There is a bumper day of action to look forward to this afternoon with six meetings taking place.  There are four flat cards from Newbury, Thirsk, Nottingham and Wolverhampton as well as jumps meetings from Ayr and Bangor.  It is Scottish National day at Ayr and the stable has two runners in the big race at 3.45pm; Broadway Buffalo (pictured above) and Amigo.  Also at Ayr we run Border Breaker and Street Entertainer.  Ideally Broadway Buffalo could do with softer ground, although he has won on good ground and ran a cracker on a similar surface in the four miler at the Cheltenham Festival.  The trouble is that Ayr can dry out very quickly, as it did on this card two years ago.  Meanwhile, Amigo finished a good runner-up at Newbury last time and a big run is expected from the pair of them.  Can you believe it though?  30 runners and A P is without a ride!

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This afternoon we have five meetings taking place with three of them over the sticks at Ayr, Fontwell & Southwell plus two flat cards from Newbury and Bath. It is the first day of the Scottish National meeting and Tom Scudamore has made the long trip up north for one ride for J P McManus.  With only 10-5 on his back, I am guessing that A P will not be wasting to do that sort of weight in his last week and a half in the saddle.  The stable has no runners this afternoon, although we will have runners at the track and they have already left this morning for their marathon journey.  The ground at Ayr is drying and officially described as good/soft at present although officials will be watering the course.

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Considering it is only midweek there is some excellent action to look forward to this afternoon with jumping from Cheltenham as well as flat action from Newmarket, Ripon and Chelmsford City.  The stable has just the one runner at Cheltenham today; Twentytwo's Taken competes in the Listed mares' race at 2.05pm - she will be ridden by stable jockey Tom Scudamore.  Our seven year old has won twice this season and gives the impression that there will be better still to come when she settles fully in her races.  The drop back in trip could suit her, while this will be the fastest ground she has encountered in some time.

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It was a good day for the stable yesterday at Exeter with our two runners yielding a winner and a very close second.  Sadler's Gold won the concluding maiden hurdle with plenty in hand.  He shaped nicely enough at Newbury last time and seemed to appreciate this easier grade and better ground - hopefully he can build on this now and go on to better things.  Meanwhile Classical Art was only beaten a short head by favourite Vodka 'n Tonic in the 2m1f handicap hurdle, the pair of them well clear of the remainder.  He forced a dead-heat last time at Taunton and for a moment, I thought he was going to be involved in another one...I wonder if any horse has ever dead-heated for a win two races in succession?  Anyway, this was another good run and he also seemed to appreciate this sounder surface.

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There are three meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Exeter and Carlisle as well as an all-weather flat fixture from Southwell.  The stable runs Classical Art and Sadlers Gold at Exeter and hopefully we go there with a couple of decent chances.  Classical Art was a winner at Taunton twelve days ago when forcing a dead-heat with Princess Ombu and David leaves conditional jockey Michael Heard on board taking a very handy 7lbs off his back.  I see the Post have Sadlers Gold as their even money favourite and this looks like a race that he can win.

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   AP, MCP & Dave Roberts at Aintree
Soll ran a great race in the Grand National on Saturday, he jumped and travelled superbly and I was getting excited 3 out but sadly he broke a blood vessel which stopped his progress and he finished a gallant ninth.  I am pleased to report that he is fine since the race and he definitely enjoyed his trip to Aintree.  Many Clouds looked a good winner and I think probably he is the best we have seen for a good few years.  The best news of the day was of course that all horses returned safely from the big race.  Baltimore Rock finished fourth in the competitive handicap hurdle under a good ride from Kieron Edgar.  He will be a very exciting chaser next season.  We were also delighted with the run of Un Temps Pour Tout as well who finished third.  The blinkers seemed to help and he was much closer to Cole Harden than in the World hurdle on ground that was quicker than ideal.  He to is another to look forward to over fences.  

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Following Aintree's spectacular three day meeting, it is like after the Lord Mayor's show today with just two meetings over the sticks at Ffos Las and Market Rasen.  The stable runs Top Wood and Vif Argent at Ffos Las with Tom Scu aboard Top Wood and Kieron Edgar back aboard last time out winner Vif Argent.  Meanwhile there is a good flat fixture in Ireland at Leopardstown and unsurprisingly with a Listed race and two Group 3's on the card quite a few of our top jockeys have made their way over there.

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