Three At Uttoxeter

There are six meetings taking place this afternoon with five on the level from Ascot, Thirsk, York, Newmarket and Chepstow as well as a jumps card from Uttoxeter.  The stable has three runners at Uttoxeter; Weather Babe, Perspicace and A Hairy Koala.  Weather Babe (pictured above on the gallops) takes in the beginners' chase and if she can translate her hurdling ability to fences she should take plenty of beating, especially as she receives a handy 7lbs from the geldings.  Perspicace and A Hairy Koala both compete in the handicap hurdle at 4.55pm and they have the form to win a race of this nature.  If I were to choose, I may just plump for the latter in receipt of the weight although there shouldn't be a lot between them - that's what you call sitting on the fence!  Yesterday's runners at Worcester, Lady Of Longstone and Flabello were both a little disappointing but the handicapper should drop them a few pounds...or am I dreaming?!

Also on the card at Worcester, the John Ferguson trained Ennistown won like a 2/7 chance should.  Having said that I reckon I could take a pretty good stab at getting a 101 rated flat horse to win a hurdle around Worcester during the summer!  Surely he has to go up in class now?

The Galway Festival begins next week and apparently Gordon Elliott will have 20-25 runners at the meeting, easily the most he has sent.  I think MCP and myself saw a few of them working last week at Gordon's place and they all seemed to be in good form to me.

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My beloved team West Ham struggled to beat a bunch of Maltese part-timers in a penalty shoot-out last night, although in fairness they had to play 75 minutes without James Tomkins after he was sent off.  Manager Bilic will doubtless get some stick if they continue to perform like this in the English Premier League.

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Former England all-round legend Andrew Flintoff says that England team could surprise a few people when the third Ashes Test starts.  I am not sure what he means by surprise?  Perhaps he has been hit on the head by a cricket ball?  If it rains for three days perhaps the host nation may be able to force a draw!

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Real Madrid take on Manchester City in Australia this morning at 11am.  I think the value is a bet on both teams to score at 4/6 with Bet365.  The match is covered by Sky Sports.

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I see that a nudist was treated for burns while another two people were hurt when they were struck by lightning on a beach in Miami, Florida...they were spark naked!

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