ALMOST FINISHED SKIING FOR THIS HOLIDAY: My skiing trip has ran smoothish… so far!
The boarding has been challenging and I did an accidental backward somersault and landed on my head which set me back for a few hours. Luckily I had a helmet on though but I doubt I’d have passed any concussion test straight away.
One day left and the sky’s are clear, for the first time all week. I’m obviously missing the racing but have formed my own sledging race later! The others in the race have two stone plus on me, so they have gravity onside… I’m the 12-1 outsider on BETDAQ!
I’m sure the Victoria Pendleton chat has died down by now. She is one brave lady to have accomplished what she has so far. When I first started it took at least 100 rides for the nerves to go. She’s only had a few and has the added pressure of having the media and the microscope on her.
I do think Cheltenham may come to soon though. Having a field of 20 plus runners round there with the top amateurs from here and Ireland who have a lifetime of experience will not allow for any minor mishaps or mistakes without it causing danger to herself and the rest of the field. If she did it next year that would still be a massive achievement. It’s great for us that she’s enjoying riding out and racing so much. Let’s hope she’ll be kicking about the sport in years to come.
ITALY TO LINGFIELD FOR WINTER DERBY GLORY
Onto the Racing and it’s Winter Derby day tomorrow at Lingfield and there is a really good card on there, not just the Winter Derby.
The opening race has a really interesting contender with Muthmir making his 2016 debut and a really good ride to get for Pat Cosgrave. He wasn’t beaten far in the King Stand last year after winning a Group 2 in France before that. The one unknown is the surface but he’s very versatile when it comes to ground on turf so I think it should be no problem for him. He’s the one to beat there.
The Winter Derby itself looks really competitive and I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out. Festive Fare heads the market for Godolphin but his form is a little up and down at times. Same goes for Grendisar as well.
I’m really intrigued to see Furia Cruzada in there on his English debut for John Gosden. He’s a multiple Group 1 winner in Italy and, fair enough, it’s hard to know how strong that form is but it’s hard to look passed Group 1 form and I think he could be a good each way bet in the race.
The big race over jumps tomorrow is the Kempton Chase and Harry Fry looks like he could have a really good shout here with Thomas Brown. He’s still a novice over fences but he was really good the last day at Doncaster and won very easily. This is a different test for him as it’s a fairly steep rise in class but he should be able to go close in this one and then he’d have another good chance in Cheltenham.
Speaking of Cheltenham, it’s only a few weeks away now and although there’s been some mixed news about the runners in the last couple of weeks, there’s no doubt that it will still be an amazing festival. I’m looking forward to it this year, more than ever before but I’m in a different position now though. Hopefully we’ll have an enjoyable week though!
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