Hunter Wins In Wales!

I thought that the horses ran well on Saturday and Heath Hunter clearly appreciated the extremely testing ground at Ffos Las.  He had been competing in top class handicaps so this race represented a drop in class, but even so it was a good effort for him to win this handicap under 11-11.  He stays further than the two mile trip and that clearly played into his hands.  The West Wales National developed into something of a war of attrition and like Tom Scudamore said to me beforehand, whoever finishes will win.  He was proven quite correct as Bob Ford was the only real finisher, although Gorgehous Lliege was eventually second having initially looked like he was pulled up.  He eventually clambered over the last fence to complete for the not insignificant prize of £8,000.

Meanwhile Taj Badalandabad finished fourth in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, although again this turned into something of a slog.  This was the first time that I have been to Ffos Las - it was cold and wet with sleety snow...probably not the best time to be judging it!  My Brother Sylvest ran a cracker on his first start since November 2013 to finish runner-up to Brick Red at Sandown - Mr Handicapper, please be kind!  Serienschock also performed creditably to finish third at Wetherby on a good day for owner Terry Neill - afterall, Liverpool beat my beloved Hammers 3-0!

Today we have two meetings to look forward to forward to with Musselburgh being abandoned following an early morning inspection.  Predictably there are no problems with the all-weather flat meetings from Wolverhampton and Lingfield.  It is a quiet start to the week for the stable as we have no runners today.

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I was disappointed to see Andy Murray lose 3-1 in the final of the Australian Open to Novak Djokovic.  The first two sets were tennis of thehighest quality and Murray clearly is as good a player as the Serb, although I don't think he is as strong mentally.  I am not sure how you overcome that.

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Rory McIlroy is undoubtedly the finest golfer in the world right now.  He has won four of his last seven tournaments and has also finishedrunner-up three times.  He is almost dominating the sport like Tiger Woods did a few years ago.

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Apparently seven times as many people watched Chelsea versus Manchester City as watched the Superbowl last night.  With over one hundred million households in American tuning in to the American Football, it gives you some idea about the popularity of soccer worldwide.  The New England Patriots won in a tight game over defending champions Seattle Seahawks last night with quarterback Tom Brady winning his fourth trophy, equalling the all-time record for Superbowl successes.