Oaks Day At Epsom

I see that trainers have come in for some stick in the row over prize money.  Earlier in the week there was a race at Nottingham worth £15,800 yet there were only five declarations and two of those were non-runners, leaving three to compete for this decent pot.  Rather than having a go at the trainers for not running, why don't those concerned look at the reason why there weren't any runners and moan about the race instead?  It is obviously not the sort of race that the trainers want...all you need to do is look through the program book and you will see each year the races that attract few runners.  Surely the answer is to put on races that will attract trainers to enter their horses - it's not rocket science!

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The Derby meeting starts at Espom today and it is the turn of the fillies to bid for Classic success with the Oaks being the big race of the day.  I was really impressed by Blue Bunting in the Guineas and the extra distance looks sure to bring about further improvement.  I think there is a favourite's chance that we will be seeing Frankie Dettori performing a flying dismount shortly after 4 o'clock this afternoon.

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I was having my porridge this morning when I opened the Racing Post and saw to my horror on page 17 that there was a big picture of Mark "The Couch" Winstanley advertising for Sporting Index.  It was enough to put me off my breakfast...you can see now why tigers sometimes eat there own young!

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I like the look of Belgium to beat Turkey in Euro Qualifying Group A.  The young Belgian team are at home and are a standout 11/8 with Corals - the Turks are not the best travellers so I reckon this is a knocking bet.

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Jeremy Noseda introduced a very good looking two year old at Lingfield yesterday called Illaunglass.  The filly was clearly well-touted as she was sent off a red-hot 8/15 favourite and won with any amount in hand.  She is certainly one to keep on the right side of and looks sure to rank much more highly as the season progresses.