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Punting High - Keyneema for Cathy Hamilton at Hereford last autumn. Always seem to do well there for reasons I've never fathomed, but that was a biggie even for me. Personal High - as usual, anything that justifies keeping willing and capable old-timers in the sport. Carryonharry's pointing...

Clare Balding was tearing several strips off her on Have I Got News For You last week, wasn't she - describing her variously as "having a face like the surface of Mars", and "not someone I want to represent me as an example of womankind". I guess that's them off each other's Christmas card...

Desirous of one last fix of point-to-pointing this season, and keen to take in some jumps action on Derby day, I'm planning a raid on Trecoed, near Fishguard, this coming Saturday. This course is nowhere near my home in Hertfordshire, but then I am a mental, and I've never yet done a West Wales...

I like my gigs, me, although getting to see any on top of everything else is a bit of a struggle for long chunks of the year. However, I've got three lined up in the next fortnight alone; Monday, June 2nd MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS (fine Australian electro popsters) Barfly, Camden Monday, June 9th...

Me too! gc

A change of both trainer and rider ahead of this appearance probably influenced the plunge. With the greatest of respect to Trevor Wall and Lee Edwards, their respective replacements Richard Lee and Choc Thornton will rate as a more enticing trainer / jockey combination to throw money at nine...

What worries me with Great Leighs' underwhelming public opening yesterday is what I came to dub "Sportsman Syndrome", after the launch of that newspaper was compromised by typos, estimable Press Association data and some strange choices of leading articles. Sweetly, simply put - as with the...

I'd missed that bit of news about Mr Splodge as well. What a terrible shame - he was a grand old boy and reassuringly regular fixture in this part of the world for so long. gc

I hope you don't pass out at the shock of it, Arkwright, but it's actually very dark blue with light blue relief! Be assured that everything underneath it is still regulation miserablist black, though, as you'll see if you're headed Towcesterwards tomorrow night... gc PS I think that was my...

Lordy, how close was that! Fine ride from both of the first two. That's the best way to ride Bell Rock, to my mind. What a pity Cottenham stopped being a Rules course between the wars - a few meetings there year-round would increase that horse's options! gc

Spot on. The few jockeys for whom fatigue may justifiably become an issue are the same few jockeys who are actually riding enough to make a decent living from the sport - the select few who are attached to the good yards, ride the best horses, can take several hundred mounts a year and...

He has his supporters within the sport - John Dufosee seems quite content to use him, and owner Bernard Pike was entirely happy with his efforts on that first class scamp Who Else Knew on each of the three occasions I spoke to him at Hackwood Park this season. Ryan was a little cheeky on the...

Fiona Needham's first clerk of the course gig was at Market Rasen in 2004. She spent six months there, but I think that was only ever intended as preparation and experience for the Warwick and Huntingdon gigs she moved on to then. Either way, she created a very favourable impression during her...

Always! gc

LMAO! gc

'Morning, Paul! Might have known who it was. Be assured the Cartmel seller will be accorded ample coverage on Saturday evening... if I have anything to do with it. ;-D gc

You lucky, lucky man. A tip - if you haven't seen them live before, NEVER shout for requests - Merritt just gets ratchety as hell about it and Claudia Gonson invariably has to act as peacemaker 'twixt audience and singer. It's not as if he can hear half of the shouts, as he's profoundly deaf...

The head-on of Oumeyade going the wrong way is now the desktop picture on my laptop - it's been fun to see how many of my colleagues have come up to it, had a look and said, "Something's not quite right here, but I can't think what..." A very bizarre day for Sam Thomas, all told, as he later...

Very kind of you, ta! If you can bear it, I'm on again this Saturday evening, specifically drafted in to cover Cartmel and Stratford. One of my very favourite racing days of the entire calendar, this, even though it looks like they've moved the Grand Veterans' National to the Monday afternoon...

Having seen Shippy perform just okay during my race-reading stints at Hackwood Park this year and last, I hadn't see anything that would have presaged last night's win at Folkestone. Mind, Hackwood wouldn't be every horse's cup of tea, and the shorter trip at the Kent venue might also have...