Newton Abbot Winner

The stable enjoyed a nice winner over the weekend when Umbrigado (pictured above) ran out the brave victor of the 3m2½f handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot's final meeting of the season on Saturday.  On better terms than when runner-up to the favourite on his seasonal reappearance and with cheekpieces refitted, he duly went one place better under Tom Scudamore for his long-standing owners.  American Sniper was unfortunate to unseat at the first on his hurdling debut in the NH novices' hurdle earlier on the card, but the good news is that he seems fine.

David has two runners today at Plumpton, Abaya du Mathan and Al Roc.  Abaya is the first of those as he contests the 2m3½f handicap chase at 2.45pm.  He is a little in and out and has to shoulder the burden of top-weight, but he is now 2lbs lower than his last winning mark over this trip and 10lbs lower than when runner-up at Aintree.  With conditions to suit, he has claims under Tom Scudamore.

Our other runner is Al Roc, who contests the other 2m3½f handicap chase at 3.55pm.  A multiple winner this season, he is back down to a good mark, 8lbs lower than when last successful.  He ran well in a veteran's chase last time out, although the trip was probably beyond him.  Today's distance should suit much better and his accurate jumping will stand him in good stead.  A couple of non-runners means that it is win only for betting purposes, but he should go well under Philip Armson.

Champions Day at Newmarket on Saturday was fantastic, although it was disappointing to see Baaeed lose his unbeaten record in the Champion Stakes on the final start of his career.  The result, with Bay Bridge beating Adayar, meant that Charlie Appleby was champion trainer for the second year running.

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Liverpool were dramatic 1-0 winners against Manchester City at Anfield yesterday.  Could this be the statement win they need to finally get their season off and running following a stuttering start.  City had looked the class of the division before yesterday's result and it will be interesting to see what this does for Liverpool going forward.

The Northern Ireland Open snooker got underway in Belfast yesterday and not today as I incorrectly said last week.  There were no real surprises in round one with big names such as Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson all successful.

Over in the States, I was delighted to see the Vikings continue their good start to the season as they beat the Miami Dolphins 24-16 on the road.  They have now won five of their six matches this season to leave them top of their division, two games clear of the Packers, who were awful last night (shame!) against the Jets.  New York haven't had a good side in ten years, but now they would appear to have three with the Giants and Jets both doing well, whilst the Buffalo Bills may just be the best of them all after they beat the Kansas City Chiefs last night.

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Did you hear about the explosion in the cheese factory in France?  All that was left was de-brie.