JULY 2014
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Thursday 31 July
2014 |
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Classic Colori was a non-runner at Stratford today, but he is due
to be Belinda Keighley�s mount in a charity race in aid of Racing Wefare at Newmarket on 16 August; Belinda will also be
celebrating her 40th birthday on that day. https://www.justgiving.com/Belinda-Keighley40/ Talented
Irish mare Missunited, third in this year�s Ascot
Gold Cup, put up a brave fight to win the Lily Langtry Stakes at Goodwood today but she finished lame and has been
retired, having damaged a suspensory ligament in a leg.� More Tom Cruise
turned up to watch the racing at Goodwood today
too! There�s
National Hunt racing at Bangor tomorrow, but no runners of interest.� On Sunday there is a fixture at Market Rasen and, following that, it�s the jump jockey�s 9-day
summer break.� They can�t win though
as, having gained two holiday breaks (apart from a Stratford fixture which
somehow elbowed its way into their September one last season) the latter
break has now been reduced to 5-days! And a reminder that the Aintree Festival tickets
go on sale to the general public at 09:00 tomorrow. �Having purchased mine last Friday having
been given special dispensation as a regular customer, I�m now putting money
aside to buy two Cheltenham Festival tickets at the end of August, and the
remaining two at the end of September. �And it won�t be long before tickets for Kempton
Park on Boxing Day go on sale too.� So
that leaves just a Hennessy Gold Cup ticket to purchase before the end of
October!� � I�m so looking forward to Choc returning from
injury and to the National Hunt season �proper�
getting underway. J |
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Wednesday 30
July 2014 |
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RIP Kid Cassidy Very sad
news that Kid Cassidy�s luck finally ran out and he suffered a fatal injury
when falling in today�s Galway Plate.�
He was having his first start for Irish-based trainer Christy Roche,
having formerly been trained by Nicky Henderson.� One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Stratford: 14:15
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) � Maiden Hurdle I attended my bone density scan appointment
yesterday and the initial result, before the full report, is that I have osteopenia in my spine, which can
be a pre-cursor to osteoporosis.� The
nurse who did the scan said that the current thinking is that osteoporosis is
solely a hereditary disease rather than anything to do with lifestyle,
etc.� Although, of course, lifestyle
can exacerbate the problem.� And I�m
already doing all the right things � I�ve never smoked, I very rarely drink,
I take regular weight bearing exercise (walking) and I have a healthy
diet.� And the regular walking I do has
meant that the bone density of my pelvis is normal for a woman of my age.� In addition to seeing my doctor once the
official report comes through, the hospital recommended that I return in two
years for another scan to see if the density has deteriorated.�� |
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Monday 28 July
2014 |
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Two
runners of interest at Uttoxeter this evening and this is how they fared: Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
won the Selling Hurdle (7 ran); well done to the team, their 4th winner of the season. My Lad
Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) finished 3rd in the Handicap Hurdle [3
miles] (11 ran). There�s National Hunt racing at Perth and
Worcester tomorrow, but no runners of interest.� I have a bone density scan tomorrow morning at
the local hospital.� It�s just a
precaution really, as mum has osteoporosis and age is now catching up with me
too!� |
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Sunday 27 July
2014 |
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Two runners
of interest at Uttoxeter tomorrow evening: 18:55 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
� Selling Hurdle 19:55 My
Lad Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Handicap Hurdle [3 miles] I enjoyed
my visit to the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury to see Annie Get Your Gun
yesterday evening.� I�ve driven past
the theatre on a number of occasions when deciding to go via the town�s inner
ring-road rather than the outer ring-road when in transit to Cheltenham, but
have never visited or even noticed the building before!� Further research informs me that the
present theatre was opened in October 2010 ... and I�ve only just realised
that the town�s �iconic� Council
offices, which were also situated on Exchange Street, have been
demolished.� I�m not a fan of modern
architecture, but the offices were a visible landmark from miles around.� Personally, I love gothic style
architecture.�� Annie Get You Gun featured Jason Donovan as Frank Butler, Norman
Pace (of Hale and Pace fame) as Buffalo Bill and Emma Williams as Annie
Oakley.� Emma has an amazing voice and
put the other two to shame; I already knew that Jason isn�t renowned for his
singing voice!�� I�d definitely return
to Aylesbury to see future productions at their theatre ... provided it
doesn�t interfere with my horseracing programme!!!� I�m getting a little bored with the hot weather
... I felt okay up until mid-week last week, but now it�s making me feel very
tired; probably because I don�t sleep too well at night.� I woke up with a headache today, which made
me feel nauseous on and off all morning � I�m not sure if it was
caffeine-deficiency, dehydration, the arthritis in my neck, or even the loud
music yesterday evening!� The latter is
not impossible, as I actually developed a migraine the day after I�d seen the
Osmonds at Wembley a few years ago � I was sitting
around 7 or 8 rows back from the stage on that occasion, which proved far too
loud for my poor ears!���� |
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Friday 25 July
2014 |
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Result ...
