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Saturday... I actually got to Lingfield with Mr Stodge Senior before we saw the racing was abandoned. I had a bad feeling as we encountered little traffic on the road down from Crowhurst and the empty car park told the final story. In what has been a mild start to winter, Lingfield was...

Betting... If the dead eight take part, I wonder about an each-way bet. Some big-price horses have made the frame in the past and SRI PUTRA wouldn't be the worst 33/1 shot of all time. If it's seven or less, I'm tempted to back WORKFORCE if he were to drift to 5/2 or even 9/4 which seems a...

Wrong... Well, I was wrong, spectacularly, completely and utterly wrong. :lol: FRANKEL completely wrongfooted me on every count though as Krizon and others have pointed out, how effective such a superbly-striding horse would be on the switchback cambers of a firm Epsom track remains to be...

Frankel... I've opposed FRANKEL and will probably look very stupid in the next hour or so. His best form last year was on flat galloping tracks and/or on easy ground. This year, he won at Newbury on quicker ground (most horses will like it once) but today he is confronted with Newmarket which...

Confused... I must admit I'm also confused by Richard Hannon's position on this. He's given himself a let-out by saying "if the Owners insist on running". I do wonder if we will see another concerted attempt at a boycott of sorts by Trainers perhaps around Easter.

No Withdrawal... Well, I've enjoyed two afternoon's racing this week - Lingfield yesterday and Kempton today. NH racing goes on - Cheltenham isn't the be-all and end-all. Looking forward to the Flat as well starting with the Winter Derby on Saturday.:lol:

It's 50 not out for me today so I've been at Lingfield just to show there's more than one racecourse in Surrey !! The opening Class 5 handicap was a popular winner in the Annual Members room as LINGFIELD BOUND (owned by a syndicate of local malcontents) scored well but a honourable mention for...

Deauville... There's also the all-weather track at Deauville which presumably has some decent prize money. I have to say that while Cagnes will be a draw for some, the presence of Meydan has done much to dilute the quality of the winter Flat racing in the UK. With handicaps of £60k on offer...

Classic horses.. SEA MOON impressed me more in defeat on debut than in winning his maiden but there's still plenty of potential albeit a long and steep road to climb but as Workforce showed this year, there's no one like Sir Michael Stoute for getting a lightly-raced animal to climb the Classic...

Back in Business.. Indeed, and the Irish venues are also able to make a belated start to their festivals which will presumably be 3-day meetings instead of four but better than nothing.

Update... As might have been expected, the thaw is causing problems of its own with surface water the concern at LEOPARDSTOWN where there will be a further inspection at 7.30am tomorrow. LIMERICK is apparently still frozen in places and will look again at 8.30am tomorrow. The latter raises...

Optimism... Joining FFOS LAS in the optimistic camp are officials at TAUNTON who seem pretty bullish about their meeting on Thursday which looks like it could be a busy day with five or six meetings.

Kempton... No surprise to see Mr Clifford's 70-30 estimate turning out to be well wide of the mark after a brutally cold night here in London. The frost has eased during the day but ground remains frozen. I'm sure the frost won't be as severe tonight but there's been no thaw at all here today...

Update Catching up, nothing today at all following the loss of FONTWELL and WOLVERHAMPTON this morning - a very cold night under clear skies in much of England and still frostbound now here in east London. Tomorrow, KEMPTON inspect at 2pm and must hope this thaw is coming as quick if not...

Fontwell.. Fontwell to look again tomorrow morning at 8am. Hard to know if that reflects genuine confidence or whether the racecourse manager is determined to give it every chance despite another very cold night forecast.

Christmas Cheer.. According to the RP, Clifford is calling it 70-30 to go ahead on Monday. Well, he knows his track so I can only defer to his judgement. There'll be another hard frost tonight but tomorrow could just be frost-free though it's on a knife-edge...

Weather Update... It now seems as though WOLVERHAMPTON will have to pass a 6.30am inspection on Sunday while FONTWELL are sounding more cautious though there seems a difference of opinion between the racecourse manager and the clerk of the course. Some very low night time and daytime...

Irish News... Leopardstown have now postponed Monday's card which will activate Contingency Plan A.

Point taken and I think you're quite right. What I think we need is a split between the main channel which would emphasise one or two meetings and concentrate on proper analysis while an Xtra or Lite channel would show everything as in the betting shops. In New Zealand, they have this on the...

Boxing Day... Unfortunately, for many of the other courses, such as Towcester, Boxing Day is their big day of the year and a meeting that brings in large numbers of paying (they charge on Boxing Day at Towcester) customers. For courses and others, it's a big loss and it's disappointing to...