Three Runners Tonight

 My Brother Sylvest - 2nd in his last 3 races

There is a bumper list of fixtures taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Chepstow, Chester, Haydock, Newmarket and York, supported by jumping action from Stratford.  The stable has three runners this afternoon at Stratford; My Brother Sylvest, Western Diva and The Bank Manager and stable jockey Tom Scu is aboard all three.  My Brother Sylvest has produced three very good performances to finish runner up in competitive handicaps and he looks sure to go well once again.  The trouble is he has been creeping up the weights without winning – he certainly deserves a nice prize, so let’s hope it is today.

The motorway traffic was terrible yesterday and unfortunately Tom Scu along with many horses didn’t make it to Stratford in time.  Amateur David Noonan took the ride aboard Amigo and he finished fourth while Weather Babe ran a cracker to finish second.  A mistake at the final hurdle cost her as it was such a short run in but it was a great performance racing off a career high mark.  She should continue to give us a lot of fun over the summer as she is an extremely tough and consistent mare, bred by Sarah Clifford and running in the ownership of Wayne.  Amigo ran okay but probably found the track and trip sharp enough on his return to hurdling.  What was the Summer National could now be his next target at Uttoxeter.

What a great performance from Treve to bolt up on her seasonal debut at Saint Cloud yesterday.  I know she was entitled to win, but it was good to see her come out and confirm her wellbeing.  Her campaign will be mapped around a bid for a historic third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and judging by this, she is going to be a major player once again.

There is a good fixture at Haydock this afternoon with three Group races on the card as well as a Listed contest, while there are also Listed races from Newmarket and York so with all three meetings covered by Channel 4 there is plenty of quality action to enjoy.

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Despite rain interrupting play in the second Test match between England and New Zealand at Leeds there were still a few wickets with New Zealand finishing the day on 297 for 8.  Jimmy Anderson who recently surpassed Sir Ian Botham to become England’s leading wicket taker of all time took two early wickets to surpass the 400 milestone…a fantastic achievement.

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Finally, did you know that beards can be extremely bad for your health?  In 1567, a gentleman with what was believed to be the world’s longest beard died when he tripped over his beard as he was attempting to escape a fire…beards are bad - you have been warned!