I�ve booked my tickets for next year�s Aintree Festival; there appears to
have been a slight price increase overall from last year - �9.00! No runners
of interest at Uttoxeter today. The 1999
Cheltenham Gold Cup winner See More Business passed away yesterday aged
24.� More It�s
Spider-Man ... or is it Spider-Boy? https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/492311309040762880/photo/1 And a
couple of cute Friday photos too: https://twitter.com/RedwingsHS/status/492650532772012032/photo/1 https://twitter.com/DonkeySanctuary/status/492578986674102272/photo/1 |
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Wednesday 23 July
2014 |
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There were
three runners of interest at Worcester today: Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) finished 2nd in
the Novices� Hurdle (5 ran); the recent addition to the yard came up against strong
opposition today in the form of a John Ferguson-trained, AP McCoy ridden,
horse.��� Midnight
Thomas (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 4th in
the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles] (15 ran). Bold Tara (Martin Keighley/Mr H Stock) won the Amateur
Riders� Handicap Hurdle (13 ran); well done to the team, their 3rd winner of the season ... all at Worcester! No
National Hunt racing tomorrow, with Uttoxeter on
Friday.� I�ve been rummaging through my Really Useful boxes
to find my tickets and receipts from this year�s Grand National � I keep all
my tickets and programmes.� My 2014
Earl of Derby Terrace tickets and parking labels cost �243.00 ... the same as
in 2013.� However, I�m fully expecting
an increased cost this year, as the ticket prices are not due to be announced
until they go on sale!� |
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Tuesday 22 July
2014 |
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There are
three runners of interest at Worcester tomorrow: 15:10
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore) �
Novices� Hurdle 16:40
Midnight Thomas (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) �
Handicap Hurdle [2 miles] 17:10 Bold
Tara (Martin Keighley/Mr H Stock) � Amateur Riders� Handicap Hurdle Whoops,
Tom Scudamore took the wrong course at Cartmel yesterday, jumping a fence having left the starting
gate as opposed to a hurdle of all things.�
But I guess there may be extenuating circumstances having lost his
grandparents recently.� A 12-day
holiday has been prescribed as punishment by the stewards.� More And the
Queen�s Estimate is one of the horses involved in the morphine-contaminated
feed investigations being carried out by the BHA. �More It�s now
just three days until I can purchase my Grand National tickets for next year,
having been given a one-week window of opportunity as a regular customer
prior to the general ticket sales commencing.�
If everything goes to plan, I shall book them early afternoon on
Friday. And I�m getting a head-start on my Christmas
present buying too; I�ve now purchased three during the past week ...
courtesy of my favourite craft website: https://www.etsy.com/ My problem is that each summer I develop an addiction
... two years ago it was knitting winter scarves, last year knitting and
chain crocheting summer scarves made from strips of material and this
year?� Dichroic
jewellery.� Learning how to make dichroic jewellery is one of the items on my bucket list.� But for the time being I shall admire ...
