Posted in Berts Horses on Jul 24th, 2008 3 Comments »
Lilac Moon runs in the 8:30 at Doncaster tonight. She is switching from polytrack to turf and also stepping up in trip, so we can’t be as confident as we were at Lingfield last time. However, if she does handle the change of surface and trip it will open up a lot more options for […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jul 21st, 2008 6 Comments »
Bert is sunning himself in Sardinia for the next couple of weeks but he is likely to have several runners while away and he asked me to keep blog readers informed.
First up is Pansy Potter who makes her debut in Windsor’s 7:20 this evening and will be looking to provide The Comic Strip Heroes (Bert, […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Winker Watson on Jul 19th, 2008 1 Comment »
Up and down betting at the moment. Good bets on Addikt and Whispering Angel came in but I took a heavy loss on Royal Destination last night. I missed an opportunity when Papradon, who had nearly reeled in Lilac Moon last time, won the first at Newmarket at a big price. It’s a nice boost […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Effingham, Shepherds Warning on Jul 17th, 2008 9 Comments »
Winker finally returned to action, but it was a disappointment. He was seventh out of 16 in the Prix Jean Prat - a strong race, not disgraced but frankly I was hoping for a lot better.
There were excuses. He lost a shoe coming out of the stalls - he subsequently lost 3 or 4 lengths […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson on Jul 12th, 2008 9 Comments »
An unbelievable day yesterday when Tom won the second 2yo group 2 with another incredibly cheap buy. Firth of Fifth cost 5,000 Guineas - Classic Blade 19,000 Euros. It is an incredible training feat, and great credit also to Richard Kingscote who rode so intelligently.Â
I didn’t go yesterday - it seemed like a good time […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Jul 11th, 2008 10 Comments »
A big day and I made arrangements to go to Newmarket - I decided to book a driver for the day. I had a few errands to run in the morning and I headed off a bit late. I slept most of the way there - when I have a driver I usually stay up late the […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Jul 9th, 2008 5 Comments »
More hideous weather today - I’m told that we’re getting a month’s worth of rain today here in leafy Surrey. I can believe it - it’s cats and dogs out there.
It wasn’t raining at Newmarket overnight and early morning, but the rain started an hour ago and it’s chucking it down now (11:40). Rain is […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Jul 8th, 2008 2 Comments »
I had an amazing day on Sunday when I went to the tennis. I’d managed to convince myself that Nadal was a sure fire winner and I had a big bet on him. As I sat down on Centre Court I was rather wishing I hadn’t had a bet at all, as it was such a big […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Bouguereau on Jul 4th, 2008 2 Comments »
Last week we took delivery of a climbing frame, although you wouldn’t have recognised it as such when it arrived. There were six bags of tubular steel rods all drilled with holes, three bags of nuts, bolts and assorted fitments, a swing, a slide and a canvas “den”. There were also a couple of alan […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Bouguereau on Jul 2nd, 2008 1 Comment »
A good day yesterday with Lilac Moon winning in fine style. In quality terms she’s not one of my leading lights, but she’s developed into a lovely looking horse and and I’m very fond of her. She isn’t what I would consider broodmare quality, but I’m looking for a few cheaper mares to have on […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Shawhill, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Jul 1st, 2008 7 Comments »
I had a good day at Wimbledon with Jane and our two daughters. In truth the girls were a bit too young to appreciate it and they got bored towards the end. When Andy Murray went two sets down we decided to call it a day and head home. Oh well.
I spent most of the morning […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Lord Snooty on Jun 29th, 2008 4 Comments »
I’ve been busy this week working on something that I’ll publish some other time. Kings Head was supposed to run on Friday but we pulled him out after the overnight rain. Lord Snooty ran in the US last night coming third.
