2 Worcester Runners

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat fixtures from Thirsk, Musselburgh and Bath, an all-weather card from Kempton and a jumps meeting from Worcester.  David has two runners today at Worcester; Story Of Friends and Do Ya Feel Lucky.  Story Of Friends (pictured above) contests the 2m7f handicap hurdle at 4.15pm.  He showed improved form stepped up in trip on good ground last season to win at Newton Abbot and produced a decent seasonal reappearance effort when runner-up over shorter at Plumpton before disappointing last time.  If he can bounce back to his best he would have a decent chance with Fergus Gillard claiming a handy 3lbs off his back.

Our other runner is Do Ya Feel Lucky who runs in the 2m4f conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle at 5.25pm.  A winner on good ground over hurdles in Ireland, she excelled herself on her final start over fences, form which would suggest she is reasonably treated here.  She was below par on soft ground at Doncaster in January and has subsequently had a wind operation.  If that has done the trick, she could go well with Fergus Gillard on board.

Racing at Hamilton was abandoned yesterday after two members of the Racetech camera crew fell from the basket of their cherry picker on to the van below before racing.  They suffered serious injuries in the fall and were taken to hospital by emergency services.  Our thoughts are with them and their families and we wish them a full and speedy recovery.

*****

What about the football last night?  England finally managed to get the monkey of their back with a 2-0 win over Germany at Wembley last night in the round of 16.  It was a trappy affair but England were firmly on top in the final minutes with goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane.  Kane had been almost anonymous throughout the match until that point but hopefully this goal will give him momentum going forward.  England will now face Ukraine in the quarter-final on Saturday and are now favourites for the competition outright.

There was drama at Wimbledon yesterday as Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament mid-match due to an injury, whilst Roger Federer was engaged in a titanic battle that could have gone either way when his opponent, Adrian Mannarino slipped and had to retire during the final set.  There was some good news for British fans as Dan Evans made it through to the second round with a convincing win.

*****

I bought a universal remote the other day.  I sat down in my armchair and thought to myself, "this changes everything!"