Chester Cup Day

It is Chester Cup Day on the final day of the three day meeting at Chester and the 2 mile handicap features at 3.05pm this afternoon.  There are 17 runners and Joseph O'Brien has the first two horses in the betting with A Piece of Heaven just holding favouritism from stablemate Galileo Dome but the trainer also has another quite fancied runner in the shape of 2024 Cheltenham Festival winner, Putyourhandstogether.  It looks a wide open handicap and fiercely competitive as you would expect with just under £90,000 in first prize money up for grabs.  We won this race back in 2010 with a horse called Mamlook and Richard Hughes on board.  Last year's Derby winner, Lambourn makes his seasonal reappearance in the 2.35pm Group 2 Huxley Stakes and I expect him to make a winning return.  His form tailed off a little at the back end of last season but before that he was exceptional and with the Ballydoyle team having a great Chester meeting I am sure he can continue their good week after they won the two big races at the track yesterday.  

Yesterday's Chester card was not without controversy after a horse slipped on the bend in the first race and while he didn't come down thankfully, there was a big inquiry and consultation between stewards, officials, trainers and jockeys about whether racing could continue.  Some remedial work was carried out on the track and after just over an hours delay, racing continued to the delight of the big crowd.  Tom Marquand took the decision not to ride his next intended mounts, preferring to watch the action before returning to the saddle, which he did later on the card.  The majority of jockeys were happy to race and thankfully the rest of the day passed without incident.

Today there are four flat fixtures with Ascot, Ripon and Wolverhampton joining Chester.  There is one jumps meeting at Market Rasen which has some good size fields and in Ireland there is a flat card at Ballinrobe and a jumps card at Downpatrick.  

One meeting that unfortunately won't be going ahead this weekend, is the intended jumps meeting at Plumpton on Sunday.  There has been a reported case of equine flu in a non-vaccinated thoroughbred as a nearby livery yard and it is serious enough for racing to have been called off.  Equine flu is very contagious and we have been receiving news in recent weeks of increased cases of the disease in the UK, not in thoroughbreds but it's rise is worrying.  Many of you may remember back in 2019 when racing was disrupted because of and outbreak in racehorses.  Since then, the vaccine programme has been extended and all thoroughbreds are now vaccinated against the equine flu twice a year.  Fingers crossed these cases remain isolated but it is a worry in the horse world and just shows how important vaccinations are.

Last night, Prince William was celebrating a win for Aston Villa in the semi-final of the Europa League and they are now in their first final for 33 years after beating Nottingham Forrest.  Crystal Palace are also through the the Europa Conference final after semi-final victory last night and it is great to have three Premiership teams through to European finals this year with Arsenal of course in the Champions League final.  All of these finals take place at the end of the month.  

I had a Russian Uber driver the other day...

His name was Pikup Andropov.

Have a great Friday!