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Captain's Blog - 24th January 2011

It was a shame that we lost Haydock to the cold weather on Saturday, but that is the way it goes when frost gets into the ground. There was some consternation that the meeting was lost because the overnight forecast was only for a temperature of minus 1, in fact it got down to minus 4.5 which left the executive with little option but to abandon. Yes the weather forecaster got it wrong, but forecasting is not an exact science, surely we learnt that years ago. In essence the ground was too frozen to race on so the meeting was called off, simple. Some have questioned why the frost covers were not employed, well if the forecast had been for a severe frost they would have been used but the forecast did not predict what actually happened. Those that backed the meeting to go ahead at short prices on the exchanges did their dough but I am afraid they can only blame themselves and not the Haydock executive.

No such problems today at Wetherby, the meeting goes ahead without the need for an inspection. Temperatures last night did not dip below freezing so it is all systems go in Yorkshire. We will be there on and we will also be covering all the action from Kempton as well. I am delighted to be back in the booth today for RUK helping out the guys on course. I eased my way back into action on Saturday presenting Mark Your Card and am now very much back on board for the duration today. Both cards look competitive with Kempton boasting many runners and winner finding there will be particularly tricky.

Call me old fashioned but this recycling lark is doing my head in. I know it is for the common good, for the sake of the planet and our children’s children, but sometimes I would love to go back to the good old days when you had one bin only and could chuck everything in it. Now we have an array of bins and buckets and boxes and just deciding which bit of rubbish goes where is a real headache. Of course you can still throw all your rubbish in the bin, but the council will only empty that bin every fortnight effectively forcing you to recycle. I like polar bears and I need to think about their habitat when I glibly launch a plastic container into the bin, but old habits die hard I am afraid and there was plenty of ice around when I was born and there was no such thing as recycling then, perhaps that is very narrow minded though and typical of an old fool like me. Time for me to move on before I get myself in trouble with the tree hugging yoghurt munching brigade.

I hope you enjoy your Monday.

Today’s Selection

2:10 Kempton – Figaro Flyer (each way 11/2 Sky Bet )