Flat Friday

Not Quite Somerset but David & Ashley Farrant
              in their Cricket Whites!

Yesterday we had two runners for the stable. Rebel Angel ran at Chepstow and bounced back from a poor run last time to run much better.  Although she finished fifth, four horses were involved for a photo finish for third and we were one of those!  This race was only 1m2f so she got a little outpaced before staying on strongly towards the finish.  Ridden this way over slightly further I am sure she can be back winning races again.

Groundbreaker ran at Worcester yesterday evening, making his hurdling debut.  The favourite won the race, ridden from the front in a slowly run race.  We were held up as he is a keen going sort and so it was not probably the ideal position when the winner kicked from the front.  It was an okay start to his hurdling career and I am sure he can build on this next time.  

Today there is no jumps action with the flat meetings at Newbury, Haydock, Nottingham, Newmarket, Hamilton and Pontefract. In Ireland, they are jumping at Killarney and on the flat at Down Royal. No runners for the stable today.

Newbury’s two day meeting kicks off today; this meeting has a proven record of accomplishment of producing stars of the future. The Listed Rose Bowl Stakes at 4:10pm the race is for two-year-olds and looks to be a competitive one with the Coventry sixth place Symbol of Honour included in the line-up.

Haydock’s back racing today having undergone some remedial work since the July 6^th meeting was abandoned half way through the card. Three horses slipped on the home bend in the second race at the meeting and although the course passed an initial inspection, the last three races were abandoned. They have since carried out work on the bend over the last two weeks to improve it and passed a BHA inspection on Tuesday.

9pm tonight, ITV1 shows the first episode of the new primetime jump racing docuseries, Champions: Full Gallop. It tells the story of the 2023-24 jumps season primarily based on the King George, showing behind the scenes action and aims to emulate the success of previous docuseries, like the Formula 1 Drive to Survive, which proved popular. The first three episodes are available to watch from 7am this morning on ITVX should you not want to wait!  

Last night I went to watch Somerset's last home Vitality Blast T20 game and they beat Sussex Sharks quite comfortably to ensure qualification for the quarter finals.  They play their final game away to Glamorgan in Cardiff this evening and if they win, this will mean they get a home quarter final match - come on Somerset!