My first four bets of the week, all at decent prices, all came second - I […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on Jun 26th, 2008 2 Comments »
I can’t remember a more enthralling day’s sport than yesterday’s fare. In the afternoon I watched the key bits of Ivanovic/Dechy, including a point where at match point down Ivanovic slams a forehand into the top of the net and it hovers and drops over just on the right side for her. You couldn’t write the […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jun 19th, 2008 2 Comments »
Having watched the first day on the telly I decided to get out of the house and go down to Ascot today. I got into my posh gear and headed down fairly late - I missed the first race but I had a decent bet on the winner before I left. I had Aqlaam down […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on Jun 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
… that is the question, and in my opinion the answer is a big yes. Tariq runs in the Queen Anne, and gets the nap vote for the first day. He’s in great form and he won at this meeting last year. He’s progressive, he’ll be happy on the ground and the stable may finally […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Winker Watson on Jun 13th, 2008 3 Comments »
Unfortunately Winker now passes Royal Ascot - the next opportunity may be the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly next month. He worked on Wednesday with Al Qasi - he tired at the end of the gallop and blew the house down afterwards. It’s frustrating as he’s not far off full fitness, but he wasn’t quite going to […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Bouguereau on Jun 11th, 2008 5 Comments »
Derby day finally came, although the rain I’d been hoping for didn’t. It was a blow - I’d only kept Bouguereau in the race in the hope that the ground would come up on the soft side, but that wasn’t going to happen. Still a great day out beckoned. I got dressed in my fancy […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Bouguereau on Jun 6th, 2008 10 Comments »
Only a day away from a runner in the Derby, and although he’s a rank outsider I’m still pretty excited. The rain didn’t come for me, but there’s still a fair bit forecast and it might be enough to turn the ground at the last minute. Fingers crossed for a big run.
Thoughts on the big […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jun 4th, 2008 2 Comments »
I have a runner today in the 6:10 at Kempton - Scrapper Smith looks to make amends for his poor first run at Haydock last time.Â
Scrapper was fancied that day, and in a fairly competitive looking heat he was backed in to favouritism. It wasn’t the owners backing him - we were surprised to see the […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Shepherds Warning on Jun 3rd, 2008 3 Comments »
Shepherd’s Warning was disappointing yesterday, but I’m not too worried. She gets phased pretty easily, and we think that’s what happened yesterday - she’ll be back to her best in a small field going around a bend.
More rain today and more expected on Thursday. Good going at Epsom is looking like a big outsider now […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Shepherds Warning on Jun 2nd, 2008 3 Comments »
Jane and I had a fun evening out on Saturday when we went to the final of Britain’s got talent. I had VIP seats (bought in a charity auction), which basically meant we were lumped in with the families of the contestants.
We arrived at the very small studio a short while before the start, and […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on May 31st, 2008 10 Comments »
I’ve been very busy this week with work - no time to bet and no time to blog. Annoyingly I missed out on backing a horse I’d been waiting for for a long time - Zaskar trained by Tom Dascombe is a lovely filly with a real turn of foot, and she went in in […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Better Together, Ours on May 24th, 2008 10 Comments »
The Irish Guineas comes around, and Winker is still on the sidelines. I’d love him to be taking them on, but he’ll have to wait a little longer. On paper it’s a rematch between New Approach and HenrytheNavigator, but the Irish Guineas doesn’t always follow the script.
Last year the winners of the English Guineas, Cockney Rebel […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on May 21st, 2008 5 Comments »
I’ve been ringing around this morning and I’m feeling a sense of optimism from some of my trainers. Pete’s horses haven’t been going as well as usual, but I think they are picking up now. Brian is starting to have a few winners, and Tom’s horses seem to be in decent shape.
I’ve decided to leave […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson on May 19th, 2008 2 Comments »
We left Winker out of the Irish 2,000 today - he’s back in work but short of full fitness and it’s too soon for him. He’ll probably go straight to Royal Ascot now.
It’s going to be a fairly quiet week runner wise. Scrapper Smith may come out towards the end of the week and he’s […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on May 17th, 2008 6 Comments »
No luck yesterday with King’s Head. I spoke to Gary before the race - he thought the ground was slightly on the soft side of good rather than the fast side as I had originally thought. KH will win again whan the going is fast.
