Newbury, Doncaster Runners

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Newbury, Doncaster and Kelso as well as an all-weather flat fixture from Southwell.  David has four runners this afternoon with Baltimore Rock making his chasing debut at Doncaster under Tom Scudamore, while at Newbury we have Epic Warrior and Shotavodka ridden by Kieron Edgar and Balgarry who is partnered by Conor O'Farrell.  Balgarry (pictured above) was a winner last time out at Taunton and was a winner on soft ground in France so conditions should suit him - he is 4lbs higher than when successful but is expected to be thereabouts once again.  Shotavodka reverts to hurdling on a mark of 135 which is 6lbs lower than his highest winning chase mark while Kieron takes an additional 3lbs off his back.  The bookies make Epic Warrior a 10/1 chance and this slightly shorter trip should help him - we look to have some sound chances today.

There was some great action yesterday afternoon from Leopardstown - I thought that Davy Russell gave Zarana and Prince Of Scars super cool rides to win.  He is still a top class jockey.  While we are on the subject of jockeys, someone approached me yesterday with an idea to stop jockeys breaking the whip rules - he said to follow John Francome's advice and race without sticks.  The trouble is there would be plenty more horses retiring as some of them would not put it all in without the occasional slap...it is a very difficult dilemma.

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There was some interesting football action yesterday with Manchester United earning a point for their thrilling(!) 0-0 draw with Chelsea - manager Louis Van Gaal can certainly talk a good game!  Meanwhile Arsenal looked like a class side once again with Ozil playing some fantastic football at present.  I was chuffed to see the Hammers beat Southampton 2-1, although they looked dreadful in the first half!  I need Brighton to win today to bring up the second leg of my football double.

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It was another good day for the English cricketers in South Africa and I reckon if they can bat until lunchtime today and build up a lead of around 350, they have a good chance of getting a result.  The pitch looks as though it will get very spinny...if that is even a word?!

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A man appeared in Bow Street Magistrates Court yesterday charged with dangerous driving.  He lost control of his car on a winding country lane just missing a very thin pig.  He told the court that it was a narrow squeak!  Have a nice day...

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