- Friday, 29 August 2014 06:41
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with four on the level from Thirsk, Sandown, Salisbury and Wolverhampton as well as a jumps fixture from Bangor. Bangor receive today's wooden spoon with just £29,000 prize money up for grabs. Just think, if you finish fourth in their handicap hurdle you win a cool £166 - I'm not sure what that is going to pay for...possibly a round of drinks?! Having said that, they should at least be applauded for taking the initiative with schooling races - the track is planning to have it's first fixture next month and will give horses and jockeys the opportunity to jump hurdles, fences or even compete in racecourse gallops for experience. The concept is already a successful part of the regime in Ireland and I am sure that Bangor will be well supported.
- Thursday, 28 August 2014 07:04
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It was a good evening for the stable at Worcester yesterday as we won with two of our three runners at the course. If you backed Barton Stacey (pictured above) you owe the champion jockey, A P McCoy a large drink - it is rides like this one that stand him out as the greatest jockey of all time. The horse touched 90/1 in running so some of the layers must have had their fingers burnt! Conversely A P will probably be a little bit embarrassed to take his riding fee for the bloodless victory of Street Entertainer - he won with so much in hand, I reckon even I could have won aboard our seven year old. Thinking about it, that last comment might be a slight exaggeration! Anyway, the double takes David's seasonal tally to 28 and consolidates his third spot in the trainers' table which is pretty good when you consider the relatively small number of runners he has had over the summer period.
- Wednesday, 27 August 2014 06:50
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with four on the level from Catterick, Carlisle, Lingfield and Kempton as well as a jumps card from Worcester. It is Lingfield's turn to be shamed this morning - not only are they offering the lowest prize money this afternoon with £34,000 up for grabs - that is across a marathon eight race card! The stable runs three at Worcester; Barton Stacey, Bathwick Street and Street Entertainer and they will all be partnered by champion jockey A P McCoy. Street Entertainer (pictured above) is my idea of a good thing in the seller - with an official rating of 126, he is rated 16lbs higher than his nearest rival. It is often risky betting short odds about horses in this sort of grade but he looks a solid odds-on chance to me.
- Tuesday, 26 August 2014 06:50
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Today we have four meetings taking place with three on the level at Epsom, Ripon and Wolverhampton as well as one over the jumps at Sedgefield. It has been pouring down here over the last 24 hours, so if you are having a wager check the ground and the prevailing conditions as there could be some changes to the going. Today's wooden spoon goest to Wolverhampton who offer just £31,000 across their seven race card. I see that champion jockey A P McCoy heads to Sedgefield today for four rides and surprisingly only one is favourite. He rode a double yesterday at Huntingdon, while old rival Richard Johnson was on the mark with a treble at Cartmel. Huntingdon yesterday, Sedgefield today - you wouldn't want to buy one of McCoy's old cars, just think of the mileage on the clock!
- Monday, 25 August 2014 06:50
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
On the Gallops
It is a typical Bank Holiday Monday in the racing world today with seven meetings on around the country. There are five on the flat at Epsom, Ripon, Chepstow, Newcastle and Warwick plus jumps card at Cartmel and Huntingdon. I also say it is typical because it is raining! It is a good day for our lorry drivers as they can take it easy and not get stuck in traffice jams as David does not have any runners today. AP goes to Huntingdon and has six rides and three of them are favourites! Richard Johnson goes to Cartmel and also has six rides with four favourites! If the rest of the country has the amount of rain that we have had overnight down here in Brixham I would think there will be a lot of going changes so keep an eye out for this during the action.
- Sunday, 24 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There are three meetings taking place this afternoon and just for a change there isn't a jumps card among them! The action comes from Goodwood, Beverley and Yarmouth and I would be expecting a big crowd at the latter meeting. A bank holiday meeting near the coast sounds like a perfect opportunity for holiday makers to take in a bit or racing action. I used to pop over to Yarmouth when we were at the Newmarket sales and would often buy the winner of the seller for Martin. You can tell it is a Bank Holiday weekend as the weather forecast is for cold weather and a lot of rain over the next few days and there could be another change in the going - it certainly doesn't seem like August! Having said that, it was a lovely day on the gallops yesterday and we were joined by Gordon and Sue (pictured above, centre and second left) who own Lady Of Longstone and Houston Dynimo.
- Saturday, 23 August 2014 06:40
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with five on the level at York, Goodwood, Newmarket, Windsor and Redcar as well as a jumps card from Cartmel. There is another competitive card at York with the big race of the day the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes for two year old colts and geldings. Meanwhile there are plenty of runners at Cartmel with champion jockey A P McCoy making the long trip up north for three rides. Cartmel is a unique racing experience and I would recommend it to any enthusiast, although don't expect to be getting out any time soon after the last as the lanes get totally jammed up! I tried to leave early a number of years ago but failed miserably - the last time I went up by helicopter and that is definitely the way to travel with a lovely trip across Morecombe Bay.
