Ching ching

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 she was flicked in the …

Bad to Worse

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 information – I was probably …

Follow the Bear

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.  I’ve been to church a couple of times this year, which is something …

Lost and alone

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 it’s another great days …

Michel Ma Belle

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 done before. He isn’t the …

My Way or the highway

A great day’s racing today with a lot of questions to be answered. The feature race of the day is the Betfair Chase at Haydock – I was going to go up but it’s difficult with the children.  Kauto Star looks to repeat his victory from last year, and is odds on at the moment.  I have him in my ten to …

England expects

Apologies for the aftertiming, but what was McClaren playing at last night?  I’m no expert on football, but yesterday’s game was the most important and high pressure game played in England for years – on occasions like this experience carries a lot of weight and youthful exuberance very little.  I spent most of yesterday puzzling why Scott Carson was in the …

Time for reflection

I had trouble accessing the blog over the weekend and wasn’t able to post.  This was probably a good thing as I gave Mon Michel a squeak in his pipe opener – he ran vaigly ok, finishing in mid division having tired on the ground and through the odd mistake.  We’ll be aiming him at the big handicap hurdles he can …

Tristesse

A long day yesterday.  It’s been a while since I’ve made it to the racecourse so I decided to take a day out – it isn’t a disaster for me work wise as I can work from home in the morning and I always get a lot done on my Blackberry when I take the train.  Ours was running at Chepstow …

Long distance treble

Three runners today, which is a first for me.  Ours makes his debut in the 1:55 at Chepstow – he wasn’t a cheap purchase but 2 mile hurdles are not going to be his game.  Nick doesn’t have a clear view on how he will run as he’s working well some times and not so well others – on balance …