Three at Southwell!

    Shot Boii is one of our three runners today!
Today we have three runners at Southwell and we kick off the eight race card with a runner in the first and and end with a runner in the last!  Man Again, Shot Boii and Royal Defender are our three runners and Jack Tudor is on board all of them.  Man Again runs in the 1.45pm handicap chase over 2m4f, he heads the weights and is about a 10/1 chance in the betting.  Our five year old is a four time winner in France, but hasn’t shown much in two runs for the stable to date but I think we may see a little more today.  The handicapper has dropped him a few pounds for those two runs and so he drops down in class of race this afternoon.  He has also had wind surgery and wears a first time tongue strap, so I hope all of this comes together to produce a good run!  He certainly shows a good attitude and more ability at home than he has shown on the racecourse so far.  I don’t think he will mind the track or ground and would like to think he has a good each way chance.

Shot Boii has been to the races twice in recent weeks and not run because of the ground, so hopefully it will be third time lucky!  It was a bit too quick at Plumpton the other week and Wincanton on Sunday, but it should be fine for him today.  He runs in the 2.53pm handicap chase over three miles and he is about 6/1 third best in the betting.  He has been very consistent all season and I would love for him to get his second win over fences.  

Royal Defender runs in the concluding race on the card, a 2m7f handicap hurdle.  He needs to bounce back from a poor run at Exeter last time and sports first time blinkers today.  I think the horrible ground has something to do with his last run, so I hope a return to better going today will see him in a better light.  He certainly goes a lot better at home than he has shown so far.  He is about 8/1 in the betting and while it looks a fairly competitive race I would like to think he can be involved in the finish.

Yesterday at Ffos Las, Heure De Gloire ran well enough to be fourth.  The ground was not as soft as she would have liked and Jack said she was flat out the whole way.  She looked to drop out of things as they exited the back straight but she flew home!  As other horses were stopping she was just getting going and she was a never nearer fourth.  She may well be worth another try at three miles if the ground remains good in the next couple of weeks.

Southwell is the only jumps racing today but there are three flat meetings at Yarmouth, Epsom and Wolverhampton.  In Ireland they have a jumps card at Tipperary and race on the flat at Gowran Park.

There is a tasty London derby Premiership match this evening as Arsenal are at home to Chelsea at 8pm.  A win would consolidate their place at the top of the table and put pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City.  While they would have games in hand, I feel it is always better to have the point in the bank!

The Somerset cricket game ended in a draw with Nottinghamshire yesterday. 

We have started a band and called it “Books”.

So no one can judge us by our covers!

Have a great day!