Changing Going

Day four of our summer jumps sabbatical and there are six flat fixtures taking place this afternoon.  The action comes from Brighton, Haydock, Yarmouth, Sandown, Newcastle and Wolverhampton.  You would not believe it is August with the amount of non-runners owing to the changes in going overnight.  The going at Brighton and Bath yesterday was good to soft, while over at Sligo it was heavy...so much for the great British summer!

I see that trainers Jamie Osborne and Andrew Balding take a couple of horses to race in Norway today as they try to land the Group 3 Polar Cup at Ovrevoll.  The prize money is good with £44,000 up for grabs - I can quite understand why they have decided to try their luck.

It's amazing how as soon as a gamble is landed the bookmakers start moaning.  Personally I would like to say well done to Charles Byrnes on his three well-backed winners at Roscommon on Tuesday evening.  He said, "We had a nice few bob out of the three horses but the figures being talked about are exaggerated, I can guarantee you that".  The best gambles are the ones that fewest people know about so it looks like it was a job well done.

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England are in need of a good day with the ball in the cricket against Pakistan after they only managed to score 297 with the bat.  The ball did look to be moving about a bit so maybe James Anderson and Stuart Broad will get something out of it, it should be interesting.

It is hard to believe that skateboarding, karate, sport climbing (whatever that is), baseball and softball are going to be featured in the 2020 Olympics from Tokyo.  I would like to see it go back to it's original format where it was largely just track and field events.  I may be a grumpy old man, but as far as I can see all these different events just devalues the Olympic gold medal.  Just look at these golfers and tennis players for instance, plenty of them couldn't care less about winning a medal and would rather be competing for a good pay-day somewhere else.  Andy Murray will be carrying the flag for Great Britain in tomorrow's opening ceremony and I think after his Wimbledon heroics he is fully deserving.

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I have been attending anger management courses...apparently they are all the rage!  Have a nice day...

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