Mon Michel runs in what is a very competitive juvenile on Saturday – Robert Thornton takes the ride. He’s been disappointing thus far, well beaten into second on his last two starts, but he is good on the gallops and my feeling is that he is weighted to pick up a big handicap if and when it comes right for …

King’s Head was beaten fair and square by a decent looking animal. Prince Ary ran a stinker today and finished with quite a nasty cut on his leg. I’ve now had five second places and a couple of thirds since my last winner – roll on the flat season.

I was spectacularly bad today – all my fancied horses finished unplaced and the only horse I laid won. Not much to be said about that. King’s Head goes tomorrow. He’d like it a little firmer but he should go ok – I spoke to Gary today and he said that the horse works like a good ‘un and is …

I’ve rung around my various trainers to see if I could turn up anything. Nick Gifford has five going at Newbury today. I asked him about Latimer’s Place in the 2.25. The horse is getting on a bit. The ground is key (he needs it good) and he has that. He’s getting a bit old though and can sulk when …

At last a decent period of action on the horse front – I have runners on each of the next three days. Master of the Race goes on Saturday at Newbury in what looks to be a red hot novice. I had a long chat with Tom about him this morning – Tom was expecting a big run from him …

With Cheltenham now over I now have to honour my promise to my wife and give up smoking. I’ve been smoking solidly for 25 years so this may not be easy – still there’s nothing like a good challenge. Fortunately there are two others in Betfair who are giving up – Josh Apiafi and Martin Cruddace. Josh and Martin will …

Cheltenham drew to a close and I faced the horrible realisation that for the first time in my life I have gone through the meeting without finding a single winner. I didn’t bet in as many races as I normally do due to time constraints and I twice had the heartbreak of seeing my horse jump the last in a …

A busy day yesterday. Still no luck betting and heavily down for the week. I left early and drove over to Bimingham to pick up a puppy, then drove back home. I’ll make my way back to Cheltenham this morning for the final leg. I’ll take Degas Art to win the Triumph today, with a saver on Parrain. I’m on …

I’m in the Betfair tent now listening too all the gossip. The World Hurdle is the big one and I’ve heard a few views. BJK is not proving popular with the experts I’ve spoken to. Mighty Man seems to be the big Timeform fancy and there are a lot of good reasons to like him. I’ve been more influenced by …

It was a typically busy day at the course yesterday. I got there early and went to the Betfair marquee. We had a betting panel of four giving their views to our guests. Harry Findlay, part owner of Denman, appeared impromptu in the box and got onto the stage – he spent about 15 minutes explaining why he thought Denman …