Recent racing titbits

I don't know why but since the royal wedding matters royal continue to crop up. A couple of weeks ago the Daily Mail reported that the Queen had looked after Frankie Dettori's lost dachsund Scruby. Then at York last Thursday Midday won the Middleton Stakes while half an hour later the Queen's Carlton House won the Dante in some style. Her Majesty's colt, apparently gifted to her by Sheikh Mohammed, is now a short-priced favourite for the Epsom Derby on Saturday June 4th. All that has encouraged further royal foraging - Marcus Armytage in the Daily Telegraph pointed out that:

The Queen has never won the Derby - in 1953, the year of her Coronation, Aureole finished second to Pinza;

The last monarch to win the Derby was King Edward VII in 1909 with Minoru.

Professor Gerda Reith of Glasgow University has carried out research of a different kind and discovered that the use of Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FOBTs) in betting shops can lead to problems. 'Betting machines are particularly risky because of the enormous speed at which they take gamblers' money.'

Today's students are likely to be familiar with the idea of running up big debts, so perhaps it's unsurprising to see the BHA trying to entice them into the world of racehorse ownership. Love The Races has leased Tim Vaughan's Tae Kwon Do to a select band of students until the end of June as part of a prize in a recently-held comeptition. Last time out the gelding ran better than his 14/1 market price would have suggested beforehand, finishing third in a handicap hurdle at Wincanton. I'd imagine connections will be keen to land a small race before the lease runs out. In a somewhat similar vein Bangor blog selection Wake Board won with his head in his chest on Saturday despite pulling hard through most of the race and a hiccup two form home; have current connections found the key to this enigmatic individual?

Finally, I leave you with the thought that you tend to come across a different type of woman in the jumping game. At the Punchestown Festival Ladies' Day recently Daybreak presenter Grainne Seoige turned up wearing steel toe-capped heels, no doubt of particular use when dealing with the unwanted attentions of over-amourous male punters keen to try their luck...

Quick points

Haydock's Swinton Hurdle looked extremely competitive beforehand but Nicky Henderson's Eradicate ran out an impressive 13 length winner and in the process became the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the race.

In Ireland overall attendance at the Punchestown Festival was, remarkably, higher than last year while Paul Townend claimed his first champion jockeys' title.

The decsion of connections to go to Royal Ascot with 2000 Guineas winner Frankel means Thursday's Dante Stakes at York should prove informative. At the time of writing, 11 are declared; in the ante-post market layers seem unable to choose a favourite from World Domination, Seville and Carlton House, owned by The Queen.

My mate Mike Cattermole didn't appear at the top of his game during Channel Four's coverage from Ascot on Saturday. Immediately after three pound claimer Gary Bartley had ridden Hawkeyethenoo to victory in the Victoria Cup, Cattermole used the rather dodgy link... 'Let's find out what it was like on top - Emma's with the winning jockey.' He then went on to call 5/1 favourite Horseradish the fourth horse home when in fact the favourite had been pipped a nose for that spot by 9/1 chance Brae Hill. I'm not going to be too harsh on uncle Mike - I'm sure he'll improve as the season progresses...

Finally, for reasons beyond comprehension, last week's royal wedding continues to haunt. A couple of days ago a colleague approached and asked if I'd appointed Angela Rippon to work as a correspondent for the blog. It transpires the lady in question has been appointed PG Tips' Official Royal-Tea Expert. I suspect that on current form Ms Rippon has more chance of tipping you a winner than me; in the words of songwriter Irving Berlin:

'There may be trouble ahead
But while there's moonlight and music
And love and romance
Let's face the music and dance.'

After that I'm off for a lie-down.

Christmas considerations

From Cheltenham yesterday - the Twiston-Davies outfit seems to have found the key to Khyber Kim who is now 12/1 for the Champion Hurdle in March while Poquelin's clear victory in a competitive-looking Boylesports.com Gold Cup was impressive. The Ryanair Chase at the Festival is his target now for which he's quoted at 5/1. Three pound claimer Danny Cook won't have fond memories of yesterday's race - he took the wrong course on Our Vic and, according to Alistair Down, will now be referred to BHA HQ as this is his second such transgression in the past twelve months.

Over at Doncaster the underrated Graham Lee was seen at his very best, taking the two concluding chases on Watch My Back and Calgary Bay.

For those of us still living in the world of analogue televsion, the news that the Teletext News and Information Service is closing down on December 14th / 15th is little short of a disaster. A reduced racing service continues on Channel 4; I've hung on in there for as long as possible but I think D-day (Digital day) draws ever closer in the Tips' household...

A couple of football related items... Firstly, a mention for the manic Stuart Hall whose football reports are pure joy; he's set to celebrate his eightieth birthday this Christmas Day. Recently asked if he'd ever thought he'd still be working at this ripe old age, Mr. Hall's reply was along the lines of 'I've never considered this work'. Marvellous stuff. Secondly, a colleague in his late twenties recently went into a William Hill shop in a different part of town intent on placing a £2 football accumulator wager. He walked up to the bloke behind the counter, clutching two one pound coins in his sweaty palm, and was promptly asked for ID! When he questioned the cashier (along the lines of 'Eh?'), bloke replied 'Well, I haven't seen you in here before.' Bookmakers knocking back opportunities to make money - it must be the recession.

...and two TV items to conclude with. The BBC's 'Live Sports Personailty of the Year' starts at 7.00 this evening. I shall be watching because, no matter what you think, it takes a special sort of skill to condense a racing year into two minutes forty odd seconds. Clare Balding's Inside Sport interview (entitled 'Kieren Fallon - The Road To Redemption') is likely to be far more interesting and is scheduled for transmission at 11.25pm on Monday evening.

Suggested TV viewing this Christmas

If East Enders and the impending death of Pauline Fowler doesn't make much appeal as your Christmas viewing, try following the series of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures delivered by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy which Channel Five are broadcasting daily at 7.15 from Christmas Day onwards.

The lecture on Tuesday 27th is billed as showing how maths can provide strategies for 'optimising success in game shows and gambling'. I'm hooked already.

In a similar mathematical vein, it looks as though the (rather modest) number of pounds I bid for a day at the races with The Times' Alan Lee as part of their charity auction event happened to be too small.

A happy Christmas to all (three) readers of this blog.