A 3/1 winner yesterday here on the blog has kept the dream alive and we at least have some funds now to enable us to get stuck in to a tremendous card at Meydan.

I was in the office early today to get psyched up for the desert action and now feel suitably pumped to get the job done with James Willoughby as my guest. I know James is up for it big time and so he should be, given the quality of the action. The UAE 1000 Guineas and the Al Shindagha sprint take centre stage and both are very much up to scratch.

The 1000 Guineas looks set to be dominated by Godolphin. They field Gamiliati and Pimpernel. Gamilati is the choosen mount of Frankie Dettori and is a classy filly who won the Cherry Hinton at Newmarket and in slowly run Guineas trial last time out proved that she can handle Tapeta. She must go well but their has to be an element of doubt about the trip of one mile. She is certainly bred to stay but can be a free going type and if she grabs hold of the bit here she may not get home. Pimpernel provides solid opposition. She ran some big speed figures on the turf over here last season. Her second place in the Rockfel behind the very useful Wading was a particularly strong effort and the step up in trip to a mile should suit. I rate her as the most likely winner under Mikael Barzalona.

The  is a cracker and the favourite will be Captain Obvious. He was quite impressive in beating Hitchens last time and despite a high draw he should contuinue the fine run of form of his trainer Steven Burridge. Steven trains in Singapore and he has had four winners at the Carnival already. This horse is a prolific winner in his native Singapore and he ran a big figure when winning last time. He is not one to get too heavily involved in given his wide draw but is the most likely winner of this valuable sprint. Incidentally Steven Burridge also runs IP man in the 11.35 who is likely to go off at odds on, but will more than likely win.

Right I need to get up to the studio and get prepared for some super action today.

All the best

Todays Selections

12.10 Meydan  – Pimpernel

1.25 Meydan – Captain Obvious

11.35 Meydan – IP Man

During the kempton show last night Dave Nevison and myself expressed an opinion or two on the Triumph hurdle. We both agreed that Grumeti may just not be quite good enough to win the race, but may be able to run into a place. This opinion garnered a good deal of comment on Twitter some of it constructive and some of it less than complimentary. I do not get involved in in the world of twitter, but Dave alerted me to what was going on and it lead my to think about the whole issue and it made me wonder why many people in Horseracing get so worked up about other people’s opinions.

It would seem that when people become connected to a horse they become over protective and over sensitive to the opinions of others which is bizarre because in life listening to the opinions of others is one of the best ways to learn and develop your own mind. I can understand people getting upset if their horse is slagged off unfairly by someone but to rear up when others simply express an opinion is madness isn’t it? Either that or they have an awful lot of tiume on their hands.

Anyway for the record Grumeti is a lovely and talented racehorse who has been well bought off the flat to go jumping. He is sure to run a fine race in the Triumph Hurdle but I do not think he will win, this is just an opinion of course and is not meant to upset anybody. If he wins, and he might, I will be the first to admit that I got it wrong. You cannot say fairer than that.

Racing looks set to be blighte by the weather for a few days yet and it may be the case that Meydan wil be flying the flag for our coverage on Friday with Catterick set to inspect today for that meeting. The Meydan card though is a cracking one and I am looking forward to presenting it with James Willoughby as my guest. The action from Dubai this season has been the best we have ever seen at Meydan and I would urge you to tune in from 11.00am tomorrow.

All the best for today folks.

Todays Selections

1.30 Southwell – No mean trick

Ted Spread was a well backed winner for us here on the blog yesterday to end the month ona high. He was an 11/4 shot in the morning, but was backed into 5/4 and obliged comfortably by seven lengths. He formed part of a Paul Nicholls treble. Dildar was the first leg of that treble and opinion seems divided as to whether he will be a force in the Triumph hurdle. For what it is worth I thought he was quite impressive given that he did not jump very well. Essentially he landed flat footed over seven of the eight hurdles and it is testament to his raw ability that he managed to prevail. He will be much sharper next time. Paddy Power make him a 14/1 shot which is a good price with many other firms remaining catious at 10/1. There will be many looking to oppose this horse, but I am certainly not one of them and will be backing him each way at 14/1.

I am heading to the studio later today to cover all of the action from Kempton Park with Dave Nevison as my guest. We will be flying the flag for Racing UK today as this afternoons meeting at Ludlow has fallen foul of the current cold snap. Please do get in touch with myself and Dave during the show, the mail address is studio@racinguk.com. We would be interested in your thoughts on the Supreme Novices hurdle and the Triumph hurdle at the Festival as we will be discussing those races during the show. We would also like some winners as well for the Kempton card which looks as trappy as ever. We look forward to hearing from you.