and purchase ... items created by others.�
Additional things on my bucket list are going on a falconry course,
and taking a llama or alpaca for a walk!�
And I�d like to learn how to crochet more than just chains!� Needless to say, Choc is a 365-days a year
addiction!!! There�s excellent news for my niece Lydia; having
completed her degree she has been offered a job in her chosen field.� J |
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Sunday 20 July
2014 |
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Here are
today�s results from Stratford: Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Tom O�Brien) finished 2nd in the Selling Hurdle (4 ran). Laser Blazer (Alan King/Richard
Johnson) won the Novices� Hurdle (6 ran); Classic Colori
and Say When were non-runners.� My Lad
Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) finished 2nd in the Handicap Hurdle [2
miles 6� furlongs] (9 ran). Cartmel is the sole National
Hunt fixture tomorrow, so there are no runners of interest. Choc has tweeted a photo of William playing table tennis at a local
pub (The Plough?) https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/490911849626759168/photo/1 We certainly caught a thunderstorm this evening;
I�ve never seen rain like it and it even flooded into the carport.� I�ve not enjoyed the weekend, as it�s been one of
those weekends when I feel I�ve accomplished nothing and I�ve not been out
anywhere either.� But next weekend I�m
due to see Annie Get Your Gun in Aylesbury and the following weekend I�m
hoping to visit my friend Denise in Reading. |
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Saturday 19 July
2014 |
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Here are
today�s results from Market Rasen: Montbazon (Alan King/Aidan
Coleman) finished a never nearer 4th and Uriah Heep
(Alan King/Richard Johnson) finished 8th in the Summer Hurdle [Listed Handicap]
(13 ran).� Pantxoa (Alan King/Richard
Johnson) finished 7th in the Summer Plate [Listed Handicap Chase] (13 ran). Hollow
Penny (Alan King/Richard Johnson) finished 5th in the Novices� Handicap Chase
(7 ran). AP McCoy
won the Summer Plate aboard It�s A Gimme, thus surpassing Martin Pipe�s 4191 winner
tally.� More �But the form wasn�t franked later in the
afternoon by Hollow Penny who had finished a close second to It�s A Gimme at Worcester
recently. All the
races at Market Rasen were delayed by half an hour
due to a thunderstorm which cut off power in the area; generators were
brought into action to keep the show on the road.� St Albans
definitely had rain overnight and again early this morning, but I didn�t hear
any thunder apart from yesterday evening at around 22:30.� I think the really bad weather went to the
east and to the west of us, thus bypassing the city in the middle.� And a
recap of the runners of interest at Stratford tomorrow: 14:30 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Selling
Hurdle 15:00
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore)
& Laser Blazer (Alan King/Richard Johnson) & (the infamous) Say When
(Alan King/Stephen O�Donovan) � Novices� Hurdle 16:30 My
Lad Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6�
furlongs] The
McNeill family has a new racehorse, Karezak
purchased from the John Oxx yard in Ireland.� Here he is cantering with another of the
family�s horses, Gimme Five.� https://twitter.com/McNeill_Family/status/490082830404558848/photo/1 And I�ve finally begun my knitting project
today.� |
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Friday 18 July
2014 |
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There are
a number of runners of interest at Market Rasen tomorrow: 14:55 Montbazon (Alan King/Aidan Coleman) & Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard Johnson) � Summer Hurdle [Listed
Handicap] 15:30 Pantxoa (Alan King/Richard Johnson) � Summer Plate
[Listed Handicap Chase] 16:45
Hollow Penny (Alan King/Richard Johnson) � Novices� Handicap Chase And at Stratford on Sunday too: 14:30 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Selling
Hurdle 15:00
Classic Colori (Martin Keighley/Killian Moore)
& Laser Blazer (Alan King/Richard Johnson) & (the infamous) Say When
(Alan King/Stephen O�Donovan) � Novices� Hurdle 16:30 My
Lad Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Handicap Hurdle [2 miles 6�
furlongs] And
there�s news of Wayne Hutchinson and his injury which occurred at Stratford
on 17 May.� The jockey underwent an
operation on his hip during Royal Ascot week.�
He had two tears in the capsule around the outside of his hip joint,
excess bone on top of his femur and a shredded meniscus in his knee.� Wayne has been visiting Oaksey
House to begin his recuperation and hopes to be back by mid-September.� Here is the report from the news blog (17
July) on Alan King�s website: http://alankingracing.co.uk/news.htm I�ve no plans for the weekend, and even a walk
looks unlikely with all the forecasted thunderstorms.� I almost managed to sleep through any storms
which passed over last night; all I heard were two faintish rumbles of
thunder.� However, work colleagues tell
me there was lots of loud thunder with lightening, even someone who lives
just a mile or two from me!� We�ve had
one storm pass over late this evening, with more expected.� |
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Thursday 17 July
2014 |
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I�ve sad
news to depart regarding yesterday�s racing at Worcester - In A Heartbeat
suffered a fatal injury during the Mares� Maiden Hurdle.� I only saw one of the later races
yesterday, and was worried when I read that she�d been pulled up so early in
her race; the bad news was confirmed by Martin Keighley in his blog today.
