Explanation, cheek pieces, must supplement, steel ally & Friday Night Live.

Seemingly, I have been missing for the last few days. I can assure you I have been here, tapping away as night slowly transforms into the dawn of the day, unaware that the domain name for this site had expired. Obviously, I was in a panic until I stumbled upon the facts of the case, that I-Page, hosts of this website (for now) had not given me notice of the expiration date, mainly due, I suspect that they are about to go out of business.
I hereby give warning that I might disappear again while I have a new website constructed, one that will be secure and overseen by a local hosting service. When it comes to I.T., technology and all things internet, I need a guide as much as blind man needs the assistance of a guide dog.

One of the aspects of horse racing that remain a fascination to me is that everyone has an opinion and that opinion is both as valid as the next man or woman, even if that man is Ruby Walsh and that woman is Lydia Hislop, and that our opinions can be tested within moments of any of us uttering those opinions.
The only slightly annoying aspect of Ruby Walsh is that 99% of his opinions seem to be proved right, while mine are as likely to miss the board entirely as to hit the bulls-eye. Yesterday, at a miserable Newbury (Ruby is a man whose humour can be negatively affected by being asked to work in the cold and the dank) the great man suggested that sheepskin cheek-pieces should be fitted to Haiti Coulours when he runs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He believes they will help him to go forward, to take more of a cut at his fences. My initial thought at the winning post was that Haiti Coulours is a horse that will gallop for miles and that a more competitive race would be right up his street. This is a horse that has already won at the Festival, the 3-mile 6, National Hunt Chase, as well as winning both the Irish and Welsh Nationals. My concern for him in the Gold Cup is whether 3-mile 2 is far enough for his unlimited stamina against proven Grade 1 horses.
But that is the beauty of our sport: you might have a different opinion on Haiti Coulours, which might be different again to Ruby’s opinion. One of us might be right or all of us might be wrong. My opinion on the Gold Cup has not changed since the D.R.F. or Newbury yesterday, though given Ben Pauling had a shocking day at two different racecourses I now have a worry that the stable may be suffering from a bug (unfounded, I hope) that The Jukebox Man will out-stay and out-jump his rivals.

Harry Cobden has magic hands and a racing brain that allows him to ride with as little complications as he can control. He was ice-cool or as cocky as can be imagined on Sober Glory in the opener yesterday and then later on put his rivals to the sword in the old Schwepps Hurdle, with a performance on Tutti Quanti that had to be seen to be believed. The ground was obviously a factor, with his rivals unable to go that speed in ground that tested stamina, yet as long as they decide to supplement him, Tutti Quanti, to my mind, is now a live contender for the Champion Hurdle. And why not supplement him; Cobden believes his future lies over fences next season, the win yesterday has paid his training fees for the year, he has handicapped himself out of handicaps for a while and the Champion Hurdle is an open race this year, even if Constitution Hill makes an appearance?

Mambonumberfive ran as poorly as all but one of the Ben Pauling runners yesterday but that does not for one moment undermine the performance of Steel Ally. He won, won with the efficiency of a very talented horse, looked as solid as a rock and why Sam Thomas is not eagerly looking forward to running him in the Arkle and is siding with ‘thinking about it’, I do not understand. I would go as far as to say that Steel Ally was easier on the eye than Lulamba, a horse whose future is as a Gold Cup horse, not a Champion 2-Mile prospect. Rubio Coolio is a dodgy favourite in my eyes for the Arkle and the second favourite has only run once in a chase, even if he impressed people in a schooling race last week.

I am cynical by nature, especially when it comes to all-weather racing. Yet, having read reports in the Racing Post, I think there is great potential in the Friday Night Live meetings. If a large crowd and good betting turnover can be achieved on a wet, miserable night in Newcastle, the potential for better if these meetings are transferred to the middle of summer is obvious. Personally, if I lived across the street where one of these meetings was   taking place, I would close all the windows, pull the curtains and complain bitterly to the cat about the joyous, raucous noise affronting my ear-drums. But Friday Night Live is not about curmudgeonly old gits like me, these nights are about the future of the sport and because of that everyone with a dance vibe in them should attend when these nights hit their locality, especially if they have a teenager in the house to accompany them.