Good Friday Or May Day?!

It's Good Friday and that means a blank day on the racing front in this country.  It was the Lester's last night and unsurprisingly A P McCoy collected his seventeenth(!) award.  Our conditional jockey Conor O'Farrell went along - it's just as well the jockey's have a day off as I'm sure there would have been a few failed breath tests today!  Of course, the greedy bookies will be open as usual and will try to convince you that there is a whole host of wonderful betting opportunities available to you, although personally I would rather not be betting on a virtual horse or a virtual ball rolling around a virtual roulette wheel - these things get right on my pixels!

It's Good Friday and that means a blank day on the racing front in this country.  It was the Lester's last night and unsurprisingly A P McCoy collected his seventeenth(!) award.  Our conditional jockey Conor O'Farrell went along - it's just as well the jockey's have a day off as I'm sure there would have been a few failed breath tests today!  Of course, the greedy bookies will be open as usual and will try to convince you that there is a whole host of wonderful betting opportunities available to you, although personally I would rather not be betting on a virtual horse or a virtual ball rolling around a virtual roulette wheel - these things get right on my pixels!

We were joined earlier in the week by Top Gear presenter James May, who was accompanied by two film crews - talk about being able to multi-task!  James was compiling footage for the build-up to the Grand National, as well as a piece for his series Man Lab which will feature him learning to become a racing commentator.  Is it just me, or have the Beeb completely missed the boat?  It seems that they have waited until they have lost the rights for the biggest race on the racing calendar (from 2013) before they have got anyone remotely interesting in to help promote it.  It is fair to say that James' knowledge of racing leaves a little bit to be desired, but he is certainly an interesting chap and has achieved something of a cult status through the Top Gear series in which he is usually victimised by co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond - I am sure his addition to the BBC's coverage of the big day will certainly add a new perspective.

We get many a television or sporting celebrity visiting us at the yard, but I don't recall ever seeing members of staff so eager to meet one of our guests as when James arrived.  They were queuing up asking for autographs and photos and he was courteous enough to oblige.  As is cutsomary, we slung him on our mechanical horse and, while this particular piece of machinery has far less horsepower than he is used to, I think he should certainly stick with cars!