One runner tonight - Parisian Gift goes at Doncaster. We had […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Kings Head on May 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
I had hoped for three runners today but I’m down to one after the two Maxes pulled out. He’s a good one though - King’s Head runs at Aintree tonight, and if the rains stay away I see no reason why he won’t go in again. He’s fit and well.
Nine days break isn’t a lot, […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Prince Ary, Big Paddy, Ours on May 14th, 2008 5 Comments »
Jane and I had an excellent day out on Monday when we had a tour of a couple of stud farms in the Newbury area.Â
We dropped the children off early and I gave the dog a quick walk. I’d ordered a driver for the day and we left home at around 9:30 - an hour later we […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Mon Michel, Bouguereau on May 12th, 2008 8 Comments »
Another weekend of dashed hopes, capped with Bouguereau finishing down the field in 7th in the Italian Derby. Well at least I can say I’ve had an odds-on favourite in a Group 1, which is rare enough. Bouguereau is a super horse, but he’s a big, fairly lean galloping type with real staying power - […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Mon Michel, Bouguereau on May 9th, 2008 5 Comments »
A winner on Tuesday night with Kings Head doing it nicely. We’ve believed for a while that he is a decent hurdler in the making and it’s good to see a little proof of that. He needs top of the ground and he doesn’t get that often in the winter months, so he’ll probably always […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head, Bouguereau on May 7th, 2008 6 Comments »
The first piece of collateral form for Bouguereau comes today with Patkai, who runs in the final race at Chester. I like him as a bet. He was staying on in the Newbury race and will surely benefit from the extra two furlongs - he may also prefer the ground today. 90 doesn’t look like too […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on May 7th, 2008 6 Comments »
I spent the whole morning deliberating about Bouguereau and whether we should have a tilt at the Italian Derby. Pete didn’t want to go unless we flew as it’s a long way to box a horse and they invariably run badly after a long trip like that.Â
We thought there was a flight to Rome, but […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on May 4th, 2008 4 Comments »
Max performed poorly, trailing in eleventh of fifteen 11 lengths behind Natagora. It was a messy race and Natagora was a lucky winner in the end with a few hard luck stories in behind.Â
Max was very tricky going down, and Richard had to dismount twice. At one point she nearly took out Aiden O’Brien who brushed past […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson on May 4th, 2008 3 Comments »
The big day arrives for Max and everything has gone as well as it could have. The ground is probably about right. She seems to be spot on and ready to run her race. Her draw (10) looks pretty good - she’ll need a bit of cover and wouldn’t want to be stuck out left […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Effingham on May 2nd, 2008 5 Comments »
Sill no luck with the horses. Effingham was last in his race and Skid Solo was last but one - not the results I was looking for. It’s all small fry compared to Max’s run on Sunday, and I haven’t wasted any luck.
Effingham was truly awful and we couldn’t find any obvious excuses. He’s destined for […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Effingham, Bouguereau on Apr 28th, 2008 10 Comments »
The week begins and all my thoughts are with Max One Two Three. I spoke to Mick earlier and he said he dreamt about her last night - I hope he didn’t cry out anything compromising. I read a couple of write ups on the 1,000 this morning, neither of them mentioning Max.  ”Little do […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Big Paddy, Ours, Kings Head, Effingham on Apr 27th, 2008 2 Comments »
I’ve had jumpers running over the last few days with no luck In truth it’s been a pretty disappointing jumps season - some fairly expensive purchases have run poorly, the only real high point having been Mon Michel winning a few months ago. I’m pretty happy with what I have for the flat this year though […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Big Paddy, Ours on Apr 23rd, 2008 2 Comments »
Max One Two Three did an important piece of work this morning, and was scoped afterwards. She worked really nicely and scoped clean - we are now bang on for the 1,000. She will have one more piece of work early next week and that will be it. She is a very decent filly with a […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Apr 21st, 2008 4 Comments »
Timeform rated Bouguereau’s run 107 whereas the Racing Post went 105. Either way he rates good enough to have a go at the Italian Derby. They’ve moved the race forward this year (May 11) which is good for us, but they’ve dropped the distance from 2400 to 2200 metres which is not so good. Prize […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Apr 19th, 2008 1 Comment »
I was a bit down yesterday thinking about the number of second places I have, so I checked out the stats. The stats are poor for horses running in my name - 3 wins, 7 seconds, 6 thirds from 39 runs. If I include all horses I have a piece of the figures are 22-30-14 - not […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Apr 18th, 2008 2 Comments »
I thought the Craven yesterday was a proper horse race. Raven’s Pass and Twice Over slaughtered what looked to be a decent field in a very smart time - they could turn out to be two very good horses, and the 2,000 could be a real strong race this year.Â
I backed one of Tom’s last […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Apr 16th, 2008 2 Comments »
I’m fairly busy at the moment with no time to go racing - I’ll go to Newbury on Friday where I’ll hopefully have two runners. The forecast for Friday at Newbury is heavy rain - not good news for Bouguereau although not a problem for Skid Solo.
