Newbury Master!

I was very impressed by the victory of Poole Master in the novices' hurdle at Newbury yesterday under his double penalty.  He was giving weight away to his rivals and treated them with disdain as he won by an eased down 5 lengths under delighted jockey Chris Honour.  The step up in trip to 2m5f seemed to really suit him well and certainly brought about further improvement - he is now three from three this season and could be a lively one come the Cheltenham Festival later in the month where he has a number of engagements.  Chris Honour has only one more winner left before he rides out his claim, at which point he intends to hang up his boots...wouldn't it be some fairytale if he could do it at Cheltenham?!

Above: Poole Master remains unbeaten this season after his impressive Newbury success yesterday

I was very impressed by the victory of Poole Master in the novices' hurdle at Newbury yesterday under his double penalty.  He was giving weight away to his rivals and treated them with disdain as he won by an eased down 5 lengths under delighted jockey Chris Honour.  The step up in trip to 2m5f seemed to really suit him well and certainly brought about further improvement - he is now three from three this season and could be a lively one come the Cheltenham Festival later in the month where he has a number of engagements.  Chris Honour has only one more winner left before he rides out his claim, at which point he intends to hang up his boots...wouldn't it be some fairytale if he could do it at Cheltenham?!

I phoned Martin yesterday afternoon and it was so noisy, I wondered what on earth had happened!  He was opening betting offices at Newton Abbot and Okehampton and he had told every punter in each shop to back Poole Master - all I could hear were punters cheering!  At least there are still two towns left where Martin can still go without fear of getting lynched!

We have three runners this afternoon at Newbury and Doncaster.  Dan Breen and Balgarry represent the yard at Newbury and Conor O'Farrell will do the steering, while Tom Scu is off on his travels up north again as he rides leading Grand National fancy Junior at Doncaster.

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Apologies for the delay in posting - above you will see Cheltenham Festival hopefuls Faasel and Big Occasion as they continue their build-up's towards the Cheltenham Festival next week.  Faasel won a veteran's chase at Doncaster last time out and is entered in the Kim Muir - a race in which he has finished runner-up in each of the last two seasons.  Meanwhile Big Occasion, who was a winner at Carlisle on his latest start has an entry in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Festival.

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If you have an ante-post fancy for the Cheltenham Festival, make sure that you find a bookmaker who is offering a non-runner no bet guarantee.  I know that Corals are doing such a concession - if your fancy has multiple entries at the Festival, you can now back it in each race without fear of losing your money.  There is so much that can happen in the weeks leading up to Cheltenham (see Kauto Star), it pays to take out this sort of insurance.

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This weekend's footballing good things are: Fulham at 4/6, Stoke at 10/11 and Sheffield United at 11/20.