Market Rasen Summer Plate 2019

Frankie Dettori had barely weighed in after securing a second consecutive Ascot Gold Cup aboard Stradivarius when 'ping!' two emails arrived in the inbox - one outlining an online gambling casino, the other from Cheltenham racecourse advertising next year's Festival.

Since the blog entered 'snooze' mode at the beginning of May I may have wiled away the odd few moments on pokies online real money but Harry Fry has given notice of his intention to move from his yard at Seaborough in Dorset and owners Darren and Annaley Yates have decided to remove their runners from Phil Kirby's yard in North Yorkshire.

And a detailed study indicates that female jockeys are underbet in jump races.

The passing of John McCririck generated plenty of newsprint.

Lee Mottershead's tribute in the Racing Post has been widely acclaimed while The Guardian published an obituary by Julian Wilson who predeceased his subject by more than five years.

Wilson's own obituary in the same paper written by Sean Magee highlights the clash between two very different approaches to the sport.

Personally, I enjoyed Vernon Grant's tribute.

Big Mac often referred to Market Rasen as Market Raspberry and tomorrow's Summer Plate at the Lincolnshire track marks the mid-point in the summer jumping programme.

I've concentrated on three or four pieces of recent form: the Perth Gold Cup run over three miles; the Uttoxeter Summer Cup; the Summer Plate Trial run over course and distance four weeks ago and Casablanca Mix's victory at Aintree in May which, in my opinion, would be right up there with the best form on offer.

Indian Temple beat Van Gogh Du Granit a short-head in the Perth Gold Cup (Get Out The Gate a well-beaten fourth) and weakened after the last to finish fourth in the Uttoxeter Summer Cup. 20/1 looks a big price for David Pipe's charge but the suspicion is this trip may just be on the short side.

Gone Platinum beat Darcy Ward in last month's trial but Nick Schofield may have gone for home too soon on the runner-up that day and is unlikely to make the same mistake again. Sean Bowen rode the winner - tomorrow's pilot Lorcan Williams can claim five.

At Aintree Casablanca Mix beat Indian Temple (won twice since), Value At Risk and Lofgren (has since won Class 2 handicap chase at Cartmel). Nicky Henderson's mare has been raised five pounds for that effort; as far as I could ascertain a mare has not won a previous running of this race.

Six trainers are represented with two runners; Dan Skelton, Dr Richard Newland and Peter Bowen are known to regularly target this event.

Last year's winner More Buck's tries to repeat the trick for Peter Bowen; he was beaten over hurdles last time and looks to have been laid out for the race.

Favourite Gortroe Joe has yet to prove he can handle the cut and thrust of a big field.

Trigger McNichol has a bit to find on form, Solar Impulse has done most of his racing over two miles, Henryville has gone up ten for his win at Newton Abbot while, according to the Racing Post, El Terremoto was sold by Simon Munir and Issac Souede to Fergus Wilson on Monday.

I tend to prefer a young horse in this; the two on the shortlist are Casablanca Mix and Royal Village.

The latter is a course and distance winner who may not have quite seen out three miles at Perth the last day and is forgiven that effort; any further rain would not inconvenience the cause.

Casablanca Mix is generally available at 11/1 but at the time of writing Sky Bet offer 14/1 Royal Village and pay one fifth the odds four places - Royal Village is the each-way suggestion.

Tony McCoy - we salute you!

On 26th March 1992 Anthony Peter McCoy, aged 17, rode his first winner, a horse called Legal Steps, at Thurles.

Yesterday aboard a horse named Mountain Tunes at Towcester, A P McCoy, aged 39, rode his 4,000th winner - to universal acclaim.

Quoting from the epilogue of his autobiography written in 2002:

'I...know there is more do. 300 winners in a season? 3,000 before I retire? Who knows, but be sure of one thing: I will try.'

3,000 winners came at a wet and windy Plumpton in 2009 on Restless D'Artaix; at the moment he doesn't appear to be harbouring any thoughts of retirement.

