Chepstow, Kempton Runners

Well today we hopefully have three meetings with jump action set to take place from Chepstow and Kempton while there is an all-weather flat meeting at Lingfield.  Given the rain we have had down this way, I still can't believe that Chepstow is going to get the go ahead - there will certainly be some slow motion finishes!  Tom Scudamore goes to Kempton where he partners Balgarry, Dell' Arca, Poole Master and Stars Over The Sea.  Meanwhile David Noonan comes in for the mount aboard last time out winner Gevrey Chambertin in the 2m7 1/2f handicap hurdle at Chepstow and he claims a handy 5lbs off his back which could prove beneficial as that trip is going to take some getting on extremely testing ground.  I did have a look at the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton and I thought that Dell' Arca looked to have sound claims although Bivouac looks likely to go well from the Henderson camp, while I thought that the sharp nature of the track would suit a front runner such as Balgarry in the 2m2f handicap chase.

Over at Chepstow the Welsh National looks like an impossible conundrum.  3m5 1/2f on bottomless ground will certainly find quite a few of these out and if I were forced to choose I would probably side with the Barry Geraghty mount Upswing.

I was watching the action from Doncaster yesterday and saw the Nicky Henderson trained Vyta du Roc get turned over at odds of 2/5.  I still have my doubts about all of their horses being spot-on.

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What a great result for local side Exeter as they drew 2-2 with Premier League giants Liverpool at home last night in the third round of the FA Cup.  It must rank as one of Exeter's best results ever.  For all that it was fantastic for Exeter, how many Premiership goalkeepers do you know that would get beaten direct from a corner?  At least Exeter City will earn a few quid when the replay goes to Anfield.  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that he had only seen some of his players on a video - it must have been some sort of video nasty judged by last night's performance!

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The world championship of ping pong takes place at the Alexandra Palace from 22nd to 24th January.  It sounds as though Barry Hearn has booked a few too many days and is looking for something to fill in the blanks!  It is table tennis with wooden bats (no rubber or sponge on them) and it is so slow compared to what I used to play years ago...and I am not being big-headed (for a change!).

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Talking about ping pong, what is Dracula's favourite sport?  Batminton!  Have a nice weekend...

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