Chepstow Still Raceable

Today we have three meetings taking place with a jumps card from Doncaster as well as a couple of all-weather flat meetings from Lingfield and Wolverhampton. David has no runners this afternoon although stable jockey Tom Scudamore heads to Doncaster for two rides and they both appear to hold solid chances. Meanwhile it was good to see eleven year old Sunny Legend winning at Towcester yesterday afternoon - it was his first success in over two years and just goes to show that some of us oldies still have a bit of life left in us!

I see the rescheduled Welsh National has been brought forward at Chepstow tomorrow afternoon in a bid to beat the elements and the off-time is now 1.45pm - it will now be the first race on the chase course. Clerk of the course Keith Otteson said that the track was raceable yesterday - the problem is that there was no racing yesterday! I find it absolutely astonishing that the meeting will go ahead - are the conditions that much better than when the meeting was abandoned just after Christmas? Anyway, let's hope the card goes ahead.

Will Cheltenham attract any extra runners because of the increased prize money? The answer is clearly a no...it is hard enough to get horses into the races at the Festival nowadays as it is. The Festival is the pinnacle of the sport and I am sure that the owners competing there are far more interested in the prestige than the cash. Personally I think the money could have been better utilised by increasing prize money at some of the smaller tracks. Today at Doncaster (which isn't a small track!) there is just £34,000 in prize money on offer across their seven race card...I rest my case!

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There is a big game tonight as Exeter face Premier League side Liverpool in the FA Cup. Plenty of the locals have been trying to get tickets and there is bound to be a great atmosphere as it is only a small stadium although I think I would rather be sat at home in front of the box - coverage is on BBC 1 at 7.55pm. Liverpool are 4/9 chances and no matter how bad they are playing in the Premier League, I reckon they look a pretty solid bet tonight. There are three other all Premiership matches tonight with Southampton versus Crystal Palace, Tottenham versus Leicester and Watford versus Newcastle - they look like three home wins!

Celtic are 5/4 to win the Scottish Cup - I thought they were the only side in Scotland these days?! Sorry to any Rangers fans out there.

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I see a lady dart player hit a 160 check out. It is the highest by a lady dart player ever. You would think the ladies would be every bit as good as the men - the darts aren't heavy and speaking from experience, Mrs Barnes is good at throwing things around the house!

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What do you call a snowman in the desert? A puddle!

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