R.I.P. In A Heartbeat 2009 � 16 July 2014 |
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Wednesday 16
July 2014 |
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Two
results from Worcester this evening: Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 4th in the Handicap
Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs] (6 ran). In A
Heartbeat (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) was pulled up in the Mares� Maiden Hurdle
(11 ran). At Uttoxeter today, AP McCoy equalled trainer Martin Pipe�s
career tally of winners � 4191.� More There�s now no National Hunt racing in the UK
until Cartmel and Market Rasen
on Saturday, followed by Stratford and Newton Abbot on Sunday. |
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Tuesday 15 July
2014 |
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There was no
result to report from yesterday, as My Lad Percy was a non-runner at Newton
Abbot. There�s
National Hunt racing at Uttoxeter and Worcester tomorrow, with two runners of interest at the
latter: 18:20 Kyles Faith (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham)
� Handicap Chase [2 miles 7 furlongs] 19:25 In A
Heartbeat (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) � Mares� Maiden Hurdle I must mention that both of my nieces have now
graduated; Lydia gained a 2:1 and Kim a first class honours degree.� Lydia is a �people person� and hopes to join the police force in some form
or other, and Kim�s dream job would be in the embryology field, having
studied Biomedical Science.� Many
congratulations to them both. |
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Monday 14 July
2014 |
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Happy Birthday Choc Many happy returns of the day to my favourite
jockey, 36 today.
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Sunday 13 July
2014 |
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Two
runners of interest this afternoon at Stratford, and this
is how they fared: Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard Johnson) won the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles �
furlong] (8 ran). Gimme Five (Alan King/Paddy
Brennan) finished 2nd in the Juvenile Hurdle (12 ran). One runner
of interest tomorrow, at Newton Abbot: 15:40 My Lad
Percy (Martin Keighley/Tom O�Brien) � Handicap Hurdle [3 miles 3 furlongs] Notification has arrived from Aintree regarding
ticket sales for next year�s Grand National Festival.� The pre-sale tickets for �loyalty� customers (that includes
me!) go on sale at 09:00 on Friday 25 July, with the booking line opening for
new �Grand National� customers a
week later on Friday 01 August at 09:00.�
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Saturday 12 July
2014 |
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Two
runners of interest tomorrow, at Stratford: 15:20
Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard Johnson) � Handicap
Hurdle [2 miles � furlong] 16:25 Gimme Five (Alan
King/Paddy Brennan) � Juvenile Hurdle Mirror,
mirror on the wall ... time for a haircut for two little blondies: https://twitter.com/Choc_Thornton/status/487325260698906624/photo/1 I�m having my hair trimmed tomorrow. My bone density scan appointment has finally come
through ... And I�ve still not begun my intended knitted project
... and there�s still an ongoing cross stitch project to finish too. |
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Wednesday 09
July 2014 |
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Just one
result today, from Worcester: Kyles Faith (Martin
Keighley/Ian Popham) finished 5th in the Selling
Hurdle (9 ran). There�s
now no National Hunt racing until Sunday, when there are fixtures at Perth, Southwell and Stratford.�
The latter
is a particular favourite of mine, falling as it does so close to Choc�s birthday, as here are my diaries from 2008: https://www.choc-thorntons-super-fan.co.uk/DIARY%20-%20STRATFORD%2013%20JULY%2008.htm And 2009: https://www.choc-thorntons-super-fan.co.uk/DIARY%20-%20STRATFORD%2012%20JULY%202009.htm |
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Tuesday 08 July
2014 |
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Three
runners of interest at Uttoxeter this evening and this is how they fared: Galiotto (Noel Williams/Joshua
Moore) finished 10th in the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles] (14 ran). Prettyasapicture (Alan King/Aidan
Coleman) finished 4th in the Mares� Handicap Hurdle (6 ran). Captain
Cardington (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) was pulled
up in the Handicap Hurdle [3 miles] (13 ran). And just
one runner of interest tomorrow, at Worcester: 19:40 Kyles Faith
(Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) � Selling Hurdle |
