- Tuesday, 22 February 2011 08:08
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Roger Stanley, the lucky part-owner of Madison du Berlais and Grands Crus is coming down to Taunton to see his runner E Street Boy in action. I have heard on the grapevine that Luke Harvey wants to interview Roger for Attheraces...you would have thought that prospect alone was enough for Roger to give the meeting a swerve! I have played golf with Roger and I can tell you that he is very competitive. He also likes his cycling and he tells me that he has ridden around Europe...or maybe it was just France? I would love to see him in his lycra shorts - only joking Roger!
- Monday, 21 February 2011 08:03
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was a good day for the stable's runners on Saturday with Swing Bill winning the veteran's race at Wincanton in good style. The ten year old grey received a good front running ride from Timmy Murphy and won with any amount in hand and he could well follow-up this success. Ronaldo des Mottes ran respectably in the Kingwell Hurdle to finish third, while Sultan Fontenaille occupied the same position in the staying handicap hurdle under A P McCoy.
- Sunday, 20 February 2011 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I see that trainer Mark Johnston has put his name forward for the job vacated by Jim McGrath as independent director of the BHA Board. I have spoken with Mark in the past but I don't really know him that well. He is a great trainer and obviously has his own strong views that he is passionate about...one thing is for sure, I don't think it would be very easy to pull the wool over his eyes! Asked if he would take the position if it were offered, he said "Probably, I think it needs to be done, if you don't agree with someone you try to change it". I know what he means - we get plenty of people at our golf club moaning about the place, but when it is suggested that they join the board they don't want to know. At least with Mark he would be hands on and wants to make a difference rather than preserve the status quo.
- Saturday, 19 February 2011 08:48
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I must find out who Nick Luck's scriptwriters are..whoever they are, I like them! You may have seen David's interview this morning over the webcam on The Morning Line. Dry as a bone Luck introduced David as "Pipe on Skype!" He was only on for a couple of minutes, but following the abortive efforts to get hold of Nigel Twiston-Davies from practically next door a couple of weeks ago, I was pleased to see the technology working for a change!
- Friday, 18 February 2011 07:57
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was a very good job to get last Saturday's Totesport Trophy meeting rescheduled to today at such short notice. I hope the course is rewarded with a bumper crowd and we are treated to a great race. My one moan would be that the rescheduled card clashes with a good Sandown jumping fixture...I am sure that plenty of the racegoers would like to attend both meetings but are unable to. Even so, I would rather have two meetings in close proximity than to lose one altogether. Over at Sandown, the stable's Arrayan is a non-runner this afternoon.
- Thursday, 17 February 2011 09:30
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
We have some breaking news with regard to the rescheduled Totesport Gold Trophy at Newbury tomorrow. Ronaldo des Mottes, an intended runner in the race last Saturday before tragedy beset two horses in the paddock before their first race is a non runner. Instead he will run in tomorrow's Bathwick Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton as there is more prize money on offer. Notus de la Tour will be the sole runner from Pond House in the Totesport and will be ridden by Tom Scudamore.
- Wednesday, 16 February 2011 08:26
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Well, looking through the weights for this year's Grand National at Aintree, I have to agree with David that Comply Or Die looks interesting. He won the race in 2008 from 10-9 and was runner up in 2009 with considerably more weight. This year he is set to carry 10-8 and is guaranteed to get in the race - at likely odds of around 50/1 I could be tempted. I know (like the rest of us) that he is not getting any younger, but he knows his way around Aintree and I wouldn't be surprised to see him run another big race. Ante-post favourite Ballabriggs looks to have been fairly treated on 11-0 and the McCain's also know what it takes to win a Grand National. Listen to David's reaction to weights at yesterday's launch in London...
