Newton, Kelso Runners

It is another busy day with five meetings taking place with action from Newton Abbot, Kelso and Wetherby over the sticks while on the level it is the first day of the Chester Cup meeting and on the all-weather there is a card from Chelmsford City.  David runs Alternatif (pictured above) in the staying handicap chase at Newton Abbot at 4.45pm - our six year old finished second at Chepstow on soft ground last time out and it will be interesting to see how he handles this faster ground under Tom Scu.  We also run Daklondike at Kelso - he is a newcomer to the yard who put up an impressive performance when winning his only start to date in an Irish point-to-point.  Our half brother to Paddy Power and Cheltenham Festival winner Great Endeavour works well at home and has conditional jockey David Noonan aboard taking off a valuable 3lbs - this looks like quite a decent bumper for the track but a big run is expected nevertheless.

All three of our runners yesterday performed creditably to reach the frame without quite getting their heads in front.  The Draconian improved dramatically to finish third on his seasonal debut in the bumper, beaten only 2 1/2 lengths.  It is amazing how much these horses can come on for a bit of previous experience and there looks room for further improvement as he still looked very green in running.  Kie was fourth on his return to hurdling while Prideofthecastle filled the same position in the marathon staying handicap chase at Fakenham.  I am not sure he appreciated the sharp nature of this track, although he stuck to his task well - he will win again when returned to a proper track (no offence to Fakenham!).

As I said, it is the start of the Chester Cup meeting today and Chester certainly fits into the 'funny track' category.  It is imperative that you have a low draw in the sprints - if you are drawn wide you might as well stay at home.  Dr Marwan Koukash is the owner to follow and he loves having winners at the track and has no less than five runners in today's Chester Cup.  Having said that, I have a well-informed mate who has had his brains on Steve Rogers (and he is not the bravest person in the world!).

Many happy returns to overweight Sir Anthony McCoy who has reached the grand old age of 42.  I can't believe it has been over a year since he quit the saddle - even now I bet he could still compete alongside the best of them.

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I see that newly crowned Premier League champions Leicester's manager Claudio Ranieri is pleading with his players not to leave the club during the summer.  I would think that Vardy, Mahrez and goalkeeper Schmeichel will be on their travels unless they get big new contracts offered to them.  As you know, money talks and there is a Premiership Trophy in their cabinet so you can understand why they would want paying.

There should be an interesting match between Real Madrid and Manchester City tonight although 8/15 is the best price on offer about Madrid.

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Apparently when you are over 50, one of the first things to go is...what was I saying?  Have a nice day...

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