Rock Stars At Donny!

There was a nice winner for the stable yesterday afternoon at Doncaster as Baltimore Rock (pictured above) made the long journey north worthwhile when making a winning chase debut.  He jumped well bar a slow jump at the last and could be called a winner some way from home even though the eventual winning margin was only half a length.  This looked to be a decent novices' chase so it was a good performance to win under top weight on his first start over the larger obstacles.  Meanwhile, Epic Warrior ran creditably to finish third at Newbury in what looked like a decent contest and he will certainly find easier opportunities.

There are four meetings this afternoon with jumps cards from Taunton and Haydock (who have passed a 7am inspection this morning) and a couple of all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Wolverhampton.  Unusually David doesn't have any runners at Taunton this afternoon although he does run Ballywilliam at Haydock - he was beaten only a short head at Chepstow last time on heavy ground so the underfoot conditions will hold no terrors for him.  A similar level of form will see him go close again.

He may not be the best horse in the world but La Estrella is a record breaker after winning his 27th race on the all-weather at Southwell yesterday - 22 of those successes have come in claiming or selling company and even though he is now a twelve year old his winning days don't look over with yet.

I struggle to understand why it has taken Yarmouth so long to get their surface sorted out.  The grass in my garden won't stop growing...I know this because Mrs Barnes keeps moaning about it every time she has to mow it while I am watching the television!  I did buy her a light weight mower, what more does she want?!

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Leicester earned a point yesterday with a hard-fought success against Manchester City.  It is amazing, here we are a couple of days before New Year and they are level with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.  I can't remember the last time there was such an open fight for the division.

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It looks as though England are going to get a result against South Africa in the first cricket Test...don't forget they are currently ranked number one in the world so this is a good effort.  Steven Finn is the bowler doing the damage...come on England!

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After a series of crimes in the Glasgow area Chief Inspector Mactavish has announced that he is looking for a man with one eye.  If he doesn't find him he is going to use both eyes!

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