Bladoun Scores At Exeter

***Update***
 Fontwell abandoned due to waterlogging

There was a nice winner for the stable yesterday as Bladoun (pictured above) ran out a game winner of the conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle at Exeter.  Having made most of the running, he looked to be in trouble approaching the last but he prevailed narrowly under a strong ride from Michael Heard.  Bladoun jumped quite markedly out to his left on a number of occasions so did well to still win, especially as he was conceding a stone to the runner-up on bad ground.

Today we have four fixtures with jumps action from Fontwell and Catterick as well as flat cards from Lingfield and Kempton.  David has one intended runner this afternoon; Heath Hunter who goes in the 2m3f handicap hurdle, although the meeting does have to pass an early morning inspection following plenty of overnight rain.  Should he run, he will have to carry top weight of 11-12 less conditional jockey David Noonan's 5lbs claim.  If the meeting does go ahead the ground is sure to be very testing although our runner has won twice on heavy ground so underfoot conditions shouldn't hinder his chances and a big run is expected.

Looking at the flat card at Lingfield it is not very often that you see a Paul Nicholls runner on the flat.  Amanto carries top weight in the 4.40pm and his daughter Megan is in the saddle and claims 7lbs off his back.  The six year old did win in Germany but has not been so good over hurdles...I will certainly be interested to see how he fares.

There are only six days left until the start of the Cheltenham Festival and you will probably already have seen David's pre-Festival video interview with broadcaster Mike Vince (if you haven't, what are you waiting for? You will find it in David's weekly update!) and now we are pleased to bring you the thoughts of stable jockey Tom Scudamore.  To hear what he had to say about his hopes from the Pond House team as well as his World Hurdle favourite Thistlecrack, simply click on the link below...

Tom Scudamore 2016 Cheltenham Festival Interview

*****

It looks as though former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez could be the next manager at Newcastle.  MCP and myself met him at Aintree a few years ago and he seemed like a really nice chap.  As far as I can see, the question is could he kick those Newcastle players up the backsides?

Scotland missed the chance of a first ever T20 cricket success when they lost by 14 runs to Afghanistan.  I had better not say anything or I will have our friends in the north on to me in the marquee next week at the Festival!  I wonder how many cricketers live in Afghanistan?

I see that all of the papers are full of the Maria Sharapova story.  All of the players are supposed to have been notified that the drug she tested positive for had been prohibited and she does have her own medical team so this does appear to be a massive oversight somewhere.  The tennis authorities (and every other sports body for that matter) need to take a stand against drug takers...no players are above their sport.

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