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Monday 07 July
2014 |
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Three
runners of interest tomorrow, at Uttoxeter: 19:30 Galiotto (Noel Williams/Joshua Moore) � Handicap Hurdle
[2 miles] 20:30 Prettyasapicture (Alan King/Aidan Coleman) � Mares�
Handicap Hurdle 21:00
Captain Cardington (Martin Keighley/Ian Popham) �
Handicap Hurdle [3 miles] I forgot
to mention that Tom Bellamy, son of ex-jockey and Towcester�s
Clerk of the Course Robert, has joined the Alan King yard as a conditional
jockey. Grand
National winning jockey Michael Scudamore (senior)
has passed away aged 81; father of Peter and grandfather of Tom and
Michael.� More The 1995 Derby, King George and Prix de l�Arc de Triomphe winner Lammtarra has passed away aged 22.� More |
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Sunday 06 July
2014 |
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Just one
runner of interest today, at Market Rasen: Desert Robe
(Alan King/Richard Johnson) finished 4th in the Novices� Hurdle (9 ran). There�s
National Hunt racing at Newton Abbot tomorrow but no runners of interest. And the
winners of the JCB Challenge in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund held at the Barbury International Horse Trials yesterday were ... the
National Hunt Jockeys � Sam Twiston-Davies, Richard
Johnson, John Francome and Noel Fehily: https://twitter.com/Pol_Roger/status/485492951972597760/photo/1 https://twitter.com/IJF_official/status/485534606780026880/photo/1 And here
is Zara Phillips competing against John Francome in
the aforementioned challenge: https://twitter.com/HonestFrank/status/485495057022480384/photo/1 There are
lots more photographs on Barbury�s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BarburyInternationalHorseTrials And a clip
on youtube too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og0bpg2UJM8 Yesterday
I shortened and re-hemmed the skirt as planned last weekend.� And watched the Tour de France and the
Wimbledon tennis.� Today I trimmed a
couple of unruly garden shrubs ... a task which I actually enjoy ... and again
watched a little bit of the Tour de France, followed by the Men�s Singles
Final at Wimbledon.� It was actually
the first time I�ve ever wanted Federer to win, so
I was disappointed.� I didn�t go for a
walk, hoping that the shrub trimming provided me with sufficient exercise! I got my knitting needles out this afternoon ...
and four balls of mauve wool plus pattern ... but that was as far as I got! |
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Friday 04 July
2014 |
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It�s been
a very quiet week ... with no runners of interest or results to report since
Tuesday ... Kyles Faith having been a non-runner at
Worcester on Wednesday.� After all
the hype ahead of the Champions Challenge to be held at the Barbury International Horse Trials tomorrow, it turns out
that AP McCoy sustained an injury in a fall earlier this week ... so Noel Fehily will be joining Richard Johnson, Sam Twiston-Davies and John Francome
to represent the jockeys.� But the
organisers are hoping that AP will be able to attend, as a spectator.� Having recovered from his recent injury,
Noel is due back in racecourse action on Monday.� There�s
National Hunt racing at Market Rasen on Sunday, with one runner of interest: 14:15
Desert Robe (Alan King/Richard Johnson) � Novices� Hurdle I�ve no plans for the weekend ... apart from watching
the Wimbledon tennis finals.� Hopefully
I�ll be able to squeeze in a walk too, weather permitting.� Sometimes I hate looking for presents for people
... because I always end up buying something for me too!!!� It happened this evening and that little �something� turned out to be three
things for me.� Ouch.� I can never resist dichroic
jewellery; two pendants and a pair of earrings for me, in addition to a
birthday present for Lesley ... but they are gorgeous.� And I�d been so good with my treats for the
past couple of months too.�� |
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Tuesday 01 July
2014 |
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Three
runners of interest this evening, at Stratford, and this
is how they fared: In A
Heartbeat (Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) finished 8th in the Maiden Hurdle
(14 ran). Uriah Heep (Alan King/Richard
Johnson) won the Handicap Hurdle [2 miles � furlong] (10 ran). Hayjack (Martin Keighley/AP
McCoy) finished 3rd in the Handicap Chase (7 ran). National
Hunt racing at Perth and Worcester tomorrow, with one
runner of interest at the latter: 17:55 Kyles Faith
(Martin Keighley/Ollie Garner) � Conditional Jockeys� Novices� Handicap
Hurdle |
