Long Road To Ayr

This afternoon we have five meetings taking place with three of them over the sticks at Ayr, Fontwell & Southwell plus two flat cards from Newbury and Bath. It is the first day of the Scottish National meeting and Tom Scudamore has made the long trip up north for one ride for J P McManus.  With only 10-5 on his back, I am guessing that A P will not be wasting to do that sort of weight in his last week and a half in the saddle.  The stable has no runners this afternoon, although we will have runners at the track and they have already left this morning for their marathon journey.  The ground at Ayr is drying and officially described as good/soft at present although officials will be watering the course.

There is a great picture of Moon Racer (above) being led into the winners's enclosure at the Cheltenham Festival on page three of today's Racing Post.  It is an advertisement for Brightwells Sales which takes place on 24th April.  As far as adverts go, they do not come much better than Champion Bumper winner Moon Racer!

Our only runner at Cheltenham yesterday, Twentytwo's Taken finished fourth in the Listed mares' novices' hurdle having made the running.  She clearly has plenty of ability although being quite headstrong, it is a matter of getting her to channel it more effectively.

I was in the betting shop in Brixham yesterday and had to suffer the usual ignorance of punters talking through their pockets, in particular when Richard Hannon landed the Craven with his second string Kool Kompany.  Having said that, I must agree that Dettori did seem to give the favourite a terrible ride.

It is colourful owner Roger Stanley's birthday today.  Roger, who has been lucky enough to own the likes of Madison du Berlais, Grands Crus and Gevrey Chambertin is 60 and is probably cycling somewhere around the world!  Meanwhile it is also trainer Paul Nicholls and former Channel 4 pundit John McCririck's birthdays.

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As far as I can tell, England need some quick wickets to get a result in the Test match against the West Indies.  To be honest, I am surprised that either team has managed to get into a position where they may force a victory.  A win could well save Alistair Cook's job as skipper for another day.  The West Indians need to survive 130 overs as there is no way they will be able to score enough runs...it should make an interesting final day.

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Brendan Rogers had a heart to heart talk with Raheem Sterling, although he may well have been better off having a heart to heart with his agent!  In the meantime, there is a great match to look forward to tomorrow between Chelsea and Manchester United.  Bookies make Chelsea slight odds-on and I hate to admit, I am sorely tempted by the 3/1 about United!

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Another piece of useless trivia to leave you with today...did you know that female canaries cannot sing?  Have a nice day.

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