Snow Problem!

It's like a winter wonderland down here in the West country again!  I was watching a photo-finish at Towcester yesterday and when they showed the print, it was almost impossible to tell which horse had won as the picture was covered in snow.  Edward Whittaker has taken a great picture on the front page of today's Post as runners at Towcester compete during a snow storm.  Southwell also ran their meeting in blizzard conditions and it was amazing just how quickly the snow had settled on the ground.

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I was looking at A P McCoy's diet and was quite surprised by the amount of tea he drinks...it made me wonder why he is not sponsored by Typhoo!  There are many people that do not realise the sacrifices that he has had to make to remain at the top of his game.  He has faced a constant battle against his weight - when he was riding for MCP, if he had a Sunday lunch he would put on an enormous amount of weight .  If he was riding on the following Monday he would seriously have to waste to do a light weight.

Lester Piggott once told me that he lived on water and cigars and in the end his stomach shrunk so he did not need a lot of food, which given his height was quite surprising.  Looking at him now, even though he is no longer race-riding, I guess he still doesn't eat much!

Just think, AP has broken twenty-two bones in his body - I only broke one and decided to pack in my riding career...some people just never learn.  Actually, it wasn't the broken bone that finished me off, it would have been the constant dieting.  I once went on one of those speak your weight machines - it said "no coach parties"!  A mate of mine once went on an interesting diet - you could eat as much as you liked, you just weren't allowed to swallow!

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There are further inspections this morning at Ascot and Uttoxeter.  Let's hope that both courses are able to race, but more importantly, if they cannot, let's hope that they call the meetings off in good time.