Three At Donny

There are four meetings to look forward to this afternoon with two jumps cards from Ludlow and Doncaster as well as all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Kempton.  The stable runs Skylander, Shoegazer and Rathlin Rose at Donny.  Skylander (pictured above) has been in excellent form this season, winning twice in a bumper and a hurdle since joining the stable - if the handicapper is correct then he has It's A Sting and Lady Buttons ahead of us, but even so I fancy Skylander to run a big race.  Rathlin Rose has won his last two starts in the manner of an improving horse and looks to have sound claims despite carrying topweight in a very competitive handicap hurdle, while Shoegazer would also have a chance if recapturing some of his old form in this veteran's chase.

Of yesterday's runners Dell' Arca finished third under top weight in the handicap hurdle while Bella took a horrible looking fall when making ground in the mares' novices' hurdle.  This looked like being her best run to date and while she is a little stiff and sore, I am pleased to report that she seems to be okay this morning.  Meanwhile A Hairy Koala shaped with promise at Wetherby and there could be a little race in him.

Looking at the weights for the Grand National that were announced yesterday it seems to me that there are quite a lot of good horses that are not likely to get a run.  At this stage the ones that stand out to me are Balthazar King at 25/1, Unioniste also 25's and Teaforthree at 33's.  I will have a little interest for Mrs Barnes but it is not normally a race that I get involved in betting-wise.  Having said that, I did back Blowing Wind each way at 66's when he finished third and I also had the Pond House winners Miinnehoma and Comply Or Die but I was fearless in those days.  I have found that you get more careful as you get older!

Chelsea earned a good draw against PSG in France yesterday so it is back to Stamford Bridge where they should be good enough to get a result.  Meanwhile I see that Wayne Rooney has apologised for his dive against Preston at the weekend - it seems that the only two people in the world who thought that was a penalty were the referee and the England manager!  What chance does our national team have when the manager has defective eyesight?!

My West Ham man tells me that manager Sam Allardyce is unlikely to be handed a new contract when his current one expires.  Big Sam has done a good job with the club, but the trouble is that the team do not play the sort of football that the fans enjoy watching.  As soon as he signed Carroll you just knew that it was going to be a long ball down the middle.

Finally, one last strange but true story...A man was arrested for attacking a cafe owner in Boynton Beach, Florida when they ran out of doughnuts.  Sounds to me like he was a bit of a dough-nutter!  Keep smiling...