Today is the Swindon Town FC golf day and […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson on Apr 16th, 2008 No Comments »
Some snippets from my conversations this morning;
In the Free handicap there is a lot of confidence behind Stimulation. No surprise perhaps as he is the favourite.
Pete tells me that Skadrak will like this ground and trip. There are, however, very strong vibes for Virtual who I’m told was unlucky last season and has wintered very […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Apr 16th, 2008 No Comments »
The Craven meeting starts today, and for me it’s the start of the flat season proper. I’ve had runners on this day a couple of times before and it’s a meeting I like - I was going to run Bouguereau in the Feilden today but we are preferring to go to Newbury on Friday.
The main interest […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson on Apr 13th, 2008 7 Comments »
Pete called this morning with the news - they had gone out with Winker and he was moving ‘like an old man’, a bit hunched and sluggish. The vet had indicated that this was a minor problem, but it wasn’t going to stand up to training in the short term and Pete wanted to back […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Winker Watson, Lord Snooty on Apr 12th, 2008 4 Comments »
It was a big night last night, with Lord Snooty finally justifying our belief in him by winning his maiden in the US in smart style. I went to bed feeling exhilirated. My Blackberry rang early this morning, showing Pete’s name.  Pete never rings early unless it is bad news - as I picked it up I was […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Furtive Glance, Big Paddy, Better Together, Theophrastus, Ours, Mon Michel, Shawhill, Effingham, Bouguereau, Winker Watson, Lord Snooty on Apr 10th, 2008 6 Comments »
It’s a big time of year as an owner, and there are highs and lows. Aintree was ultimately a real mix, and there was a lot of good and bad on Saturday. I didn’t go up as I was at AFC Wimbledon for a match that my wider family were sponsoring in memory of my great uncle, who […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Mon Michel on Apr 4th, 2008 4 Comments »
The big day approaches, and unusually for me I don’t have an ante-post position in the National. In my younger days I was crazily obsessive about the race - it got to the point where I was so tense beforehand that I could barely watch it. A couple of times I can remember watching the race on […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Prince Ary on Apr 3rd, 2008 4 Comments »
I have a runner at Aintree tomorrow with Prince Ary getting in to the last race and I think he has a very respectable chance. It’s his second run back from a wind op, he ran well for a long while last time before he blew up and he may strip a bit fitter this time […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Apr 2nd, 2008 3 Comments »
Hope Road ran a good race but just got edged out - frustrating and my luck is out at the moment. He’s at least a half decent horse, and he’s running fairly consistently now. He’ll go away for the year and come back in the autumn - he still has his maiden status and he […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses on Mar 30th, 2008 13 Comments »
My information was terrible yesterday, which is a bit worrying. I think there are a few bugs flying around.