It is an exciting week at McNae towers with the 2012 Rugby League season due to start on Friday, indeed we will be making our way to the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday to watch the mighty St Helens take on Harlequins. The necessary shirts have been bought and our best mates are driving south to join us for what should be an enjoyable weekend. Of course for it to be an exceptional one we need Saints to win and with a few new signings and a good pre season behind them there is no reason why they cannot do the business.

Do join us for all the action from Kempton later today.

All the best

Todays Selections

5.20 Kempton – The Mongoose (3/1 Skybet)

Antepost – Triumph Hurdle – Dildar (each way 14/1 Paddy Power)

There are many admirable sportsmen and women in the world, but surely Novak Djokovic is top of the tree after his near six hour defeat of Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian open. He is a remarkable tennis player not just because he is an outstanding sportsmen but because he has remarkable mental strength. He never knows when he is beaten and has an amazing amount of belief in his own ability. He had to dig very deep to beat Andy Murray in five sets in the semi final, a victory that would have drained many lesser mortals of all their mental strength, in racing terms next time out they would bounce and fail miserably. Not Djokovic, no he simply bounced back and dug even deeper to beat Nadal. Elite sportsmen are often as talented as each other and in terms of raw ability are impossible to seperate and thus champions are made as much in the mind as on the field of play. I am not a massive fan of tennis but I am rapidly becoming a fan of the amazing Djokovic who may just complete the Grand Slam this year, one thing is for sure he will believe he can do it and belief is everything in elite sport.

It looks as if this current cold snap will be somewhat disruptive as far as Jump racing is concerned over the next few days. Indee Andrew Cooper clerk of the course at Sandown has already voiced his concerns about Racing taking place on Saturday at the Esher venue. If we lose a few meetings Racing UK will still march on with an all weather fixture at Kempton on Wednesday and of course on Friday we will still have some decent action from Meydan. I will be on duty on both of these days and am particularly looking forward to the action from Dubai on Friday when James Willoughby will be my guest.

Something Silver was our selection yesterday and the 11/4 shot looked all over the winner jumping the last two fences and traded at a very short price in running but still managed to lose. Such is my luck at the moment, I did manage to salvage my stake in running but a no score draw is little use to anyone.

Have a good day.

Todays Selection

3.10 Taunton – Ted Spread

I am heading to Kempton today to film the next edition of Planet Turf for Racing UK. I am delighted to say that I will be joined by James Willoughby and we will be chatting about all that has happened at the Dubai Carnival this year. I will not go through all the topics we are dealing with nor the horses as I do not want to spoil the programme for you. I will, however, flag up when it can be seen on the channel once the whoile thing has been edited and made into a cohesive programme.

I hope you enjoyed our coverage from Cheltenham on Saturday and also maybe you picked up a few clues for the Festival itself. I am fairly sure that the action at Leopardstown yesterday was more informative as far as Cheltenham is concerned with Hurricane Fly impressing in winning the Irish Champion Hurdle. He is now odds on with at least one firm for the big race in March and in truth I cannot see him being defeated. other horses to impress at Leopardstown yesterday in the mud and the fog were the Willie Mullins trained duo, Boston Bob and Make Your Mark. Boston won the Grade 2 Novices Hurdle and Make your Mark was third in the same race. Boston is unbeaten in three runs and Make your Mark travelled like a dream until failing to see out the two and a half mile trip.

Both would be interesting horses should they turn up for the Festival. Boston is owned by Graham Wylie who is enjoying a renaisance with his horses at the moment and unlike some I thought that his Tidal Bay ran a cracker in the Argento Chase at Cheltenham. He is not going to win a Gold Cup but Saturday will have served to be a confidence booster for him. He lost his way with Howard Johnson and clearly had problems. He always carried his head high and I suspect that was because he had a wind problem and was probably bleeding. On saturday he jumped well and finished his race off well and did not carry his head so high. This run may just have helped him to enjoy racing again and clearly whatever Paul Nicholls has done to sort him out it has worked and I expect to see him run well wherever he goes next time. Just for the record he is not a horse who does not fancy it or is a dog, he is a horse with physical issues whose confidence has been blunted.

Time for me to prepare for my afternoon of filming at Kempton Park. I hope you have a succesful start to the week.

Todays Selections

2.55 Ayr – Something Silver

It is Cheltenham trials day and amongst many excitement is at fever pitch. It is hard to imagine that there will be enough energy left in the tank for the Festival itself. It does give many the chance to give the new tweed suit an outing and to see if the blue floral tie on a lilac check shirt partially hidden by a pink jumper on top of custard coloured cords, red socks and brown brogues really does work. This is what trials day is for, after all if it does not quite cut the mustard the colour of the jumper could always be changed.

