Boy Goes To Huntingdon

This afternoon there are four meetings taking place with three jumps cards from Huntingdon, Musselburgh and Sedgefield as well as an all-weather flat card from Chelmsford City. The stable has one runner, The Darling Boy (pictured above) who competes in the 2m4 1/2f handicap hurdle at 4.55pm.  Our ten year old has won four times, goes on any ground and is entitled to come on for his first start of the season at Towcester.  Furthermore he has won a chase from this mark of 100 so is by no means unfeasibly weighted.  Tom Scudamore is in the saddle and hopefully the pair will make the journey worthwhile.

Of the stable runners yesterday at Doncaster Skylander fared best when finishing third in the National Hunt novices' hurdle.  He was only beaten five lengths under his penalty and this winning point-to-pointer looks as though he will appreciate a step up in trip, while Rathlin Rose was far from disgraced under top weight on his handicap debut in a hot looking race.

I see that Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins has had a go at the prize money on offer at the Cheltenham Festival, suggesting that it ought to be doubled.  Yet somehow Sedgefield manage to get away with just £30,000 prize money across their six race card today.  If you were to finish fourth in their handicap chase, you would pick up just £190.80 - some of these courses are taking the mickey.  Having said all of that, Huntingdon have done well to put on a £14,000 race and they have been rewarded with just four runners where the last home will pick up £1332.  Indeed, they only have 31 runners on their entire card - are race planning not putting on the right type of races for the trainers?  Something clearly needs to be done.

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I cannot for the life of me think why there is such drama surrounding who is going to be the captain of the European Ryder Cup team.  Most of the players pick themselves via the European Order of Merit.  The captain does have a couple of wild cards to use but they will hardly be out of left field, more likely they will be able to keep up with him drinking if possible!

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Snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan is in trouble again, this time for using foul language after he was beaten 4-3 by Matthew Stevens in the Welsh Open.  Stevens hadn't beaten 'The Rocket' since 2003.

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Finally, detectives are hunting a chubby jet skier who goes mooning off beaches near Clearwater, Florida...they have a crack team on the job!