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 bad time betting at the moment. I’ve been busy in the run up to Christmas, and I missed a couple of winners – Weather Front and Lightning Strike – horses I had been intending to follow all season. Negative comments by Paul Nicholls put me off backing Denman and Twist Magic – I need to learn something from that. At least my ten to follow is flying along.
I failed to sell a horse in the mares sale and I’ve written another one off. Baldovina was one of the last lots in at the mares sale, and by the time she got into the ring there was hardly anyone left and I got her back. I’ve thrown in the towel with Etoile Argentee – she has a respectable chance of becoming sound again but the vet thinks that the risk/reward doesn’t stack up and she should be pensioned off somewhere, so I’m trying to find a decent home for her.
After a couple of losing bets on Saturday, my day didn’t get any better. My little boy, Eddie, had had a routine injection in his arm on Friday, but it had become infected and early evening Saturday his arm had swollen to almost twice its normal size. I decided to take him to A&E to have it checked out. I got there at 7:30 and finally got to see a doctor at 11:40. We headed home at half past midnight – I’d been there so long that I had to pay £10 to get out of the hospital car park. We had a quiet Sunday and we went out for a pub lunch. On the way home we bought a Christmas tree from the DJ Chris Evans, who grows them in his garden and sells them each year for charity. I thought he was a nice bloke, and as I told Jane it was another celeb to name drop into my blog.
The horse I’m most interested in today is Mutual Friend who runs in the first at Fontwell. I loved the look of this horse at the sales and I bid for him, but he went for a big number – I backed him first time up but he ran disappointingly. He’s a lovely looking horse and if it comes together for him he could make up to be a proper performer – I asked David Pipe about the horse when I spoke to him earlier. DP wasn’t sure – he liked the horse a lot and thought him a quality prospect, but felt he might need more experience – he preferred his runner in the third race. I’ll still back him but only small.