Broadway Winner!

I thought African Broadway put up a great run to win at Chepstow on Saturday.  He won by five lengths but it was not the distance that was impressive it was the way he jumped and travelled for Tom Scu.  When he won his Bumper at Newbury he came out of the thick fog and nobody saw any of the race.  We saw all of the race at Chepstow thankfully and our runner certainly looks an above average recruit.  I hope he will be contesting some of the bigger races throughout the season and I am please to report he has come out of the race well and we look forward to seeing him on the track again in the future.  Also on the Chepstow card I thought Cue Card was very impressive on his chasing debut.  He jumped very well in the main and it will take a very good horse to beat him this season.  Jockey Joe Tizzard said he had schooled well at home and he was certainly right.

Meanwhile on the flat I thought Frankie dettori gave the Cesarewitch winner Never Can Tell a fantastic ride.  I thought all the experts said you needed a low draw to win but that theory has certainly gone out of the window!  Beyond ran well in the race an I am pleased to report that all ouf our runners from this race have come out of it fine and are in good form at home.  Back at the yard the preparation continues with the rest of the horses with most of them being ready for action as soon as we get a litle bit of rain everywhere.  Below are a couple more shots of horses in action on the gallops.  Buena Vista is pictured alongside new recruit from the point to point ranks, Laflammedeglorie.  Buena Vista holds an entry in the Pertemps qualifier at Cheltenham on Friday as does Ashkazar who is pictured working upsides Shoegazer.

                
     Buena Vista & Laflammedeglorie                           Shoegazer & Ashkazar

The new whip rule comes into play today.  Lets just hope it is not in action too much!  The true test will come when it is a driving finish in a very prestigious or valuable race and there are two or three horses fighting out the finish.  What about the Irish jockeys when they come over to ride in races over here?  It is not a rule in Ireland...yet.  The Racing Post has an online voting system and at the moment only 29% of people agree with the change while 71% say no.  It looks like to do gooders win again.  In my opinion we do not need anymore changes.  I watched John McCrrick on the TV on Daybreak this morning.  In my opinion he needs banning from the TV.  He is no good for racing as he has never been a jockey so what does he know about riding and yet he voices his opinion so strongly that no-one else can get a word in edgeways.  He will get jump racing banned completely if we have to keep listening to his opinions.  

It is free entry into the races at Salisbury today.  They had 5000 attending the same meeting last year on another free day so I am sure there will be another big crowd there today.  Have a good day.