Terry Wogan was the compere, and he put up an raffle prize for someone to appear as a guest on his new radio show. The event started at around 8 p.m. - we all bought £3k in chips for £500. I sat down next to Mick Fitzgerald - I’ve known Mick for a long time and it was good to have a familiar face at the table. He’s been unwell for a long time and has been unable to eat - I think he’s largely sorted now and he didn’t look too bad. I had a good session - when we broke for dinner my stack was up to around £27k. I felt pretty good at this point, but there was then an announcement that all players could buy another £10k of chips for £500 - I didn’t bother, but I went from being a massive chip leader at the table to just a nice stack.

Over dinner I chatted with Clare Balding and her partner Alice. Clare enquired about Winker and asked how I was getting on with my breeding operation. I told her I was fascinated by breeding and had spent a lot of time studying genetics, in particular the effects of in-breeding and the X and Y chromosomes. I explained that the Y chromosome has only 78 genes compared to 2000 for the X, and I was just going into the wider breeding implications of this when Clare looked at her watch and said she had to rush off. Fortunately Alice was still there to hear out the end of the story.

Back at the table they had a few celeb interviews and a quick auction - I had donated a leg in Marine Boy for the season, and it went for £5500. Play restarted and having had an active first session I decided to play very selectively - it didn’t turn out that way though.

After a few hands I picked up 8-5 offsuit as big blind - no-one raised so I got to see the flop. It came down J-6-4 of diamonds - again it was passed round, although I picked up on one player reaching for his chips and the pulling back. The turn was the C7 and I had my straight. I slow played it with a medium bet and was called three times. The Ace of spades then made up the table, which felt like big news - maybe I could pull a decent fish. I checked and it went round to the guy who had hesitated. He made a big bet - I went all in and he called. He had a flush - he had sat on it since the flop. I figured it was just one of those hands, but I had sensed earlier that he was sitting on something and I didn’t act on it. Maybe that’s one of the differences between me and a good player - we have the same senses but he acts on them and I don’t.

A few hands later the blinds went up and the short stacks started going all in. The guy on my left crashed out and was replaced by Teddy Sheringham. I picked up A-J and called - the flop came J-10-4. One of the short stacks went all in and I called. He had nothing - the turn and river came 7 and 5. He stood up and stretched out his hand and the dealer pushed the chips over to me - I pointed out to them that he had hit a flush. It was all downhill from there - I went all in on a pair of eights a few hands later and was called by a pair of tens. I finished 36th out of 84. I had a chat with Sheringham and some of the Betfair boys and left soon after - Jeremy Wray came second and also won the Terry Wogan raffle prize.

On Thursday I went to Newmarket to look at a few horses in the February sale - I didn’t find anything I liked. I popped in on PCH on the way out. Morana was well, and if I had to pick another it would be my unraced Pivotal 3yo - I had called her Valley Aunt but I am changing the name to Swivel. My first Japanese filly had arrived at Manor House - I called Tom for an update. She is forward but not as forward as some at the yard.

Late Thursday night Baldovina had her second foal, by Red Clubs. There were problems - she was badly knuckled over on both back legs. This will hopefully rectify itself but it might not - fingers crossed.

On Tuesday I went to the County Ground to watch Swindon play Leeds - I sat next to Mick Channon who comes along to Swindon matches from time to time. Mick said from the start that he thought we would win - Leeds are flying high in the Cup but seem to be struggling to keep their enthusiasm up in the league. He was right - in a sparkling encounter we won 3-0.

I had a very busy week, mostly meeting hopping in London with hardly any spare time. On Friday I played tennis at Wimbledon in a four that included John Feaver, former Davis Cup player - we had lunch at the Wimbledon restaurant afterwards and we were joined by Virginia Wade. It was a good week for my celebrity quota.

On Saturday Swindon were 2-0 up after ten minutes away to Southend. This was a match I didn’t feel great about beforehand - in the same way that Leeds may have suffered as a result of beating Man U, I was concerned that we might suffer in the aftermath of our epic 3-0 win against Leeds. It was still 0-2 after 85 minutes but they scored two late goals to level things. Completely galling.

I haven’t been following the horses much of late - I finally have my first runner of the year tomorrow. Latin America goes in the 3:45 at Plumpton - I won’t be able to go. He’s taken a while to get his head around the jumping game but we’re hoping the penny has dropped now. He should have a very good chance if he keeps it together.

One bet I really like is Andy Murray to win the Australian Open. I think he’ll be sharper and I don’t think he’ll be daunted by the prospect of this.

Last year’s recommendations worked out well. Gold, recommended at $875, rose throughout the year. As I write it is at $1,100, up around 26%. I gave three stock tips; Sportingbet are up 140%, Phorm are up 33% and Hydrodec are down 60%. In the words of the great philosopher Meatloaf, two out of three ain’t bad.

Calling the big stuff is complicated now and I wouldn’t know where to start. Oil is at $75 - my gut thinks it might fall a little but with so many strong forces at work I think I’d be a fool to try and call it. This may be the year when the true wealth of China and India starts to hit home - I’m not sure how this plays out, but it might see gold higher.

