April Fool?

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I see that Paddy Brennan has quit his position as stable jockey to Nigel Twiston-Davies.  It isn't really the biggest surprise in the world, with Nigel's son Sam rising through the jockey's ranks at a rate of knots, and as Paddy rightly said...blood is thicker than water.  Paddy is still going to be aboard some of Nigel's horses, including former Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander.  I guess that Nigel is going to have the same headache when his other son Willie leaves school and wants to turn professional,  Paddy Brennan will now turn freelance and I am sure that he will get plenty of rides - he is a top-class jockey, but it is not the same as being a retained stable jockey.

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Beware it is 1st April today.  Personally I used to try to avoid Martin like the plague until after midday on this day.  He loved playing April Fools tricks on people, so lets hope that the staff are on their toes!

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I see there has been a vote about which additional race should be on the Cheltenham Festival card.  I am pleased to see that the most popular selection was a veteran's chase (40% of the vote) - what a great idea.  People love to see those old chasers running in races that they have a feasible chance of winning - the great thing about National Hunt horses is that the same horses tend to come back year after year and the public get attached to them, not like on the flat where the cream of the crop get packed off to stud at the end of their three year old careers.

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Did you know that six out of seven dwarfs aren't happy?!  Keep smiling.