CHRISTMAS. 5.45 am, 2018.

​A merry how’s your father and a grinling great New Year. May you stay healthy, wealthy and wise beyond your years.
For all of you blessed to have book tokens as Christmas presents, I say overlook the laziness of the giver, the lack of insight and lack of knowledge of the type of book you read or would be grateful to receive. This is the season, remember, of the forced family fun, of bonhomie to the world and its wife. If you have a token up to the value of £20 in your wallet I highly recommend ‘The Scudamores’ by Chris Cook and the three jockey members of the Scudamore family plus contributions by Michael junior. This book is informative, debate-inspiring and, oddly, brought alive by the posthumous contributions by Grandad Scudamore, and most importantly different in style and content from most other racing books. A must-have for any racing library.
As with anyone with a long and abiding love of our sport I like to be proved right, for the rightness of my opinion to be backed-up by people far more knowledgeable and respected than myself. When Bryony Frost won the Cheltenham Foxhunters on Pasha du Polder, I thought it one of the rides of the meeting. When she won the Warwick Classic on Milansbar I declared her a special talent. It may have been the first-time application of blinkers that transformed Milansbar that day, they certainly helped, but it was I believe the positivity from the saddle that transformed him from fence-thumping disappointing to a potential Grand National winner, which on very soft ground I remain convinced he is, even at the age of twelve. She has only ridden him once since and proving wrong the wisdom and judgement of no less a judge as Matt Chapman she finished fifth at Aintree. When given quality rides in big races she invariably delivers. I hope in 2019 she is given even greater opportunities to shine. The sport needs her. And returning to ‘The Scudamores’, it perked up my sense of self-worth to read that Peter Scudamore, thought by Clare Balding to be ‘sexist’, said on seeing Bryony ride she transformed his opinion and now believes she has the talent to be champion jockey. I doubt she’ll get the opportunities on a daily basis to be champion, though Grand Nationals and Gold Cups may not be beyond her. Rachael Blackmore may though be a champion. Again, a female champion jockey is exactly what the sport needs.
Of course, today is not the big day for those of us who have looked forward to the Christmas period for several weeks now. Tomorrow is the big day, one of the best in the whole Racing Calendar.
The King George is a funny old race that caters for some horses and mitigates against others, which is why over the years several horses have won the race more than once, with the two greats running up sequences. Which is why Might Bite should not be written off despite his poor showing at Haydock, another course that is a horses-for-courses venue. It is arguable that though winning last year, Might Bite’s King George success was his poorest run of the season. Scrambling home from Double Shuffle was not Gold Cup winning form yet at Cheltenham he made Native River go deep to the well to beat him. I’m not convinced Might Bite is a Kempton specialist.
The two horses that interest me most tomorrow are Thistlecrack and Coneygree. This may insult the Tizzards but I suspect tomorrow might be the first time they have had Thistlecrack fully fit since his titanic tussle with Many Clouds. Thistlecrack, by the way, was finishing out the Betfair better than his stable-mate and despite the fences getting in the way, he was the one pulling double entering the straight, looking the likely winner. The fences may be his undoing tomorrow as Coneygree is going to be putting them all to the sword and if he is 100% fit and 100% the horse he was when he won the Gold Cup, a big ask, I know, he might yet roll back the years. At 25’s and 33/1 he must be the value, especially after his encouraging run at Cheltenham last time. Anyway, ignore him at your peril.
I hope Coneygree wins if only so that Sean Bowen achieves the big race success his undoubted prowess in the saddle deserves before his little brother steals all the thunder in the Bowen household.
6.30 am, Christmas morning. Sad old me, aye!