Tuesday Thoughts

 
     Jilly Cooper with Comply or Die & MCP

There is one jumps meeting today at Huntingdon and three flat cards at Leicester, Brighton and Southwell.  The stable does not have any runners.  In Ireland they have a jumps meeting at Galway.  Sadly, the meeting at Exeter on Thursday, their first of the season has already been abandoned as the going is too firm.

I was reading an article on the Racing Post about Aidan O'Brien and the number of Group 1 winners he has trained this season.  He has trained an incredible 21 so far and Coral bookmakers have him at just 5/2 to break his own record that he set in 2017 of 28 Group 1 winners in a season.   He had a brace of Group 1 successes at Longchamp on Sunday and his next opportunity is at Newmarket on Friday, with Precise who is favourite for the Fillies Mile.  The Dewhurst at Newmarket on Saturday is also a Group 1 contest and the Ballydoyle team look set to be double handed with Gstaad and Italy both set to run.  At this same stage in 2017 O'Brien was on 22 winners so he is only one behind and this weekend could be crucial as to whether he might be able to do it or not as after this attentions will switch further afield to the US and France.

Yesterday the news broke that Dame Jilly Cooper had sadly passed away at the age of 88.  I know she was a keen racing fan and I loved reading her books.  She has been to Pond House a couple of times over the years since I have been working here and it was lovely to speak with her.  Her novel entitled Jump! was based on a racing theme and I know from reading about her that she researched her writing thoroughly and was involved in ownership with Tom George and was friendly with flat trainer Robert Cowell and she certainly enjoyed going to Cheltenham.  She came to Pond House after Comply or Die won the 2008 Grand National and is pictured with him and MCP.  

There may be no men's football action at the moment because of the International break but the women's games continue and Arsenal are in Champions League action this evening, at home to OL Lyonnes.  The England women's cricketers are playing today, they play Bangladesh in the Women's World Cup at 10.30am British time. 

Ask this question all day long, but always get completely different answers, and yet all the answers will be correct, what is the question?

Yesterday's Answer: The alphabet (What word contains 26 letters but only has three syllables?)

Have a great day!