I’m concentrating on a few equity stories - at least I can get my head around some of these businesses.

I picked Phorm (PHRM) last year and I’m sticking with them. I believe in this business more than ever - their technology is complex and hard to replicate and they potentially drive a lot of revenue. It’s an all or nothing play - if they get moving they could become massive overnight, but they have no business as things stand and if they don’t get moving they are going to zero.

Two years ago Phorm managed to get to £35 on the back of hype alone. They are currently at £3.80 - there is potentially plenty of upside here. They have been locked in a battle with privacy campaigners (see Wikipedia) for a while now which has intensified the regulatory spotlight and kept the business at bay. I don’t think the arguments against them have any real bite and they should ultimately be able to satisfy most of the regulators they come up against - the current price action has a strong feel to it.

I’m also sticking with Hydrodec (HYR) for another year. They ran out of money last year, which wasn’t a clever thing to do in this bad market - the share price was caned and remained depressed for the whole year. They’ve made great strides this year, striking an exceptionally important deal with a large Japanese company called Kobelco and getting approval to operate their technology in Japan. I don’t see why they won’t have a big year in 2010.

Lastly I’ll have a small punt on Character Group (CCT). They are designers and distributors in the toy industry - they had a great year last year and ended up with three of the top selling Christmas toys (Go Go Hamsters, HM Armed Forces, Princess Pippa’s Palace). They announced big profits five days ago and their share price jumped up, but since then it has fallen and is now below where it was before the announcement (74p).

They’re on a roll at the moment and they have product lines that still have time to run. They’ve had a good year pricewise and there’s been some profit taking, but if they can break out of their current trading band they could have a decent run up.

I was a quiet child but strong willed and often in trouble - my mother says I “wouldn’t be told”. I went to a boy’s school called Homefield in Sutton, Surrey. When I was 5 there were 30 boys in my class, including a lively boy called Colin who I was friendly with. One day Colin started a gang with him as gang leader, recruiting from our class and the class above. I refused to join.

At break time Colin and his gang would chase down non-members and pressurise them in to the gang - before long I was the only boy in the class who hadn’t signed up, and I became the prey. Every break time after that, as soon as I’d appeared in the playground someone would shout “there he is!” and the gang would chase me down. I’d run for all I was worth, but they always caught me - three or four of the boys would then sit on me while Colin gave me his lecture of the day. A few punches and kicks later and I’d be on my way. I don’t remember how long this went on for, but it felt like an age and it’s one of my earliest childhood memories.

Then came the fateful day. I turned up at school as normal, but Colin wasn’t there - there was a special assembly and we all went down to the main hall to be addressed by the Headmaster. A terrible thing had happened - Colin had died and gone to heaven. We said some prayers for him and went back to class. I don’t think I thought much of it at the time - the beatings stopped which was good, but I don’t remember registering much emotion. I think he was run down by a car, but I never heard the detail.

Jane said she was chatting with Eddie yesterday - he’s nearly six. One of the boys in his class has started a gang, and all the boys in the class have joined except Eddie;

“They’re all silly Mum - I won’t join them” he said with a frown.

It’s wonderful how these things come around. I get frustrated with Eddie because he’s so single minded and always does things his way no matter what, but I should be rejoicing in this. I felt strangely close to him as I helped him through his Maths homework this morning.

I thought the papers were interesting this morning. There are two stories on the front of the Times; a man who beat up an intruder who threatened him in his home is freed from jail, and a mother goes to jail for life for administering a fatal overdose of heroin to her brain damaged son. It’s a similar theme - can our society tolerate people who reasonably take the law into their own hands in unusual circumstances? I like to think that laws are made to be broken and should only be used as a guide - today’s papers feel like a 1-1 draw.

Just before Christmas we moved back to our old house to get out of the way of some fairly heavy building work at the farm. We ordered broadband from the day we arrived, but it was delayed until after Christmas. We rang BT in the New Year and they told us that they had accidentally lost the order and it hadn’t been processed - it finally came up today.

Christmas was great fun, just mixing it with our wider families. Jane and I just bought each other small presents this year - books, music and DVD box sets. We hardly watch any tv but we do like watching the odd box set - Jane bought me Gavin and Stacey and Mad Men and I bought her House. We’ve watched Gavin and Stacey and Mad Men, and I thought both were superb.

The children loved it, and they had plenty of presents as Jane and I are both from big families. There were some good jokey ones. Eddie had a personalised alarm clock from www.singmynamecds.com - instead of a ringing tone it sings a little song in a Ned Flanders voice;

“Wake up Eddie, it time to start your day - wake up Eddie, it’s time for you to play. Wash your face, brush your hair, make your bed, dress with care… etc.”

Eddie takes these things seriously - he burst in to our bedroom at 6:30 on Boxing Day, fully dressed, teeth cleaned and hair brushed with tears streaming down his face - “Mum - I have to make my bed and I don’t know how to do it”. He’s a strange soul. A little later he came in again with a big smile on his face;

“Mum, wouldn’t it be funny if I was called Jill Collins?!”

