Pair Of Thirds At Plumpton

We had a pair of third places to show for our two runners at Plumpton yesterday afternoon.  Borntobealeader finished third in the juvenile hurdle on his first start for the stable.  He has only been with us for three weeks and will have learned plenty from his first outing over jumps and can only improve for the experience.  As well as hurdling, he has the option of reverting to the flat as well.  Cadeau d'Or finished a close third in the 2m4½f handicap hurdle, seeing out this longer trip well.  He has run a number of creditable races since switching to hurdles and it would appear only a matter of time before he gets his head in front.

 The stable hosted a couple of open mornings over the weekend, firstly for National Racehorse Week on Saturday morning and yesterday for members of the David Pipe Racing Club.  Our visitors all seemed to enjoy themselves and we were blessed with some excellent weather (which always helps!).  Given that there were a couple of days last week when it absolutely hammered it down with rain, we were very fortunate.  I know that David will elaborate on the stable visits a bit more in his blog later today.

There is no racing taking place on these shores today as the industry pays its respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her funeral, although there are a couple of cards on the flat in Ireland from Listowel and Fairyhouse.  We are back with three runners at Warwick tomorrow: Al Roc, El Paso Wood and Dindin.  Come back then to find out more.

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Arsenal moved back to the head of the Premier League yesterday with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Brentford.  Manager Mikael Arteta brought on 15 year old Ethan Nwaneri for the final few minutes of the game, as he became the youngest ever player in the league.  Meanwhile, Everton beat a disappointing West Ham side 1-0.

My beloved Minnesota Vikings are the stars of the show tonight in the NFL as they play the Monday night game away to the Philadelphia Eagles.  That's bad news for me as it means a 1.30am kick-off.  It wouldn't be unusual for me to stay up to watch it, although after a 6.30am start today, my enthusiasm isn't what it normally is!