Back Down To Earth!

The ups and downs of our wonderful sport were once again beautifully illustrated yesterday afternoon when Tomway was a costly failure at Wolverhampton.  Footballing star Wayne Rooney had enjoyed his first winner as an owner less than 24 hours before and his two year old colt had been well-backed into favouritism to add to that success.  However, he was unruly before the start (the horse that is!) and never threatened to land a blow in finishing fourth in the nine furlong nursery...back down to earth with a bang I guess.

It is Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse' 52ndbirthday today.  Simon does an amazing job (together with his ground staff) in providing wonderful ground at the Cheltenham Festival and all the other meetings at Britain's premier jumps track.  Many happy returns to him.

*****

I am looking forward to the start of the final Test match at Lord's that starts tomorrow.  It is a high pressure game with England needing to beat the South Africans to retain their status as the number one side in Test match cricket.  Their preparation has not been ideal with a storm brewing due to Kevin Pietersen being dropped after criticising his captain to his opponents.  Personally I don't think that Pietersen is any great loss - yes, he is a great batsman but there are plenty of others in this country and they probably are not half as devisive.  Come on England...take some inspiration from Team GB!

*****

I see that Formula One racing driver Jenson Button has a peculiar way of relaxing during his summer holidays...he has organised a triathlon that will be televised on Channel 4.  Apparently the Frome born racer is bordering on national level for the sport - I guess it just goes to show how fit these drivers are these days that they can complete a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in little over 2 hours.  I remember watching motor racing back in the day and seeing Nigel Mansell get out of his car looking as though he was going to fall over!