- Thursday, 25 November 2010 08:49
- Written by Chester Barnes
Just when I thought that the England cricket team were cruising along nicely in the first Test of the Ashes series, suddenly the Aussies bounced back thanks to a hat-trick from birthday boy Siddle Tricker. Yes, the Australian pace bowler took three wickets in three balls (all different dismissals - a clean bowled, catch and an LBW) to leave England reeling. As with our footballers - perhaps it is just a case of us building up our sportsmen to be better than they really are? The Aussies certainly looked sharp in the field today, and now it looks as though England are facing an uphill struggle just to save the first Test. I didn't realise that Siddle was that fast or sharp, maybe it is because he was full of birthday cheer?...or am I just making excuses?!
- Wednesday, 24 November 2010 07:59
- Written by Chester Barnes
Do I or don't I stay up for the first Test match in the Ashes series in Australia?...I think coverage starts at about 11.30pm this evening, so the temptation is definitely there to record the action and hope that nobody tells me what happened in the morning. The trouble is, the more you try to avoid hearing the results the more likely it seems to be that someone will let the cat out of the bag! It also seems to me that whenever the England team have a great chance of beating the Aussies in their own back yard something always happen for us to get beaten...this year though the Australians are very subdued - there is nothing like as much gloating as usual. By the way, when do you ever see an Aussie batsman walking? When his car has broken down! Keep smiling, and come on England!
- Tuesday, 23 November 2010 07:57
- Written by Chester Barnes
I thought that Bobs Worth looked an interesting winner at Kempton yesterday afternoon. The time was 7.5 seconds quicker than the handicap later on the card, and take it from me a horse can travel a long way in 7.5 seconds! Barry Geraghty only had to nudge the five year old out with hands and heels to win by nine lengths and he looks to be a novice to follow. There was an eventful novices' chase on the same card won by Dee Ee Williams who was the sole runner to complete the course - as such he netted all of the prize money for his owner Give Every Man His Due. He must have had strange parents to call him that!
- Monday, 22 November 2010 08:20
- Written by Chester Barnes
The stable horses continue in good form with Grands Crus proving the highlight with another impressive victory in the Listed "Fixed Brush" handicap hurdle at Haydock to follow-up his Cheltenham success from the previous weekend. Saturday's win netted connections a cool £42,757.50, and the race was seldom in any doubt. Tom Scudamore was running away aboard Grands Crus for much of the three mile trip and if I was him, I would be ashamed to take the riding fee! He jumped the brush hurdles very well and is going to make up into a fine chaser in time. The handicapper will no doubt have his say, and it could be that David is now going to have to run this highly progressive five year old in conditions races from now on.
- Sunday, 21 November 2010 00:00
- Written by Chester Barnes
We have known for some time that Ryan Moore is a world class jockey. Well, it seems that the rest of the world are beginning to come to the same conclusion. Moore won aboard Snow Fairy in Japan last weekend, and the three times champion jockey must certainly have impressed the locals as this weekend he takes the mount aboard top sprinter Kinshasa No Kiskei in teh mile championship at Kyoto.
- Saturday, 20 November 2010 08:26
- Written by Chester Barnes
Looking back at yesterday's action, it was a good afternoon for the yard. Matuhi made his debut for us by winning the handicap chase at Ascot under Tom Scudamore - it was a nice performance to give Five Dream a nine length beating. He jumped superbly to win from a mark of 125 - let's just hope that the handicapper doesn't over-react and do anything silly with him. Meanwhile, over at Exeter Arrayan ran creditably to finish runner-up to Minnie Hill - he was beaten ten lengths, but in turn came well clear of the remainder.
- Friday, 19 November 2010 08:15
- Written by Chester Barnes
I see that the handicapper has forced Nicky Henderson into running his recent Cheltenham winner Aegean Dawn at Ascot this afternoon. Such was the manner of his success a week ago that the handicapper reacted by putting hm up by 21lbs - today he races from a mark only 5lbs higher (and that is because he is 5lbs out of the weights!). The handicapper clearly thinks that he is a certainty for this afternoon's contest...or did he over-react to that Cheltenham win? Remember, we finished second in that Cheltenham race with Dynaste, who himself has been raised 11lbs by the assessor.
