Kudos To Downpatrick

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon and once again all the action is on the level with fixtures from Hamilton, Leicester, Chepstow, Doncaster and Epsom so unsurprisingly there are no runners from Pond House today.  What a good job they did advertising Downpatrick's fixture in Ireland yesterday - course organisers put on a family fun day with loads of activities for the young'uns and 1,200 children turned up with their families.  You have to come up with new ways of putting numbers on the gate and encouraging the next generation to come racing so they should be applauded for the initiative...some of the courses over here would do well to take note.

You have to feel a little sorry for connections of Bermeo who won at Worcester ten days and was subsequently put up by 14lbs by the handicapper.  Yesterday he failed to take advantage of his old mark of 85 when he finished second, beaten a head at Uttoxeter so you would have to imagine that his winning days are over for a while now that his new mark of 99 has kicked in.  I know how frustrating instances such as these can be and I am sure they are partly responsible for owners leaving the sport.

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Colin Montgomery hit the first ball off the tee of the Open this morning at Royal Troon.  It is an enormous privilege although it is one I am sure he would rather not have had as he hit a double bogey six at the first hole!  Apparently conditions are perfect and the crowds have been there since stupid o'clock making sure they get the best viewing seats.  I am looking forward to seeing what type of trousers Ian Poulter will be wearing - last time he played at this course he wore Union Jack trousers and duly received plenty of stick from the media and the crowd.  Having said that, Poulter is clearly not into sport - he is an Arsenal fan!  Mind you, so is Sir A P McCoy...

It is the start of the first Test match between England and Pakistan at 11am today.  The action is covered by Sky Sports 2 and the home side are 4/11 to win the series.  They can also be backed at 9/10 to win the first match.  Let's just hope that Pakistan manage to put up a better fight than Sri Lanka.  I wonder who Mohammad Amir has backed?  You may recall that he was the spot fixer who has been allowed to play again.

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Thought for the day...nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught!