Navanman Wins Again

It was good to see Navanman follow-up his Towcester success of last week in decisive fashion at Fakenham yesterday afternoon.  He carried 12-1 which included a 7lbs penalty, but even so he was 8lbs 'well-in' and seemed to win with that amount in hand.  The step up in trip certainly seems to have brought about some.  I see David has several more entries for him over the coming days and I would not be surprised to see him turned out again at some point.  Our ex-Irish pointer put in a faultless round of jumping yesterday and will make up into a nice chaser at some point.  I was amused to see travelling head lad Craig Wylie interviewed by Attheraces' Bob Cooper after the race.  Cooper asked Craig how long he had been at Pond House and suggested that he didn't look any different after all these years.  Wylie replied that he takes good care of himself with a rigorous daily moisturising routine!  He is currently awaiting a call from Nivea.  Meanwhile Conor O'Farrell was among the winners aboard an outside ride so it was a good day all round.

There are three meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps fixtures from Sedgefield and Market Rasen as well as an all-weather flat card from Southwell.  It is not a great pay day, in fact I would go as far as to say the prize money stinks this afternoon with Market Rasen offering the most with £34,000 while Sedgefield can muster only £30,000 and Southwell a miserly £29,000 across their entire card.  No wonder David has no runners today.  Tom Scudamore travels to Sedgefield where he has one ride for his brother - he will need to win as his fee won't pay for half of his petrol money!

I see that Ludlow are inspecting today for Wednesday while Taunton are taking a look this afternoon ahead of their meeting on Thursday.  Taunton is currently waterlogged in place and I don't fancy their chances of being able to race.  When will it ever stop raining?

Former jockey Darren Egan was handed a twelve year ban from racing yesterday for his part in a lay betting scam.  You know how I feel about cheats in any sport - it should have been a lifetime ban...the sportsmen know what they are doing and they are not forced into cheating.

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West Ham take on Liverpool tonight in the replay of the F A Cup - the problem if you are looking to have a bet on the outcome is that you do not know what sides they are going to put out.  You can back West Ham at 8/5 and the winners play Blackburn Rovers for a place in the quarter finals.  You know me, I never have sentimental bets - come on you Hammers!

How can the Premier League put up the price of tickets?  With this new TV deal they will already be making significantly more money than before, yet they still feel it is okay to rob the fans.  You can get too greedy!

England take on South Africa in the latest match of their One Day International cricket match.  It starts at 11.30am and is on Sky Sports - you can still back England at 11/10 to win today despite the fact that we have outclassed the South Africans thus far.

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I don't know a lot about Switzerland but their flag is a big plus to me!  Think about it...

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