- Sunday, 30 January 2011 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
This Wednesday Aintree will be revealing the entries for this year's John Smiths Grand National. The weights will be out a couple of weeks later and I really do look forward to seeing them. Obviously it is not like a normal handicap, with senior assessor Phil Smith taking previous course form into account, as well as trying to encourage some of the higher class entries to run by using his discretion to compress their usual rating. This approach has certainly paid off in terms of quality as there are some very good horses that don't even get into the race anymore.
- Saturday, 29 January 2011 08:40
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
As soon as racing had drawn to a close at Doncaster yesterday the course staff started to cover the track. Hopefully the six hours they spent applying fleeces to the ground will reap dividends by allowing this afternoon's meeting to go ahead. If you were watching any of the racing from their meeting yesterday, I am sure you will have noticed that the 4.10pm race was a bit of a farce - the sun was low in the sky and so all of the hurdles were removed in the home straight and only four flights were jumped in total!
- Friday, 28 January 2011 07:54
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
We had another winner yesterday afternoon when Shaking Hands won the staying handicap chase at Warwick. It was a really gruelling test over 3m2f on pretty soft ground and stamina was certainly at a premium. Fortunately our runner has that in spades and having briefly looked in trouble for a moment, once Tom Scudamore got after him he stayed on strongly to record a ten length victory. It was hard work, but he looks capable of winning again over extreme distances.
- Thursday, 27 January 2011 08:02
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
I was hoping for an early birthday present yesterday evening when watching West Ham playing Birmingham in the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. Sadly it was not to be as the Mighty Hammers lost in extra time - now at least they can concentrate on trying to stay in the Premiership and winning the FA Cup. Unfortunately their squad just isn't big enough to win three trophies!...who am I kidding?
- Wednesday, 26 January 2011 08:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There is a fascinating article in the Racing Post today all about the Piggott family. It's like the bloodline of who's who in racing that goes right back to John Day in 1767 - there are great jockeys and trainers right the way through the generations. It is quite clear that Lester was born to be a jockey, speaking of which, did you know that he rode a Triumph Hurdle winner at the Cheltenham Festival in 1954 aboard Prince Charlemagne. He had the best record of any of the National Hunt jockeys before it was realised that he was far too valuable to risk over hurdles and instead started competing on the flat where he was to land eleven championships and countless Classics. It is well worth picking up a copy of today's paper just for this article alone.
- Tuesday, 25 January 2011 07:57
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
I wonder who will get the Olympic Stadium in East London, Spurs or West Ham? I cannot believe that anyone in their right mind would let Spurs knock it down and build again - what a waste of taxpayers money! The other problem is of course that a running track around the outside of the pitch is not really very good for football as the supporters are too far away from the action (although it would have prevented the West Ham player from getting sent off for jumping into the crowd at Everton!). I have watched plenty of matches abroad where the stadium has an athletics track and there is just no atmosphere - the closer you are to the action, the more involved you feel...and the better the opportunity to give those lady line judges some stick!
- Monday, 24 January 2011 08:18
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The horses ran well over the weekend without getting their heads in front and good old Lough Derg ran yet another blinder at his beloved Ascot. Unfortunately he fluffed the last, but for which he would have been even closer but he still managed a gallant third. The problem is that he certainly won't earn any respite from the handicapper...can there be a more honest and game horse in training?