One runner today - Hope Road, who goes in the first at Kempton and I’m pretty hopeful. He’s high in the handicap but this is a maiden and he’s well in. He has a bit of pace and […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Mar 29th, 2008 6 Comments »
Good news from the courts - I had my ban reduced from 6 months to 6 weeks. There is a downside - all of the points stay on my licence, which means I’ll have 10 points until December 2009. Still better than a poke in the eye, and it shows that it’s worth appealing these things.Â
Good […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on Mar 28th, 2008 6 Comments »
It was a big day for Betfair yesterday, with an important high court ruling coming through from Australia. The Western Australian government had introduced legislation that banned betting exchanges in WA and gave the racing authorities the right to decide who could and could not offer betting on WA racing. Betfair had little choice but to challenge […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Mar 26th, 2008 3 Comments »
A nice result for Bouguereau, winning very much as he liked and doing it in good style. Realistically he only did what he had a right to do - on all known form he was in a different league to anything else in the race, and so it proved. It’s a small hurdle negotiated though, and if […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau on Mar 25th, 2008 2 Comments »
A poor betting start to the flat on Saturday, and missing out on backing an easy winner of Pete’s. Don’t Panic looks the business - I wonder if he has worked with Winker.
Bouguereau runs in the first at Pontefract, and he needs to win well if we are to keep on believing that he could […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Big Paddy, Better Together, Bouguereau on Mar 21st, 2008 7 Comments »
A busy day yesterday. I’m still trying to name my 2yos after my last name (Ming Ming, apparently too like minger) was rebuffed last time.  I decided I liked “Killer Queen” for my Kyllachy and I called Pete - he liked it. I also told Tom Dascombe that I wanted to call my One Cool Cat colt […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Shawhill, Bouguereau on Mar 19th, 2008 3 Comments »
Back from a long week at Cheltenham and a lot to catch up on.
Mon Michel didn’t run his race. He needs to come off a strong pace and there was no pace on early. He needs half decent ground and he didn’t get it. The horse is fine and he’ll be winning again soon. I […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Mon Michel on Mar 14th, 2008 4 Comments »
One day and a false start in and I’m loving it - I’ve got to know a lot of people who I only see at Cheltenham, and being away from Betfair makes it even more of a social occasion. The racing almost takes a back seat for me these days, but it’s top class this […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Prince Ary, Kings Head, Mon Michel, Shawhill on Mar 9th, 2008 1 Comment »
A busy week, and a difficult one with Jane being ill with flu and me not being able to drive. I still managed to fit in three visits to the racecourse, and with Cheltenham coming up I’m going to be raced out be the end of next week.
On Wednesday I went down to Fontwell, where […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Prince Ary, Kings Head, Mon Michel on Mar 5th, 2008 4 Comments »
Cheltenham approaches and I have a few potential runners, but it brings a few dilemmas. Currently I have both Mon Michel and Prince Ary declared for the Imperial Cup on Saturday and the County Hurdle on the Friday of Cheltenham, and they could both run in both races. I also have King’s Head and Hope […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on Mar 1st, 2008 1 Comment »
Bert is en route to Lambourn and has asked me to report that King’s Head won’t be running as Gary Moore is concerned that the ground will be softer than he wants. The times and jockey comments from yesterday suggested that it’s unlikely to dry out enough despite a bright and breezy day today. At […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Kings Head on Mar 1st, 2008 No Comments »
The time has come to name the 2yos, and the Comic Strip Heroes horses are always good fun to do. Jeremy and I compiled a list of around 40 names and we sat down with Ed to hammer it out.
We have three colts with Pete by Rock of Gibraltar, Bahamian Bounty and Fasliyev - they will respectively be […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Big Paddy, Ours on Feb 29th, 2008 6 Comments »
I’ve finally got myself sorted with a reliable internet connection, and I can get back to my blogging. It’s been a busy week.
Last week I finally moved into my farm - 330 acres in the rolling Surrey countryside.  Four woods making 55 acres, one decent sized lake, six ponds and a little brook running through the middle. They […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Big Paddy on Feb 18th, 2008 No Comments »
Not a great day Saturday for the Black family coffers, although I managed a little late damage limitation. The football wasn’t great either with Swindon losing 1-0, but my man at the game was reasonably positive about how we played.
