Chepstow Runners

Following the abandonment of Nottingham's flat meeting, there are just three meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Chepstow and Musselburgh and an all-weather flat fixture from Kempton.  It is a pity that Nottingham has fallen foul of the weather (currently waterlogged) as the ground really can't be soft enough for Main Fact, who was due to contest the 2m handicap.  Nevertheless, David still has a couple of runners at Chepstow, American Sniper and Bashful Kate.

American Sniper (pictured above) contests the 2m NH maiden hurdle at 1.22pm.  Runner-up in an Irish point-ot-point on soft ground, he filled the same position in a couple of bumpers over the summer.  He was unfortunate when unshipping at the first on his hurdling debut, but he has schooled well and is likely to appreciate this slightly easier surface.  There are several promising types in the line-up and American Sniper is likely to be a big price and he could easily outrun those odds under Tom Scudamore.

Bashful Kate runs in the 2m3½f maiden hurdle at 2.22pm.  It seems to be a maiden in name only with the front two in the market bumper winners and the next two, successful in point-to-points, so it looks very competitive.  Bashful Kate is a nice strong mare, who is making her racecourse debut and she will learn plenty for the experience.  Philip Armson takes the ride and claims 3lbs off her back.

Dindin ran respectable to finish third in the 2m4f handicap chase at Warwick yesterday afternoon, staying past a couple of rivals in the closing stages.

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Liverpool's perplexing form continued last night as they beat Napoli (who were on a long winning run) 2-0 at Anfield.  Even so, the reds never looked like winning by the four goals necessary to top their group and as such will face one of the group winners in the last sixteen.  Meanwhile, Spurs did well to beat Marseille 2-1 away from home and win their group, ensuring them a slightly easier passage in the next round.

The Champions League action continues tonight with British interest represented by Manchester City, Chelsea and Celtic.  Tonight's matches means little to any of the teams with City and Chelsea already safely through as winners of their group and Celtic already eliminated.

There were shocks in the Champion of Champions snooker yesterday with both Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson losing in their group matches yesterday, before Fan Zhengyi took the group final in a deciding frame over Ryan Day to secure a spot in the semi-finals.  Judd Trump and the in-form Mark Allen are among those in action today.

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I phoned my Scottish boss yesterday morning and said, "I'm sorry boss, I won't be able to come in today.  I've got a bit of a cough."
He replied, "You have a wee cough laddie?"
I said, "Thanks boss, I knew you would understand.  See you next week."