Shoegazer Scoots In!

We had another good day with our only runner, Shoegazer scoring nicely under topweight in the competitive handicap hurdle under Tom Scudamore at Chepstow yesterday.  He jumped well and handled the testing conditions admirably.  Tom completed a double aboard Take Of Shoc'S for Rebecca Curtis - I would imagine that one will be turned out again quickly under a penalty before the handicapper has his say.

Shoegazer wins at a wet Chepstow on Bank Holiday Monday under Tom Scudamore

We had another good day with our only runner, Shoegazer scoring nicely under topweight in the competitive handicap hurdle under Tom Scudamore at Chepstow yesterday.  He jumped well and handled the testing conditions admirably.  Tom completed a double aboard Take Of Shoc'S for Rebecca Curtis - I would imagine that one will be turned out again quickly under a penalty before the handicapper has his say.

There are no jumps cards scheduled for today, with just three meetings at Southwell, Yarmouth and Pontefract taking place - with all of the rain we have had over the last couple of days the ground (especially on the flat) has quickly turned to the soft side - the times at Redcar in particular yesterday were very slow.

I know it is a difficult job and you can never please everyone, but this is what annoys me about artificially watering the ground.  Aintree have been doing this for some time now, and with just a few days of rain, the ground has gone from good to soft - if you thought that the horses were finishing tired last year, wait and see how many finishers we have if the rains continue!

There is a great two page article in the Racing Post about our Grand National contender Junior with groom Eleri Apps, while David also makes the picture.  I wouldn't think that many horses have run at Royal Ascot and then gone on to compete in the National...we don't want too much rain though, good/soft will do for me!

What a finish to the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse yesterday as 3lbs conditional jockey Andrew Thornton won on Lion Na Bearnai.  The jockey, who rode in pony races  as well as on the flat, left racing for a while before deciding to come back.  The winner hails from only a small yard, even so, I reckon there will have been a few pints of Guiness put away last night!

*****

Did you know...?  On Thursday 5th April 1951, Taunton's jump meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging - the same day as the Grand National meeting at Aintree.  On Saturday 7th April 1951 (Grand National day), Sir Ken won the Lancashire Hurdle, while Nickel Coin won the big one (in which there were only three finishers) from Royal Tan.  Royal Tan went on to win the Grand National in 1954 for legendary trainer Vincent O'Brien who was to land the Grand National in three successive years: 1953 Early Mist (ridden by Brian Marshall), 1954 Royal Tan (Brian Marshall), 1955 Quare Times (Pat Taaffe).