Horses for Sale

   Tuxedo Junction (GB) 


Exciting dual purpose prospect,
click here for details!

 

    Fighter Allen (FR)  


Exciting new horse with proven form, 
click here for details!

 

 

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Newbury and Musselburgh and all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Newcastle.  We have had a damp start to the day with a bit of rain just what was needed to help ease the ground a little.  It is amazing how quickly it all dries out given a few days without rain.  The flat turf season gets underway tomorrow with Doncaster's Lincoln meeting taking place.  How quickly has that come around?!

I see no sooner has the idea of affordability checks for punters been mooted, some customers are already having their accounts closed.  Now, I do not condone reckless gambling, but this will have a huge effect on the racing industry if this continues.  Racing already relies heavily on bookmakers contributions to the levy for prize money funding and at a time when the calls for better funding our louder than ever following the home nation's thumping at Cheltenham last week, it seems that we are shooting ourselves in the foot once again.  There was an interesting article in the Racing Post yesterday about how some professional gamblers get their money on with syndicates overseas - I am pretty sure none of those are contributing to the levy.  Given these latest bumps in the road, isn't it is about time that there was reform in how the sport is funded?

There seem to be no such funding issues in Dubai where the World Cup takes place tomorrow at 4.50pm.  It is worth over £5.2 million to the winner.  Let's hope there is a standout performance from one of the runners as it doesn't look a vintage renewal to me.  Indeed, to give you some context, the favourite Mystic Guide is a stone and a half shy of peak Frankel.

Anyway, I will stop rambling about racing as I am sounding like a right grumpy old man today!

*****

England cruised to victory against the lowest ranked international side in the world as they beat San Marino 5-0 in their World Cup Qualifier at Wembley last night.  Scotland will be pleased to have rescued a 2-2 draw against Austria with their equaliser coming courtesy of a spectacular overhead kick by John McGinn five minutes from time.  There was no such good news for Northern Ireland who were beaten 2-0 by Italy.

World number one Judd Trump was beaten 10-7 last night in the first round of the Tour Championship snooker.  I did put in a positive mention for Barry Hawkins who has a good record against Trump.  Today Mark Selby takes on Neil Robertson in what should be a tremendous encounter.  The pair put on one of the highest quality matches ever only a few months ago and this could go either way with a place in the final up for grabs.

*****

An elephant was drinking from a river one day when he spotted a turtle asleep on a log.  Without any warning, he went over and kicked the turtle right across to the other side of the river.
"Why did you do that?" asked a passing zebra.
"Because," said the elephant, "I recognised it as the same turtle that nipped me on the trunk 44 years ago."
"Wow!" exclaimed the zebra.  "What a memory."
"Yes," said the elephant.  "Turtle recall."

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