On a serious note trials day is what it says it is and accordingly there are clues aplenty for the Festival in March. My maxim with Festival punting is that the most crucial factor is previous Festival form, if that is not something a horse can boast at least they can get a taste of the Cheltenham atmosphere today. The action is all live on Racing UK and it should be a very enjoyable afternoon. For most seeing Big Bucks back in action will be the highlight, for me the opening race which is a JCB triumph hurdle trial is a cracker with Baby Mix taking on Grumeti. There are other competitors of course but these are the principal players. Both were impressive in winning first time over hurdles and Grumeti would have won last time but for tipping up at Newbury. Some people believe that Baby Mix did not beat much when he won last time. I never mind what horses beat as long as the time is good and the time that Baby Mix put up was a good one and it was at Cheltenham, for me this gives him the edge on Grumeti, but it should be a cracking start to the meeting.

Our build up to this superb day begins at 11.00am with Mark Your Card, be sure to tune in then.

I must apologise for not posting a blog yesterday. We had a bit of sickness in the camp, but all iis well again now thankfully. It was probably a break that I needed becasue my tipping in the last few weeks has been shocking and perhaps a day off will have done me the world of good, time will tell no doubt.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and whatever you are wearing enjoy trials day, but save a little bit of petrol for the big event.

All the best

Todays Selections

2.50 Doncaster – Wayward Prince (each way 9/1 William Hill)

I am sat watching Roger Federer play Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semi final and whilst I am not a huge fan of tennis some of the shots that these guys are producing are out of this world. Federer in particular is on fire in the early stages of the game. Many y.ars ago I used to enjoy watching Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg to say nothing of John McEnroe. They were very talented players who brought character to the game and who knows how they would fare on the circuit today, but the game certainly is faster and more powerful these days and to some extent is more watchable. I am not sure that I have enough time this morning to watch the whole game, but it certainly is compelling stuff.

There is some excellent action on Racing UK today, the best of which comes from Meydan. The Al Rashidiya at 5.15 is the feature event and what a race this promises to to be. It is a Group 2 over nine furlongs and is a trial for the Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night. Last year the race was won by Presvis under a vintage ride from Ryan Moore and this combination are back to try and repeat the dose. Presvis is a class act as his rating of 116 tells us, this lofty figure owes much to his win in the Duty Free itself last March and that is his target again. If he has a chink in his armourr it is that he needs luck. He has to be held up and these tactics go hand in hand with the need for a strong pace. Whenwe last saw him in the Singapore International Cup he was undone by a steady gallop and today he needs a strong pace if he is to prevail.

He will also need to defeat some talented opponents. Musir is rated 118 and was impressive in a fast time when winning on Tapeta last time out. I believe he is probably a better horse on an artifical surface than on turf, but he does have a potent turn of foot which is more important on turf than on synthetics and he boasts some decent turf form notably when third to Excelebration in the Hungerford stakes at Newbury. He will go well but I would be a lot more confident on a synthetic surface.

Rajsaman is a fascinating runner for training sensation A AL Raihie. This horse used to be with Freddie Head and when with him won the Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Longchamp over a mile. He was only beaten two lengths in the Prix Du Moulin by Excelebration and now with a trainer who has a record of improving horses in leaps and bounds he must run well. Many of you will say he has fallen short at Group 1 level so far in his career, my retort would be that now he is with a training sensation in the shape of the double A and Group 1 success could be just around the corner after surley a bold showing in this Group 2 today.

Right a bit more tennis for me and then it is some more Meydan magic this afternoon.

All the best

Todays Selections

3.25 Warwick – De forgotten man (each way 15/2 Stan James)

2.25 Warwick – Godsmejudge (9/4 Stan James)

5.15 Meydan – Rajsaman (each way 13/2 Boylesports)

So Paul Struthers is the man to replace kevin Darley at the PJA. Strange would be my inital thought. Perhaps the PJA wanted someone with real knowledge of how the BHA thinks and operates or perhaps they just wanted a name with boardroom experience rather than experience in the saddle. Time will tell whether this is a good appointment, but I suspect it will also tell us that the new whip rules are now set in stone because with the best will in the world I cannot see the man who helped put the new rules together actively trying to dismantle them simply because he works for a different organisation. He will I suspect make the relationship between the PJA and BHA as cosy as possible and that is probably the real reason he has been appointed. Do not get me wrong he is a very capable operator, but a amost unlikely choice for this job.

