Chase Only At Leicester

There are three meetings taking place this afternoon with a jumps card from Leicester and all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Kempton.  It is a fairly non-descript day in terms of racing action.  The best race on offer today is the mares' Listed chase, but there are only four runners.  I'm guessing the switch to an all chase card following the abandonment of their hurdle races is partly responsible for the poor field sizes, where they have races with only 3, 4 and 5 competitors.

There are no runners from the Pond House team today, but we will be back tomorrow with a runner when Sidi Ismael bids to extend his unbeaten run for the stable when he contests the North Yorkshire National at Catterick.

Former jockey, Ron Atkins, who rode for Martin during the early part of his career, collects his MBE today for services to racing.  Ron has campaigned tirelessly to improve safety standards in racing and was instrumental in setting up the Professional Jockeys' Association Pension Fund.  Congratulations Ron, we hope you have a day to remember.

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There is more Premiership football action tonight as West Home host bottom placed Norwich.  It is a good opportunity for teh Hammers to move back into one of those all-important top four spots in the table.  There was a good result for Southampton last night as they put four goals past Brentford in front of their new owner.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was in imperious form yesterday afternoon as he defeated Jack Lisowksi 6-1 in their first round match in the Master snooker at the Alexandra Palace.  His victory sets up a mouth watering quarter-final clash with Neil Robertson, who should have beaten him in the World Grand Prix final last month.  Meanwhile, Mark Selby progressed with a 6-3 win over Stephen Maguire, although it was a bit of a scrappy match and he will need to play better to land a fourth Masters title.

Judd Trump plays Mark Allen this afternoon in what should be a good match, whilst Kyren Wilson plays Stuart Bingham tonight.

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Why isn't it a good idea to eat a clock?  It's too time consuming.