Good morning all,

Couple of notices before we get stuck into today’s piece.

First of all, I’m now going to be doing Friday’s bulletins from this week. As a result, I’ll be dropping Monday’s bulletins as the racing at the beginning of the week tends to be pretty dreadful, and there’s often not much to say about it.

Second, I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing Jim Crowley and Freddy Tylicki a speedy recovery after the dreadful events of Kempton yesterday. I know we as followers of the sport never forget how dangerous racing is, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still shocked when injuries like those Freddy and Jim suffered yesterday occur.

With that, here’s today’s piece, with a review of Wetherby and today’s selection. Read More »Haldon Gold Cup

Good morning all,

I was hoping to go to Wetherby today but that plan has been rather scuppered as the car started making some pretty horrendous noises last night whenever I put the brakes on, which can only mean they need replacing. So the car is going into the garage first thing and they're hopefully going to turn it around in an afternoon, which will at least mean I'll be able to get to Uttoxeter and possibly Fakenham on Friday.

So I'm grounded as far as today goes but that's no hardship as it means I'll have plenty of time to study up for Uttoxeter and provide you with a preview tomorrow.

For today, there's a review of Huntingdon yesterday, with a few pointers for the near future, and today's selection at the end.

Read More »Grounded!

Good morning all,

Yesterday's blog has certainly sparked some lively debate both on here and on the rest of social media, which was the idea behind it, so from that point of view I'm glad it worked. When I have a bit more time tomorrow morning I'll reply to those of you who left comments personally, and I'd like to think one or two people who may well be in a position to do something about our current situation with on-course drinking might have read it and given them food for thought.

This year, as last year, I'll be doing some community radio for Cheltenham (along with my good friend and colleague Cathryn Fry) when the racing is on, and as part of our remit we get to interview the course execs. We will both be pushing them again on this issue and keep pushing until we feel real progress is made. We need to get a real change in the way courses deal with this issue, and I don't intend letting it lie at a blog.

Read More »Hedgehoppers Afternoon