old game!

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    My Brother Sylvest runs at Stratford

There are three meetings, all over the jumps today at Perth, Stratford and Southwell.  David has two runners at Stratford, Purple N Gold and My brother Sylvest plus two runners at Southwell, Sir Frank Morgan and Skylander.  Purple N Gold is very consistent and always runs his race, he has finished third on his last two starts at Aintree and Newton Abbot.  Kieren Edgar rides and gets on well with him taking a handy five pounds off.  He has run well before at the track and although this looks competitive hopefully he should run well again.  My Brother Sylvest runs in a valuable 0-150 handicap chase.  This is again very competitive as you would expect for the prize money on offer.  He does have to bounce back from a disappointing run, but he can be forgiven that as it was his fourth quick race in a row.  He has been freshened up at home since then and hopefully he can return to form with Michael Heard, who gets on well with him, taking seven pounds off.  Tom Scu goes to Southwell to ride our two runners there.  Both look to have chances in again competitive races.

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            AP & Richard Johnson
          in action at Barbury today
There are six flat cards at Newmarket, Ascot, York, Chester, Salisbury and Hamilton today.  If you like jumping there is a mixed card at Tipperary, but it's a long way to go!  Sorry I couldn't resist that!  David did originally have two entries at Tipperary today, in the valuable Grimes hurdle we had Dell'arca and Street Entertainer entered but we decided not to travel over on this occasion.  Tomorrow there are three jumps meetings and no flat meetings - race planning!  David has two runners at Stratford, My Brother Sylvest and Purple N Gold and two runners at Southwell, Sir Frank Morgan and Skylander.  Check back here tomorrow for more news.

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                On the Gallops
Today we have five flat cards at Newmarket, York, Ascot, Chester and Chepstow. Yesterday I was watching Newmarket in between Wimbledon and Cardiff.  I thought Resonant was very impressive in winning the 10 furlong handicap.  He was clear and stayed on well to win by over three lengths.  He would make a good hurdler!  Mark Johnston also has an impressive two year old in Lumiere who won the 6F fillies maiden by six lengths.  It was the best performance of the day for me.  Today, the big race of the day is the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.  It is a Group 1 with nine runners and it looks a fairly open contest with them betting 3/1 the field.  The next jumping action we have to look forward to comes up on Sunday, there are three meetings, Stratford, Southwell and Perth.  David has entries at two so check back here tomorrow for more news of the stable runners. 

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