Jane smiled and gave him a kiss, and he wandered off happily. I guess all children ask strange questions, but Eddie is consistently mind boggling.

The rest of the Christmas period passed with little incident, although there was one close shave. Ollie, who is 4, decided to get himself dressed. He’s a very energetic and athletic little boy, and he climbed up his chest of drawers to get his pants out of the top drawer - unfortunately the whole thing toppled over and came down with a mighty crash. Ollie managed to leap out of the way and avoid what would have been a pretty nasty situation.

The horses have been quiet, with one piece of bad news. Theophrastus picked up and injury and will probably miss the rest of the season. It’s a frustrating game.

Quaker Parrot goes at Wolverhampton and she may have found a good opportunity to score.  In the King George I’ll oppose the principals with Deep Purple, who should give a decent account of himself.

The nap goes to Starluck, who will be a strong prospect on this flat track.

We went for a walk this morning - there was a scary moment. Jane and I were holding Ollie’s hand, and we were playing the ‘one two three - wheee’ game where we swing him up in the air. Unfortunately the second time we did it we let him go - he flew through the air and landed face down in a muddy puddle about ten feet in front of us. Fortunately he was alright and no-one from the social services was watching.

We had lunch later, although Dora (my 7yo daughter) had to leave early for a nativity play rehearsal at her Sunday school. The women in my family are often fierce customers and Dora lives up to her ancestors in this respect - she found out last week that she was playing a cow, and she stomped around with a red face for the rest of the day. We’ve had moo jokes for the whole week - would you like some mooosic, let’s get moooving etc. She was smiling when I picked her up today - ‘I don’t have to moo Dad…’.

We’re putting up the decorations now, and I’ve sloped off for a quick blog. I’ve just heard the all time favourite family decoration making his appearance - the farting Santa. He has a remote control that sets him off, but the remote lock for the car works just as well. There are some jokes that just run and run…

Theophrastus runs in the 1:30 at Folkestone, and he may have found himself in quite a competitive little race. He’ll love the ground and the extra distance - he’ll also come on for his first run. If he puts in a clear round (a big if) I think he wins.

I went up to Newmarket yesterday and I checked out the horses there.  Morana was looking well - he isn’t big or beefy and is clearly built for stamina rather than speed, although he has time to fill out.  If I had to pick another that stood out it would be my Pivotal filly - very athletic looking with strong muscle definition.  I have three filly foals at Duke’s Stud - one looks fantastic (Veiled Beauty), one reasonable (Baldovina) and one awful (Park Acclaim).

I’ve had a quick look today.  The Gold Cup looks a good race - I’ll take a chance with Sky’s The Limit, a horse I nearly bought many years ago.  Eddie O’Grady sends him across to Cheltenham, and there aren’t many who know the job better the Eddie.  He’s a course and distance winner, albeit over hurdles, and on that occasion he hacked up by half the track.  In the hurdle it’s very hard to get away from Celestial Halo, who is said to have improved by a stone this year.  If that’s true then he should win in a canter, but he’s no price.  I’ll take the big odds on the disappointing Ashkazar in the hope that this highly talented individual may give his best today.

… and of course come on the reds against Bristol Rovers today.  If we win this one the we’re really cooking.

I’m fairly happy with the horses, but not a lot going on.  Theophrastus is  a great prospect for this year - he was fairly beaten last time, but he needs a longer trip and softer ground.  Mon Michel is back with Gary and is moving well - he will come out reasonably soon.  Tifernati is over his problem but will take longer.  Latin America is an interesting prospect this year - he’s probably made more physical progress than any other and could step up.  It could be a half decent NH year.

On the flat, Peintre D’Argent comes out tomorrow, and she’s moved to William Knight.  She’s very lowly rated (51) and I wasn’t comfortable about us keeping her at Manor House when we were turning away other low grade animals.  We were thinking about retiring her but I decided to stick with her after a text from Matt Williams made me see sense - she’s a late maturing type and could easily be progressive next year.  It guesswork how she’ll run tomorrow, but I don’t see why she won’t go well - she’s over a few recent problems and I’m hoping she’ll run to somewhere close to her best.

Lilac Moon was supposed to run tomorrow, but she was entered in the wrong race - she’ll be out soon.  She’s well enough to win - there’s just a niggling concern that her attitude may not be what it was.

One high point is Swindon, who finally seem to be getting it together now.  I’ve spent a lot of time recently in Swindon board and strategy meetings, and they haven’t been easy.  The finances and politics of the club were extremely messy and it’s taken a lot of time and money to put things right - the CEO and chairman deserve a lot of credit for the work they’ve put in.  It’s starting to come right on the pitch - we need to get the attendances up now, which is not easy, but they’re going slowly our way. 

I’ve been to alot of award ceremonies recently - it’s that time of  year.  Yesterday I was seated between John McCririck and Eddie the shoe at the HWPA Derby day awards - Greg Wood won the main prize, which was well deserved.  Michael and Louise Owen came down last week for the ROA dinner - earlier in the week I won the award for “outstanding achievement” at the EGR awards.