Four Flat Fixtures

I must admit, I'm afraid I hate this time of the year!  While I love my flat racing, it just isn't the same when there is no jump racing to watch and there is nothing on these shores until a week on Wednesday.  The flat action takes place from Ripon, Nottingham, Carlisle and Windsor and if like me you love a bit of National Hunt racing then you are going to have to make do with the card from Cork over in Ireland.  Unsurprisingly there are no runners from the stable today.  There is obviously a market for a jumps meeting at this time of year - Cork have 22, 23 and 24 runner fields...talk about competitive, I wouldn't fancy trying to pick all of the winners!  Windsor's evening fixture will seem a bit strange without the presence of now retired champion Richard Hughes on the card - during the last five years he has ridden over twice as many winners as any other rider.

Talking of Richard Hughes, he received a fantastic send-off at Goodwood on Saturday, receiving the now almost traditional guard of honour from his weighing room colleagues.  It is a shame that racing is without it's two great champion jockeys and a pity that Hughsie wasn't able to sign off as top jockey at Goodwood, or even with a winner on his last day.  Even so, he has enjoyed a great career and I'm sure he will make an impact as a trainer on the level.

I see that he couldn't eat the fry up that his lovely wife Lizzie made for him yesterday - there is a picture in the Racing Post today and I have to say, I'm not really surprised.  Richard is very tall for a flat jockey so I am sure he has had very little to eat for many years - the contents of the frying pan would probably have fed most of the weighing room!

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Onto football and Arsenal managed to win the Community Shield at Wembley yesterday by beating Premier League winners Chelsea 1-0 and at least win themselves a bit of silverware!  I must say they looked quite good and are going to be a threat in the league this season although I don't think I would be rushing in at odds of 7/2 as they are still likely to be around that price several weeks from now.  It never fails to amaze me how prizes such as the Community Shield, Capital One Cup, Europa League and even the FA Cup fail to draw the interest of the big clubs with their best players often sitting out the action.  Yesterday Chelsea left their striker Diego Costa on the bench even though Mourinho said that he would be fit to play.

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What a shame about the passing of Cilla Black over the weekend.  Being of the same generation, I remember growing up with much of her music and seeing her on television - she was a national treasure and seemed totally unaffected by the success she had enjoyed over the years.  A fixture at the Grand National meeting down the years (pictured right with MCP), I had the pleasure of meeting her on a number of occasions and she really was a lovely lady.

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Finally, a fascinating fact for you...did you know that the first man to survive going over the Niagra Falls later died when slipping on an orange peel?  I'm sure there must be a valuable life lesson in there somewhere.

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