I finished small down at Cheltenham – some real ups and downs. I had a big bet on Alberta’s Run with seconds to go having barely looked at the race – that was the main up. The biggest downer was on the Friday – I was planning to have a big bet on Zarkandar and I had to put on …

A fair start to the week with Hurricane Fly lining the coffers, but not as good as some. My brother-in-law had five winners including two at 10-1 – that’s a proper day. The first race comes a little early for me so I’ll start with the 2:05; 2:05 : The top two in the market here could both be serious …

I’m blogging from my Blackberry today so will be brief; Day 1 has become my favourite day in recent times as I like the Arkle as a betting heat and the Champion is a race that has been good to me in recent times. I’m just covering three races today. I’ve studied historic Arkle form and from what I could …

Monster Munchie ran poorly at Lingfield finishing a well beaten third. It’s often the case with a headstrong horse that they don’t settle on their second run – Marine Boy was a good case in point. He ran a brilliant first race winning a 16 runner Newbury maiden by 7 lengths, but every time he went to the racecourse after …

On Thursday night I took the girls to a shopping centre in Guildford to prepare for our day out on Friday – we bought a large bag of food and a selection of CDs for the car. We left the house early on Friday to get to Newmarket in time for the second lot at Peter Chapple-Hyam’s – on the …

My flight to Africa leaves Heathrow at 6:35 a.m., so I have a car booked for 3 a.m. I get dressed in my full hiking gear beforehand (including boots) in order to travel on the plane – this is recommended as it’s not unusual to lose luggage in African airports and although you can get shirts and trousers on the …

A big day for me tomorrow as I head off to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I’ve been training for it for a long time now – working out every morning in the hills and every afternoon in the gym – but it hasn’t been until today that I’ve really felt the butterflies. I should be confident about making it …

Time for my annual blog on the investment year in view. Last year’s investments were pretty mixed. I gave three stock tips: PHRM are down 76%, HYR are down 34% and CCT are up 127%. Gold rallied throughout the year and is now 1370 from 1100 – oil trod water for the first half of the year but rallied strongly …

I’ve got a touch of third-itis at the moment with Nemo Spirit and Wolf Slayer both filling the minor place. Nemo I was very happy with – he’ll do better over further on softer ground, and it was probably quite a hot novice. Wolf Slayer was a liottle disappointing – I think she ran into a tartar but I’d like …

Just a quick one today as I’m tight for time. Nemo Spirit goes at Ffos Las – first time over hurdles and with Tim Vaughan now. Tim wasn’t over big on his chances – he said he hasnt shown a huge amount at home. This is probably not a problem – he never showed any talent at home for Tom …