Lady at Hereford

      Lady Balko runs at Hereford Today

There is some cracking pre-Christmas racing to look forward to today with the jumping action coming from Ascot, Hereford and Haydock.  There is all-weather racing at Wolverhampton and Newcastle while in Ireland they race over jumps at Thurles.  We have one runner today, Lady Balko and she runs in the 2.13pm mares handicap chase over 3m1f.  It is a valuable race put on by Arc and Lady Balko won this race last year, completing a hat-trick of wins over fences in the process.  She has not quite been in the same form since but has only had the one run so far this season and that was at Cheltenham where she was a little out of her depth so that can be forgiven.  She just seems to be starting to sparkle at home in the last couple of weeks and I am hopeful of a good run.  She does have to carry top weight which is never easy but Rian Corcoran rides and claims is very valuable ten pounds which is a huge help.  She is actually only three pounds higher than last year when Geraoid Harney claimed seven so with Rian's ten claim today it will effectively be the same!  It looks a tough race and we are about 9/1 in the betting but I hope she can run a big race.

The Ascot card features the Long Walk hurdle at 2.25pm and owner JP McManus looks to have a strong hand with the first two in the betting and my slight preference is for the second favourite, Impose Toi who has won his last two starts for the Henderson team.  Jockey Jack Tudor looks to have a good chance in the big handicap chase of the day at 3.00pm riding for Christian Williams, Deep Cave.  It looks a fairly open race but at 8/1 his looks to have a good chance.  The card finishes with a competitive handicap hurdle over two miles at 3.35pm and it may be difficult to find the winner.  Alexei has been impressive and done nothing but improve all season so he would be my selection to continue his upward progression.  The Tommy Whittle chase is the feature race at Haydock at 2.05pm.

It was rather a dramatic day for us yesterday with our lorry suffering a tyre blow out on the way to Ascot.  A big thank you to Seamus Mullins for coming to the rescue and helping to get our horses to the races.  Punta Del Este ran his best race for us to date to finish third in the conditional jockeys handicap hurdle.  He got a little outpaced at a crucial stage but galloped home really strongly and was closest at the line.  This was an encouraging run and he may warrant a step up in the trip next time.  Walkadina travelled strongly through her race as she normally does but finished a little tamely which she can do.  She seems fine this morning so back to the drawing board.  Indulto Rouge travelled well in the bumper but he also did not keep going as well as we would have liked.  The ground was probably soft enough for him and it was a very strong race.  He is more of a long term prospect and I imagine he will go hurdling next.

There are plenty of Premier League football matches today, with Newcastle against Chelsea the early kick off at 12.20pm.  Spurs play Liverpool at 5.30pm and there are two 8pm kick offs with Everton at home to Arsenal and Crystal Palace play Leeds at Elland Road.

In the cricket, Australia were all out for 349 in their second innings but things do not look good for England in reply.  Day four finished with England on 207-6, meaning we need 228 runs to win with just four wickets remaining.  It's never over until it's over but it does look a mountain to climb.

I have been teaching my dog to fetch tools from my workshop.

He's not perfect put he knows the drill!

Have a great day!