Lion Goes To Lingfield

The good news is that Lingfield passed their inspection and the meeting goes ahead, meaning that there are three meetings taking place this afternoon.  The action comes from Lingfield where they host a jumps card and two all-weather flat fixtures from Southwell and Wolverhampton.  David has one runner today as Little Red Lion (pictured above) makes his seasonal debut at Lingfield in the amateur riders' handicap hurdle at 3.45pm.  He runs in the colours of the David Pipe Racing Club and is partnered by Fergus Gillard who takes a handy 5lbs off his back.  The going is going to be very testing but Little Red Lion showed ability in bumpers, finishing runner-up to promising type Stick With Bill on heavy ground at Ffos Las.  He was well-beaten in his three hurdle starts last term but has had a wind operation since and makes his handicap debut at a realistic level and has each-way claims.

It is not such good news for the Irish who were forced to abandon their Punchestown meeting owing to heavy downpours of rain.

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Manchester City destroyed Aston Villa 6-1 yesterday in their Premier League clash.  City were in a completely different league to hapless Villa who drop into the relegation zone after Watford beat Bournemouth.

The Masters Snooker championship started yesterday and there have already been a couple of shock exits at the Ally Pally.  Newly crowned UK Champion Ding Junhui was knocked out in his opening match along with former world number one and world champion Mark Selby.

My beloved Minnesota Vikings were beaten by the San Francisco 49ers during the Divisional rounds of the NFL.  The favourites, the Baltimore Ravens were surprisingly beaten by the Tennessee Titans, whilst Kansas City and Green Bay (boo!) also progressed to the Conference Championship matches next weekend.

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What sounds like a sneeze and is made of leather?  A shoe!