Foggy Start!

The fog was quite thick this morning presenting a proper murky start to the day.  Hopefully it will lift and leave us a nice, bright sunny day, although judging by the forecast I am not so sure!  It was a frustrating evening for the Pond House team last night as David looks to embark on his second thousand winners as both of our runners finished second at Towcester.  Perspicace looked all over the winner for the majority of the race until making a mess of the last hurdle and idling in front, only to be caught right on the line.  He was conceding 11lbs to the winner so it probably wasn't a bad performance.  Meanwhile Brook also finished second, just seeming to come up against a better handicapped horse in Orbys Man.  Still, they were both good runs and like David said in his column this week, at least it confirms the well being of the yard.

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Beverley and Chepstow as well as jumps cards from Sedgefield, Wincanton and Southwell.  While David does not have any runners today, jockeys Tom Scudamore, Conor O'Farrell and David Noonan all travel to Wincanton where they have picked up outside rides.

Both Taste The Wine and Noverre To Go will reach a notable landmark this evening at Chepstow when they make their 100th racecourse appearance.  That is some going - it is very hard to keep a horse sound, so to run 100 times is exceptional and is a testament to their toughness.  I love these grand old campaigners - they come back and do their stuff year in and year out and I think that is another of the reasons why the veterans' series is so popular with trainers and racegoers alike.

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You have to feel a little sorry for British number one tennis player Andy Murray who has had the misfortune to have been around in the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic - at any other point in time he would have been dominating the sport - it is a bit like Richard Johnson and A P McCoy or Jimmy White and Steve Davis.

It is the last game for West Ham at Upton Park tonight and the mighty Hammers take on Manchester United.  Unfortunately I am going to let my heart rule my head (which, by the way is a really stupid thing to do when you are betting) and have a wager on West Ham at 23/10.  Mrs Barnes will be pleased to hear that the match is televised on Sky!  It will certainly be emotional viewing for me as I have many great memories of watching them in that stadium - I even saw Stanley Matthews play there!

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I had to laugh when I heard trainer Gay Kelleway's quote, "I can't ride or dance but I can drink champagne!"  I know quite a lot of people like that..no names eh, George & Simon?!

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