Wincanton Bumper Runner

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Wincanton and Towcester as well as two all-weather flat cards from Southwell and Chelmsford.  David has one runner at Wincanton today (so long as the meeting passes an early morning inspection) as Celebre d'Allen (pictured above) takes in the bumper at 4.45pm.  Our five year old was probably made enough use of when placed on his first start for the yard in a similar contest at Bangor last time.  He travelled like the best horse in the race that day before not quite getting home.  I can see him being ridden with a bit more patience this afternoon and he looks to have a good chance under stable jockey Tom Scudamore.  Tom seems to have a few live chances at the meeting today so let's hope he rides a winner or two.

I see that trainer Paul Webber has had an accident on the gallops, fracturing his pelvis.  I wonder whether he should really be riding at his age - I haven't seen David on a horse in years, not even our mechanical one!  Anyway, I hope Paul is soon on the mend.

Warren Greatrex enjoyed a winner yesterday when Chef d'Oeuvre was successful at Hereford but it was the riding instructions to jockey Gavin Sheehan that made me chuckle, "go out there and ride him like an idiot, you shouldn't have any difficulty with that!"

I reckon some of the tracks may struggle today - it hasn't stopped raining in the west country and the winds are fierce.  As well as today's inspection at Wincanton, there is also one at Chepstow ahead of tomorrow's card.

I don't want to talk about the football (again!) after my beloved Hammers were spanked 4-0 by Manchester City, so moving on, what about minnows Sutton and Lincoln who will both pick up £247,500 when their fifth round FA Cup matches are shown on the television.  I wonder how long it would take them to make that sort of money in gate receipts?

What a disaster for the England cricket team yesterday.  I was watching, thinking, hoping "we have a chance in this one" and then the batsmen come in and we lose 8 wickets for 8 runs in 18 balls.  Why is our batting line-up so brittle?  Or are the Indians that much better than us?  There are plenty of areas that need addressing moving forward.

I was in the library the other day and this bloke said to me, "Shall we talk about diaries?"  I replied, "Yes, Letts".  Keep smiling...

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