Pete C-H runs two at Lingfield today, both trading at very short prices. As far as […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Feb 13th, 2008 7 Comments »
I had a long chat with Pete today - I really do need to find some time to go down and watch the horses work, as he is just beginning to wind them up. I haven’t updated my horse list for a while - I own or part own six horses with Pete. The are two […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Mon Michel on Feb 11th, 2008 6 Comments »
A poor day on Saturday on all fronts. Swindon lost to an early goal in a tight match with few chances, which following on from last weeks draw against Northampton makes the play-offs look a bit distant again. Gary and Jamie Moore won the big race, and of course Jamie would have been riding Mon […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Prince Ary, Mon Michel, Ollie Fliptrik, Shepherds Warning on Feb 8th, 2008 2 Comments »
A major blow yesterday when Mon Michel coughed and later returned a bad blood test after his final piece of work for the Totesport Trophy. Everything up to this point had gone right and I thought he had a major chance of picking up the prize, but it wasn’t to be.Â
He won’t be out for long but […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Shepherds Warning on Jan 31st, 2008 21 Comments »
I made my first move in a new direction over the Christmas period when I effectively took a piece of Swindon Town FC. Jeremy Wray (Ed’s brother) is a long time friend, and he was working on the deal alongside his business partner, Andrew Fitton. Andrew takes the lead (and is chairman) with Jeremy playing a strong […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jan 26th, 2008 No Comments »
No good with Hope Road. Tom thought something was wrong at first, but he’s come away from the race fine and eaten up well.  I think he just got bogged down in the ground - he’d run well on heavy on the flat but NH heavy can be a totally different proposition (or so I’m told).
Decent racing […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jan 24th, 2008 2 Comments »
I’m slowly settling in to my new home life. The diet isn’t going that well (lost another 1lb) as Jane wants to wait until we move before we go full tilt, but I’ve really stepped up my excercise at the gym.
One feature of life at home is the regular visits we get from one of […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Jan 21st, 2008 8 Comments »
A poor post yesterday, I think largely failing to appreciate quite how desperate the ground was at Ascot. The main thing that’s absent from my analysis at the moment is quality research, largely because I don’t have the time to do it. Anyway onward and upward - a day off racing as Wolver didn’t inspire me […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Theophrastus, Mon Michel, Baldovina on Jan 18th, 2008 1 Comment »
I’ve been very busy this week and I’ve had no time for blogging. It’s all a bit odd - I’m not working any more but all of the time I’ve freed up has been filled and more. By the time I’ve fed and dropped of the children (leave at 7:30, hour round trip), been to […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Etoile Argentee on Jan 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
Regular readers may recall Bert posting that I would be making periodic contributions to his blog. I’m writing now with an update regarding a filly called Etoile Argentee who Bert claimed out of a race at St Cloud as a three year old last May. Sadly, it will be the last update as she is […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Mon Michel, Baldovina, Shawhill, Bouguereau, Winker Watson on Jan 11th, 2008 8 Comments »
First things first, and the diet’s going ok - 18st3 this morning. I’ve had a headache but nothing worse than that - I still haven’t worked out how I intend to do it, but the one thing I know I must do is break my sugar habit permanently. Thanks all for the encouraging comments.
 I’m having […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Ollie Fliptrik on Jan 5th, 2008 3 Comments »
Paul Cole thinks Ollie Fliptrik will run ok but is an unlikely winner. Nick is positive about Ours - he’s fine in himself, he should get through the testing ground and we’re looking for a big run. Nick has two others today which will run ok and although either could win I don’t advise backing them.
Mon Michel […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Ollie Fliptrik on Jan 4th, 2008 4 Comments »
I weighed myself yesterday morning, and only two days into my diet I was down 7lb at 18st3. The gastroenteritis diet really works! Sadly this morning, my stomach having recovered, I was back up to 18st6 - still 4lb down but not the miracle I was looking for.Â
On the subject of weight it was interesting to […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Ollie Fliptrik on Jan 3rd, 2008 3 Comments »
A new year dawns, and it’s going to be a very different one for me away from Betfair for the first time in over eight years. I’m struggling to find things to do at the moment, which is very different from having loads to do but not doing it.