Who is to say he won't ride 5,000 winners? Well, his wife, Chanelle:

'I would quite confidently say that 5,000 is unattainable and he knows that himself.'

Perhaps that's why Paddy Power offers 10/1 about the current champion reaching that particular landmark.

Last word on the matter to John McCririck - his words, printed on the reverse cover of McCoy's autobiography, sound as true today as the day they were written:

'The man is a colossus, we have never seen his like before.'

McCoy has always been amongst the winners, in stark contrast to my good self...

In tomorrow's Elite Hurdle at Wincanton Melodic Rendezvous is the one to beat but I was impressed with the manner in which Karinga Dancer dominated his field at Aintree a fortnight ago; despite suffering interference two out and making a hash of the last, the gelding still had eight lengths on his nearest rival. Granted, this represents a step-up in class but he could have a fitness edge on a couple of the market rivals and boasts course and distance winning form. Paul Nicholls, who has a good record in this race in recent years, saddles Far West but only one four-year-old has obliged in the past decade and I'm still unsure whether all the stable's runners are seeing out their races, despite high-profile victories for Tidal Bay and Rolling Aces last weekend. On offer generally at 7/2 this evening, Karinga Dancer is the selection while the money for Cotton Mill has been noted.

Telling it as it is...

John McCririck just didn't appear in one of his better moods on Saturday's Morning Line.

At one juncture the pundit sought to make the point that Tony McCoy 'told it as it was' in his column in The Daily Telegraph in contrast to Richard Johnson, formerly of The Times but now writing for The Daily Mirror. Whereas McCoy voiced his fears over the weight Synchronised had been allocated in the Welsh National, by contrast Johnson in his column said all his booked rides looked to have a nice chance etc. - in effect McCririck was making the point that Johnson's comments didn't really add value. Fair enough, but when taken to task by John Francome, McCririck blustered on, insisting that it was champ McCoy who 'told it as it was'.

Just under six hours later, McCoy rode Synchronised (carrying eleven stones six pounds) to victory in the Chepstow showpiece.

Trying to tell it as it is - not an easy thing to pull off in the racing game. Horses, as we know all too well, they make fools of you. As for McCririck - will he survive The Morning Line re-brand scheduled to hit our screens at the end of the month?

McCririck goes part-time

Today's Racing Post leads with the story that Channel 4 chiefs have decided to reduce the number of Saturdays John McCririck will appear on our screens, with immediate effect. I dare say there are some of you out there who will consider this jolly good news but, as you might expect, Mr. McCririck is not so chuffed. He claims this measure has made him a part-timer. Now, I know it's a bit rich when somebody who tends to work Saturdays only complains of being made a part-timer, when the likes of you and me are working five days and more each week, but such are the inequalities of the world in which we live. Rumours that Channel 4 desperately wanted Mr. McCririck to cut back on the outlandish outfits are wide of the mark, as is the suggestion that Angus 'Statto' Loughran is viewed as a possible replacement.

McCririck thrown off chat show

When the racing is a little low key, you can always rely on John McCririck to liven things up a bit. Alan Titchmarsh threw him off his chat show yesterday after McCririck had gratutiously insulted Chris Tarrant's ex wife Ingrid, calling her 'a ghastly woman'. Further details on the Daily Mail site.

Not for the squeamish...

This evening's Celebrity Wife Swap on Channel 4 sees former Conservative MP Edwina Currie spending some quality time with racing pundit John McCririck.

Quite rightly, judging by the trailers we've seen so far, the programme is being aired after the 9.00pm watershed. I shall watch with interest.

McCririck in Wife Swap

An interesting snippet in The Times Racing Diary caught my eye today.

It seems that Channel 4 racing pundit John McCririck is to take part in that well known TV programme Celebrity Wife Swap.

The unfortunate lady who will be McCririck's wife is Edwina Currie.

Brings to mind the old saying 'The Lord makes them but The Devil pairs them.'

The programme is due to be shown October time; I'll certainly be watching.