There are five meetings taking place this afternoon, all of them on the flat from Catterick, Musselburgh, Lingfield, Kempton and Bath.  Once again Bath are bringing up the rear in terms of prize money with just £30,000 spread across their seven race card.  David had one runner on the level last night as Honeymoon Cocktail ran in the one mile handicap at Newbury under Mikey Ennis.  He ran okay to finish fifth under top-weight looking as though he would appreciate a little bit further and I am sure that it won't be long before David has his competing over hurdles.  The ground at Newbury last night was heavy and with a further 20mm of rain at Pond House overnight, it's not exactly the going you would associate with this time of year!  The stable has no runners today.

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There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Chepstow, Brighton and Newbury as well as a National Hunt fixture from Fontwell.  The stable has one runner this evening as Honeymoon Cocktail makes his debut for the stable on the flat at Newbury.  He contests the one mile handicap at 6.40pm and on the pick of his French form he wouldn't be without a chance under Mikey Ennis. Our flat runners were a touch disappointing yesterday with Impulsive American proving too keen and not appearing to get home at Carlisle on his first start in this country and his first since being gelded.  I would be surprised if he were not a lot better next time.  Meanwhile over at Leicester, Race To Glory looks as though he is need of some help from the handicapper.

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It was another good weekend for the stable with a couple of winners including the feature chase at Newton Abbot on Saturday with Standing Ovation.  Having won a novices' hurdle last time out, it was good to see him get his head back in front over fences for the first time since landing the Badger Ale Chase at Wincanton in 2013.  He has been performing creditably in plenty of the top handicaps chases so it was a very well deserved success.  Meanwhile on Sunday Purple 'N Gold made a winning chasing debut at Worcester under Tom Scudamore.  He jumped well in the main and battled on well to beat the favourite Broughton in the driving rain.  He has traditionally wanted faster ground than this so it was a very good performance and he looks as though he could make up into an even better chaser than hurdler.  A winner now on the flat, over hurdles and over fences, he has proven to be an excellent claim off of the all-weather.

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There is a busy day ahead with seven meetings taking place, including five flat cards from York, Sandown, Chester, Chelmsford City and Bath as well as National Hunt action from Newton Abbot and Perth.  It is Newton Abbot's big fixture of the season today with a very valuable handicap chase and handicap hurdle backed up by a very competitive card.  The stable has three runners at the meeting; Standing Ovation, Prince Of Poets and Kie.  Standing Ovation (pictured above) competes in the Mildmay Chase having bolted up in a novices's hurdle at Market Rasen last week and he is just out of the weights - with his confidence back he could have each way prospects at odds of around 10/1.  Meanwhile Kie runs in the handicap hurdle and will be fit from a recent run on the flat and Prince Of Poets takes his chance in the novices' handicap hurdle with first time headgear.

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There are four flat cards this afternoon from York, Sandown, Salisbury and Wolverhampton as well as a jumps fixture at Bangor.  Although David doesn't have any runners over the sticks today, he does have a runner on the level as Street Entertainer takes in the concluding 1m6f handicap at Salisbury this evening at 8.05pm.  Our consistent and versatile eight year old was third over this trip at Nottingham last time and he should give his running once again although this does look very competitive for the grade.  Mikey Ennis, who won the Midlands National for us a couple of years ago is in the saddle this evening.

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Today we have five meetings taking place with four flat cards from York, Chepstow, Hamilton and Lingfield as well as a jumps card from Stratford, although the stable doesn't have any runners this afternoon.  It was a bit of a disappointing evening at Worcester yesterday with Lilbourne Legacy weakening in the last couple of furlongs of the bumper.  He must get the trip as he was placed in a couple of Irish point-to-points and I would imagine that David will now send him over obstacles.  Meanwhile For 'N' Against was unable to supplement last week's Fontwell success despite running creditably to finish fourth in the handicap hurdle.    I would like the handicapper to tell me how he has any prospect of winning once his new handicap mark kicks in?  If he couldn't win last night under a 7lbs penalty, how will he win with a further 9lbs on his back?  Maybe David should let the assessor enter the six year old up?!

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There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat action from York, Carlisle, Ffos Las and Kempton and a jumps fixture from Worcester.  David has two runners at Worcester, Lilbourne Legacy and last week's Fontwell scorer For 'N' Against.  For 'N' Against was an easy 25 length winner although the handicapper has reacted by putting him up by a whopping 16lbs in future handicaps.  He is turned out again under a 7lbs penalty meaning that he is officially 9lbs 'well-in' here - I guess we will find out if the assessor was right, this does look to be a better race than the one he won, although he still looks to have outstanding claims.  Our other runner, Lilbourne Legacy is making his debut for the stable this afternoon having finished placed in a couple of Irish points.  He wasn't beaten at all far at Punchestown last time on yielding ground - my biggest concern would be this faster surface.  Tom Scudamore is aboard both of our runners.

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