Street Successful At Perth

The stable was back among the winners at Perth yesterday as Street Entertainer ran out the comfortable winner of the claiming hurdle under Tom Scudamore.  It was probably a decent performance giving plenty of weight away to all of his rivals.  He was subsequently claimed for £12,000 - it is a shame but that is the chance you take with these kind of races.  He has been a good horse for the yard, winning on ten occasions.  On his debut over timber Impulsive American finished fourth in what was probably a fair juvenile hurdle and he will improve for brushing up his jumping which is certain to come with experience.  I thought that Border Breaker ran his race in the feature handicap chase over 3 miles, he probably bumped into a couple of improvers, while Epic Warrior is certainly better than he showed yesterday.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with three flat cards from Newmarket, Pontefract and Chelmsford City as well as the second day of Perth's jumps fixture.  The stable runs Ballywilliam at Perth - our five year old won last time out at Chepstow in a bumper although we already know he can jump as he boasts some placed form in Irish point-to-points.  Tom Scudamore is on board and a big run is expected.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one Group One may be regarded as a misfortune: to lose both looks like carelessness!  Fortunately Ralph Beckett does not need to worry about that anymore after the stewards turned around the result of the St Leger yesterday, reinstating original winner Simple Verse.  Personally I think it was the correct decision and I am pleased for Ralph and his team.  Remember, he recently had a Grade One race in America taken away from him as well so this can't have been an easy few weeks.

It is good to see three-times champion flat jockey Ryan Moore back in the saddle tomorrow at Newmarket.  He rode out yesterday for the first time since his neck injury, riding Sun Chariot for Sir Michael Stoute - racing needs it's stars and Ryan certainly fits the bill.  I am sure he will make an immediate impression.

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Onto football and my good run continues.  I hope a few of you followed me in on my little treble yesterday - they were short prices, but they all won.  I think if I were Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren, I wouldn't be looking to buy a house in the Newcastle area.  I don't think he will be staying there very long with his team losing 1-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday.  The Geordie fans will not take much more of this.

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There was a somewhat surreal press conference yesterday in the build-up to the Klitschko versus Tyson Fury fight.  Fury turned up dressed as Batman and then proceeded to do a couple of laps of the press room before beating up arch nemesis the Joker.  It was just like a pantomime...I just hope Fury is as good as he is telling everybody he is!

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Scotland convincingly beat the Japanese 45-10 in the Rugby World Cup yesterday.  The Scots were always going to be favourites but it was the result Japan got when they beat South Africa on Saturday that made it interesting.

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What is the definition of a cannibal?  Someone who goes into a restaurant and orders the waiter!  That's something for you to get your teeth into...

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