Entertainer At Cartmel

It is a busy Bank Holiday Monday with six meetings taking place this afternoon.  We have action on the flat from Epsom, Ripon, Chepstow and Newcastle, while there are jumps cards from Cartmel and Huntingdon.  The stable has one runner today as Street Entertainer (pictured above) makes the long journey up to Cartmel to run 3m1 1/2f handicap hurdle at 5.10pm.  It is a longer trip for him today and our representative is burdened with top-weight - he is tough, consistent and versatile but is still 4lbs higher than his best winning mark.  Stable jockey Tom Scudamore is aboard and while it is a very competitive race (as it should be for £18,500) he would have claims if lasting out this longer trip.  The track has avoided most of the rain that we have endured so the good going will suit.

Runaway jump jockeys' championship leader Richard Johnson has six rides at Cartmel today and there look to be some nice mounts among them including Dreamsoftheatre for Jonjo O'Neill and Mistress Mole for Gordon Elliott.  I am sure there is not a more deserving champion in waiting anywhere in sport than Richard Johnson.  He finished runner-up to A P McCoy on no fewer than sixteen occasions and barring injury it looks as though he will finally be crowned.  He has made a great start to the season with 73 winners already on the board and is 29 ahead of nearest pursuer Aidan Coleman.  With John Ferguson, Philip Hobbs, Jonjo O'Neill and Gordon Elliott giving him winners he looks a certainty to be champion - the best bit is that I am on at 11/4!

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It wasn't a great weekend for the football supporters in the office, David is a Chelsea fan while head lad Oliver supports Norwich.  Meanwhile, I have twice bet against my beloved West Ham and the Hammers have won both times - I have learned my lesson!  Meanwhile, Manchester United still looked very poor as they lost to Swansea (again) and I am convinced that manager Louis Van Gaal doesn't have a clue what he is doing - he needs a goalkeeper, centre half and centre forward.  Rooney is too slow to play centre forward and while he might score a hat-trick against second rate foreign sides, he will struggle to replicate that in our Premier Division.  Gary Monk would have been a much better choice for the United managers vacancy.  He knows which players to buy and how to play them!  Anyway, I hope a few of you followed me and had Swansea and Southampton...another good weekend!

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Let's hope that the rain stays away long enough for the Twenty20 cricket between England and Australia at Cardiff.  England are second favourites at 6/5!

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I know times have been hard for all of us, but some people have been taking austerity measures to extremes.  Did you know that a pound shop in Poole, Dorset went out of business when a 99p shop across the road started selling similar products but for a penny cheaper?!  Just think, if the pound shop had taken the drastic measure of calling themselves the 97p shop, they would easily have put the 99p shop out of business!

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