Weekend Jottings

There is a quiet day ahead with just two meetings taking place on these shores this afternoon with the action coming from Ayr over the sticks and Southwell on the all-weather.  Indeed, the best of the racing comes from the other side of the Irish Sea and the card at Fairyhouse where a class A handicap worth just shy of €50,000 to the winner is the highlight.  Not exactly a veritable feast I'm afraid and unsurprisingly David does not have any runners today.

We are back with plenty of runners tomorrow at Taunton and Ludlow, so check back then to find out more.

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The FA Cup competition continues this afternoon with another nine matches taking place.  Big names such as Liverpool, Spurs, West Ham and Arsenal are in action and it will be fascinating to see if there are any upsets in the making.

The Masters snooker gets underway today so you know where I will be - on the sofa, keeping out of the rain!  Defending champion Yan Bingtao gets things underway this afternoon against Mark William, with Neil Robertson playing Anthony McGill in the evening session.  I have seen McGill tipped up top take the trophy - he is a dour player who can frustrate opponents, but he is not in the same league as Robertson and would be surprised to see him getting any further than the first round.

It is the final week of the regular season in the NFL and that means it is the final weekend of suffering for me with the Vikings already eliminated.  They contest a meaningless game against divisional rivals, the Chicago Bears, who are also out of the play-offs.  The Vikings won the away leg of this match and should beat them at home, although a loss this week would secure them a better spot in the next draft, so it is one of the rare occasions where a loss could equal a win!

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Why do you smear peanut butter on the road?  To go with the traffic jam!