Some Jumping

  Roi De Rose - hopefully runs at Exeter

Only one jump meeting has survived the bad weather today and again it is in Scotland at Musselburgh!  This is only the second lot of jumping action in several days and the only other meeting to beat the freeze was Ayr earlier in the week!  Thank goodness for Scottish racing, it is quite ironic as usally they get the worst of the weather up there!  I saw the pictures of Newbury yesterday and it was completely covered in snow.  They had no chance of racing.  It is great they called it off nice and early and have in fact had the chance to reschedule the meeting for Friday 17th February.  That is something to really look forward to as there were some mouthwatering races in prospect and what is even better is that it will be free entry in the course so make sure you book a day off work and head to Newbury!  I do not live far from Exeter races and I think they have a fair chance of racing tomorrow, although at the yard it is -6c this morning so we will just have to wait and see!  Temperatures plunged to -18c in Buckinghamshire last night but down in Torbay this morning at 6am it was +3c, quite tropical compared to the rest of the country!

You must get your tickets before you go racing tomorrow as no tickets are going to be on sale on the day.  Exeter are inspecting at 8am in the morning so if you are going for a day out make sure you check it goes ahead before you set off!  David has just one runner at Exeter if racing is on, Roi De Rose with Tom Scudamore in the saddle.  Remember he was the winner of three chases in Switzerland before he joined Pond House and he won at Fontwell last season.  He has ran two good races this season finsihing second and fourth and fingers crossed he should run well tomorrow.  Hereford is the other Sunday jumps card and David will have one runner there, Le chasse Spleen if racing goes ahead.  He has been a little disappointing in three novice hurdle races but he runs in the first race with Conor O'Farrell in the saddle and we are hoping he can step up on that form.

     Le Chasse Spleen schooling over hurdles

Did you know that MCP never had a winner at Musselburgh but David had a double there last season.  I cannot remember ever having been to Musselburgh, it is one of the few tracks I have missed out on.  The town has long been associated with fishing and its name means Mussel Town - an interesting fact for the day!

I like to praise jockeys when they give horses good rides but yesterday I saw a bad ride in the 4.55pm race at Kempton.  Kangaroo Court the 11/10f was given an impossible ride to win and he was so far off the pace that even Shergar would not have won.  Even the race analysis in the Racing Post agrees and says he's better than the bare form by some way!

My football bets for today are Man Utd 19/20, Swansea 10/11 and Sheffield Utd 4/6.  Have a nice day..