One thing I can do is concentrate on […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Shepherds Warning on Dec 31st, 2007 3 Comments »
Phew. I decided that having not backed Shepherd’s Warning last time I’d have a proper go at her this time. She got home and she wasn’t claimed - a win double. The RP marked the run at 65, 3lb below her last run, commenting that she was “not exactly progressive”. Richard Kingscote told us that […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Shepherds Warning on Dec 29th, 2007 6 Comments »
There are certain horses that really catch the eye, and one that caught mine a couple of years ago was Nicanor, who saw off the mighty Denman at Cheltenham in imperious fashion. Harry Findlay had taken the box next to ours that day, and I know him pretty well - it wasn’t his best day and I […]
Posted in Horse Racing, Berts Horses, Ours, Shepherds Warning on Dec 28th, 2007 3 Comments »
Ugh. This season is going from bad to worse - it’s the fourth time I’ve decided to have a big bet on a horse the day before the race only to change my mind on the day and then see it win (others were Osana, Twist Magic, Denman). I think I suffer from having too much […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Shepherds Warning on Dec 26th, 2007 3 Comments »
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL
It’s been a fairly low key Christmas for me this year in as far as Christmas with four small children can be. My side of the family come round tomorrow - 18 of them with 11 children, which may get a little noisy.Â
I’ve been to church a couple of times this year, […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Mon Michel on Dec 22nd, 2007 No Comments »
I was hoping to be at Ascot today cheering Mon Michel on in the Ladbroke, but it wasn’t to be. It’s a shame as I’d have given him a real chance - everything would have been in his favour. Gary has two other entries, including Altilhar which I’ve backed.Â
I spoke to Gary about him yesterday […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Better Together, Ours, Mon Michel on Dec 21st, 2007 5 Comments »
Day 2 of life outside of Betfair, and already bored and depressed - after years of being institutionalised within Betfair I feel lost and alone, like Brooks in the Shawshank Redemption. I’m contemplating carving my name on a rafter in my office and hanging myself with my Betfair tie. Goodbye cruel world.
But there’s no great rush as […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Shepherds Warning on Dec 15th, 2007 6 Comments »
I’m still having a busy time in the run up to Christmas.Â
On Thursday night I went to a do in the city - later on the Duke and Duchess of York turned up (separately), giving me my celebrity action although I didn’t talk to them. I got to Heathrow late, meeting Tom Goff, and we flew to Cork […]
Posted in Betfair, Berts Horses, Mon Michel, Shepherds Warning on Dec 13th, 2007 5 Comments »
It was a big day for me yesterday, with Betfair finally launching the SP mechanism. I kicked the product off over 2 years ago, but it was a year and a half before we started work on it (the Betfair roadmap is permanently backed up). It is a very big piece of work - in […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Baldovina, Etoile Argentee on Dec 11th, 2007 2 Comments »
The story rolls on - Felon escapes the clutches of the BHA but walks straight into the arms of France Galop. If he fails his B test and gets some more time off he will at least be able to update and release his long awaited autobiography, and it’s going to be a cracking read.
I’m having a […]
Posted in Berts Horses on Dec 8th, 2007 3 Comments »
… they’ve all got it in for me. Fallongate abruptly winds to a merciful close, the Fallon six walk free and the recriminations begin. I haven’t read all of the papers yet.  One article I read said that the case is “far from over”, suggesting that Fallon and others may seek compensation. Another simply says that there […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Ours, Mon Michel, Ollie Fliptrik on Dec 3rd, 2007 2 Comments »
At last!! I’ve been saying for a long time that Mon Michel is a decent result waiting to happen, and it’s gratifying to finally have a decent win to prove the case. I thought he ran an excellent race, finding just a little extra at the end when asked, which is something he hasn’t really […]
Posted in Berts Horses, Mon Michel on Dec 1st, 2007 3 Comments »