Kalifourchon Impresses Again

I went racing to Uttoxeter yesterday and once again the stable was among the winners with success in the feature handicap hurdle with the rapidly improving Kalifourchon who was recording his third success from his last four starts.  I would imagine a fair hike in the weights will be coming his way, although he gives the impression that he is doing nothing more than what is necessary and looks as though he will get further still.  He is a lovely four year old who should make a smashing chaser in time.  The ground at Uttoxeter yesterday was officially described as good although all of the times were on the slow side suggesting the ground was actually dead.  It certainly didn't help Dusk Till Dawn or Standing Ovation who both seem to like the top of the ground.  Dusk Till Dawn looks as though he will appreciate a longer trip, while Standing Ovation still performed creditably to finish a close third and I wouldn't be surprised to see him return to the larger obstacles next time.

This afternoon we have four flat cards from Doncaster, Epsom, Chepstow and Chelmsford City on the all-weather.  The stable has one runner on the level as Impulsive American takes in the 5.45pm race at Chepstow.  Our three year old had some decent form on the flat in France and failed to settle on his British debut when unplaced at Carlisle - that was his first run since April and granted he settles today, he is entitled to have improved for that experience.  Leading apprentice Tom Marquand is in the saddle today.

What a fantastic finish to the Leger Legends race at Doncaster yesterday.  It was a thrilling and fitting send off for 20 times champion jockey A P McCoy as he signed off with a winner on this "once and once only" return to the saddle.  I spoke with him yesterday morning and he had just been for a run around the course at Doncaster and he was out of breath.  Still, the effort paid off and it raised plenty of money for the Injured Jockeys Fund as the winning saddle made £15,000 and the subsequent auction raised £55,000.  The biggest shock was that Luke Harvey managed to finish a close third - I thought he would have blown up!

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As far as I can tell, the only way that the England football team is going to get any better is if we have more home grown players in the Premier League.  To do that there ought to be a cap on the number of overseas players allowed in a side (much like they do in the cricket).  I am probably being totally politically incorrect or am breaking some sort of human rights act but there are not enough of our own youngsters getting a chance.

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Talking of football, it is the start of that funny American Football and there is going to be plenty of action on Sky.  It's a shame that Channel 4 have lost the rights for the games over here and the Superbowl itself to the BBC as they had done an excellent job over the last few years.  It seems like the criteria for these players is that they need to be over 6 feet tall, weigh in at over 15 stone and be able to throw a funny shaped ball ridiculously long distances!  The Dallas Cowboys are a popular pick and they should have enough strenght in depth to cope with the loss of Murray...Andy does seem to play a lot of sports!  There is someone in our office who is absolutely mad on the gridiron and he tells me his beloved Vikings are going to have a decent season.

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Finally, UK fashion stylist Debbie Wingham made a 6 foot diamond frosted cake for a world record £48.5 million for an Arab family...they said the cake was a bit rich!

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