Imperial Cup Entries

This Saturday sees Sandown host the Imperial Cup handicap hurdle - if you win on Saturday and then go on to win at the Cheltenham Festival the following week, the winning connections receive a generous £75,000 bonus from the sponsors.  So far David and Martin are the only trainers to have accomplished the feat - MCP did it twice with Olympian and Blowing Wind, while David won it for his father in 2007 with Gaspara.  We have two entries in this year's renewal: Ronaldo des Mottes and Arrayan, although I am told that they are not certain runners at this stage.  The Henderson team look to hold a strong hand this year with four of the top five in the market.

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We play host to a number of pressmen this morning as we hold our pre-Cheltenham Festival press day.  By the look of it we should be in for a nice day and I am looking forward to seeing what the hacks have to write about our prospects over the coming days.  We will be parading some of our leading chances (including Grands Crus) and David and Tom Scuamore will be conducting a questions and answers session.

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We have a great game to look forward to tonight as Barcelona take on Arsenal.  My wife said something really silly this morning, "There is too much football on the telly" - my son asked her if she was feeling okay, but I guess she does have a point - there does seem to be a match on every night at the moment with Sky, ESPN and terrestrial television!

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Cheltenham Festival Selections On
The Update Line 09060 400 901

Starting today with stable jockey Tom Scudamore, we will be speaking to some of the most respected people in the business and they will be giving us their selection for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival.

We will continue with eight times champion jockey Peter Scudamore, Bloodstock Agent Tom Malone, Attheraces presenter Luke Harvey, fifteen times champion jockey A P McCoy, fifteen times champion trainer Martin Pipe, and of course, David who has had five Festival winners in his first four full seasons with a training license.  To listen in to this exclusive information call 09060 400 901 from 10am daily.  (Calls charged at £1.50 per min at all times, helpline 01884 840715)