I am a man of leisure today which in reality means that I need to do some washing, go to Tesco’s followed by the Laundrette and then cook some tea for tonight. Apart from that I have some time to watch England try to get back on track in the second test against Pakistan. They were an abject failure in the first test in Dubai and certainly need to find some form quickly. In particular the batsmen looked badly out of touch, it will be fascinating to see if in a week they can turn things around. I suspect they will be better, but whether they will be good enough to win and level the series I have my doubts.

Mussleburgh and Kempton will keep us busy today on Racing UK. I am loathe to get involved at either track given my current form. I am finding winners but not tipping them and those that I do tip up are running poorly. I guess I will come good soon, but soon needs to be just that. I quite fancy Absinthe at Mussleburgh in the 2.40 who was pretty impressive on his hurdling debut at Bangor for Donald McCain. He was quite uselful on the flat when with Walter Swinburn and he just could be a very useful novice. All of this tells you little that is revelatory. He is a restrictive price, indeed he may go off at odds on which is no good to man nor beast, but sometimes when you need a winner an odds on poke will do.

Right I need to find some change for that Laundrette and right a shoping list. All the best for today folks.

Todays Selections

3.20 Lingfield – Manshoor – (3/1 Various Firms)

2.40 Mussleburgh – Absinthe

Shame on you Ascot

Many thanks to those of you who replied to my blog yesterday. Clearly this dress code business at Ascot has energised many of you and I am pretty sure you will be able to second guess my opinions on the whole sorry affair.

Ascot have lost the plot completely with this totally absurd orange badge of shame idea. I know that they have admitted that it was a mistake and have refunded every premier enclosure customer that attended the meeting on Saturday Saturday, but nonetheless they have displayed an arrogance that does not belong in this day and age.

For many years now Ascot has been associated with top class racing along with rude stewards who are trying to impliment rules that are born out of little more than pure snobbery. Hopefully the powers that be realise that they have gone too far this time and that as a consequence this represents a turning of the tide and a trip into the 21st century. We can only live in hope!

I do think that  racecourses are entitled to ask for specific dress codes, but to try and shame those who have not complied is beyond belief. We always attend a day at Royal Ascot on the heath with a picnic and I am pleased to say that they have not yet banned shorts and t-shirts, they day that they do will be the day we stop attending.

There is plenty of momentum behind the Cheltenham Festival now and the trials day this weekend will crank the hype to hitherto unknown heights. Of course we will be covering the Festival and I will be working on all four days which I always enjoy but I tend not to get fired up for the whole thing too soon. After all to kick on to soon where Cheltenham is concerned is fatal, Ruby Walsh knows that although many of his colleagues, even some high profile ones have not worked it out yet.

Right I need to head off now as today is my day to look after the little one and we always go swimming in the morning before having a somewhat more relaxing afternoon.

Have a lovely day

Todays Selections

3.50 Southwell – Moataz

I took my family to Kempton yesterday and even though we just stayed for three races we really enjoyed the experience. Our early exit came about as we had a table booked for Sunday Lunch in our local and they stop serving at 4.00pm and as we had been talking about having a Sunday roast for some time now we were determined not to miss out. I did not manage to back any winners but I allowed my daughter to point at the racecard a couple of times and had a couple of quid each way on the two horses that she pointed at. She bagged a 7/2 winner and an 11/1 runner up! I am not saying that I have found a new system but as far as yesterday goes it worked just fine. Incidentally there was a healthy crowd at the track and no doubt many of them will be taking advantage of the return for a £1.00 offer which the track is currently running. We will certainly make use of it and it is just one of many forward thinking initiatives at this well run track.

I trust you enjoyed all the action on Racing UK over the weekend. If you had been concentrating on the action from Meydan and following James Willoughby you would have cleaned up. He was on fire. His out of the Ballpark selection won at 16/1 and he had a 20/1 winner and a 9/2 winner as well. If this was not enough he also had a 20/1 winner on Friday. I would urge you to tune in this week for some more action from the desert and hopefully more gems from Mr Willoughby. The racing at Meydan really is exciting and interesting with plenty of improving horses and decent jockeys on display. In previous years we have seen plenty of old lags racing there bedecked in bandages and clearly racing with problems. Those days have gone, the horses racing there now are more progressive types without the problems that come with endless racing. In essence horses used to finish their careers racing in Dubai, now plenty of them are racing there when they are at the peak of their powers. It really is great stuff.

I hope you have a succesful start to the week folks. All the best.

Todays Selections

5.30 Wolverhampton – Vanilla Rum (7/2 various firms)