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Captain's Blog - 11th October 2010

Another busy week coming up on which starts with two eight race cards today. We will be based at Salisbury and will also bring you all the action from Kempton. I am going to be in the booth for the duration of the broadcast for which we welcome Nick Luck back to the fold. Nick has been taking a well earned break from his extensive media commitments but returns today refreshed and ready to lead from the front. It will be good to have him back with us.

I will be cycling to work today firstly because I want to keep fit but secondly because I have had enough of driving after going to Goodwood yesterday and having to battle with a diversion around the A3 that seemed to take forever and seemed to explore every one way system within a ten mile radius of Farnham and Midhurst. It will be nice to enjoy the freedom that cycling conveys and according to Carol Kirkwood, who knows about these things, it is going to be a fine and sunny day. I very much enjoyed my day at Goodwood although I could not find a winner to save my life! My guest Eddie Freemantle was in much better form though and I look forward to his company once again on Wednesday night for yet another meeting at Kempton.

There is still a lot of hype surrounding the Jockeys title, but even though Paul Hanagan picked up a one day ban yesterday surely the whole thing is over bar the shouting. Richard Hughes has a seven day ban to serve and will be away for two days at the Breeders Cup whereas Hanagan, who holds a nine winner advantage, only has a one day ban to serve. It would be nice if the battle would go down to the wire but Paul Hanagan will almost certainly be crowned the champion now. Paul is one of the good guys and has worked incredibly hard all year. I would describe him as a jockey who keeps everything simple and makes few mistakes and that approach has served him well this year. He is a credit to the sport and is almost certainly our new champion jockey.

Our selections on Saturday all bombed out which was a poor end to a good week which was annoying, but I always like making a fresh start on a Monday and hopefully we can get a winner or two this afternoon.

Have a great day.

Todays Selections

4:00 Kempton – Franco Is My Name (each way 12/1 Paddy Power )

3:45 Salisbury – Kings Bayonet (each way 100/30 Ladbrokes )