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Captain's Blog - 23rd November 2010

We are going to bring you action from St Cloud today on and myself and Claude Charlet will be the guys to bring you this feast of french action. We will be on air at 12:00 and hopefully you will be able to join us. I am no french racing expert but Claude has a wealth of experience and contacts galore to call upon. As I type this he will be on the phone getting the inside track on all things to do with St Cloud today. We usually joke that he has a form book and a phone book, but no it is true and it is the phone book that gets most hammer on a day like this. lets hope he can come up with a few winners for us all.

Sad news reached the racing world yesterday with the announcement of the untimely death of Peter Monteith. I did not know him but he was always an interesting and knowledgeable man to listen to when we interviewed him on and he was a very good trainer and a gentleman to boot. My sympathy goes to his close family and friends.

The forthcoming cold snap is threatening to disrupt the upcoming racing schedule. With a bit of luck the frost covers that are being applied at Newbury and Newcastle will do their stuff, it really would be a shame if we were to lose the Henessey this weekend where Denman will attempt to defy top weight yet again. He must have an outstanding chance but he is missing one vital ingredient in Ruby Walsh who has always got the best out of this grinder. The reason he gets the best out of him is that he does not commit him from home too far out which is always tempting on a horse of this nature. Nonetheless he must have an outstanding chance on Saturday, all we need is the snow to stay away from Newbury.

No joy with our 8/1 selection yesterday who ran well in finishing second, but that was not good enough for us to collect, hopefully I can stop the rot today and at least my favourite all weather track at Southwell stages a meeting today. We had a good week last week but the last few days have been barren and I need to get back on the horse so to speak.

I have a thought for the day to leave you with. Horses that are held up in races and make some late headway are generally not eyecatchers, the late headway they make is done so as a consequence of saving energy early on in the race and usually the late strides that they make are exaggerated by horses around them weakening. Following horses that run this way is a sure way to the poor house, a concept that Andy Beyer in the States recognised over 20 years ago!

Right time for me to get to the office to see what Mr Charlet has been up to.

Today's Selection

1:40 Southwell – Conry (each way 4/1 Sky Bet )

2:40 Southwell – General Tufto (each way 7/1 Sky Bet )