HELLO, WELCOME TO THE NEW SITE, AT 7.20 pm, DUKE OF YORK & VENETIA BACK TO WINNING WAYS.

After 8 or so years 'winging it', I have finally taken the plunge and have employed a professional to re-design the site. It is nothing fancy, that is not my vibe, as someone young might say, and just because the site is now organised and a tiny bit sparkly does not mean anyone can expect better prose, greater insight or winners tipped on a regular basis. No, it will be the same old irregularity, same old topics and very little research as I have shovelled onto the page since day one. And the archive now only goes back to February 1st of this year.

I must thank the expertise of Richard Hughes (no, not that Richard Hughes, champion flat jockey 3-times) but he of Gingerweb. Without his guiding hand and patience - believe me, when it comes to tech and all that jazz - it is to me like a foreign language, old English or Sumarian - I would have suffered a nervous breakdown. Am I the only one who has a deep-seated fear of A.I, I.T. a technological world that to me can be a living nightmare. My association with this laptop is similar to that of the zookeeper in charge of the alligators - I have great respect for what this computer can do but that lies side by side with a much greater fear of how deep its bite can be. So, again, thank you to Richard for getting me this far.

At 7.20 tomorrow evening I would like all of us, including those who do not believe in any kind of deity, to say a little prayer for both Constitution Hill and his connections. Pray not that he wins but that all goes well, that he does not embarrass himself by standing still when the stalls open and that he travels smoothly throughout the race and finishes strongly. And I hope all the youngsters at Southwell tomorrow evening will be introduced to Constitution Hill and told of his recent troubles and tribulations and the horrendously difficult decision Nicky Henderson must make as to whether to give Constitution Hill the opportunity in three-weeks to regain his Champion Hurdle crown or to restrict him for the rest of his career to flat racing. What would I decide? I would skip Cheltenham and give hurdling one more go but in a far less competive race, though where Nicky would find such a race, I have no idea. Perhaps Michael Buckley could sponsor a race, with conditions that suit his horse but makes it difficult for a trainer to run anything comparable to Constitution Hill.

York have taken the sensible decision to change the name of the Duke of York Stakes to the Minster Stakes, though why they have to come out with the waffle that they have always wanted to name an important race after the City's iconic cathedral rather than the more truthful and completely understandable explanation of wanting to distance the racecourse from Jeffrey Epstein's best mate, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, is lost to me. I would imagine even  the postman must feel sullied just walking from Andrew's garden gate to his letterbox.

The best news of the last few days is the return to form of Venetia Williams, one of my favourite trainers. As everyone knows, though no one knows why, Venetia's horses have been in the doldrums for most of the season, with only L'Homme Presse showing anything like his true self. It must be encouraging for Venetia and her team that the old boy can run so well when the stable has been so out of form, which begs the question 'how much better is he going to run in the Gold Cup?' He will not win, obviously, but I would bet he will finish in front of Spillane's Tower.