Ladies Day

It is ladies day and the weather forecast for Royal Ascot this afternoon is not good.  I feel sorry for all those ladies that have spent months meticulously planning their outfits only for the elements to spoil things.  I understand it will be very windy too, so ladies be warned - umbrellas will probably not do you much good, just make sure you are using plenty of hat pins!  As usual the racing looks very competitive and I don't think I can ever remember seeing so many runners, although make sure that before having a bet your selection will handle a bit of cut in the ground.

It is a great pity that racing is once again in the headlines for the wrong reasons after Frankie Dettori received a nine day whip ban for his ride on Rewilding.  Regardless of whether he broke the rules or not, it was a fantastic race to watch with Rewilding just edging out hot favourite So You Think and I thought that Frankie gave the winner a masterful ride - it is just a shame that the result is overshadowed by yet more controversy.

Personally what I find more unforgivable is the ridiculous and needless 2lbs overweight that Olivier Peslier put up aboard Goldikova on the first day of the meeting.  The French mare was only beaten a length and it would have been very close if Peslier had ridden at the correct weight.  How can a jockey put up overweight in a race like this (or any other for that matter)?  I still remember a great American jockey putting up overweight on one of MCP's runners at Epsom...as you can imagine, the boss went potty!  He was annoyed that the jockey had not told him that he couldn't do the weight, I will not tell you his name, although he kept telling us how much Cash he made riding in the States!  He did win aboard Sweet Glow in the 1994 Ascot Stakes so he was forgiven in the end!

*****

Today sees the start of the US Open Golf.  It seems that plenty of the big wagers are on world number on Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.  The biggest prices available for them are 12/1 and 14/1.  Personally I like the look of Matt Kucher at 25/1 and David Toms at 66/1.