12th February 2018

Jester Jet, Triopas and Vado Forte are all in good shape after their runs at Warwick on Saturday.

Typical Monday morning canters for all the horses.

It is a complete joy to start the day riding out in daylight and the evenings drawing out make life a whole lot easier too. There isn’t a whole lot happening on the runners front this week. We have entries on Friday and Sunday with a p2p in between on Saturday.

I 'm very happy for owners ito play a part in the jockey selection of their horses but was alarmed to receive the photo below stating a new jockey sporting the colours had been found for Isle of Ewe.

I very quickly picked up the phone to Dave Roberts and thankfully secured Richard Johnson for Sunday.

Most seem to have an opinion on RUK taking over the television coverage of Irish Racing. I dread the day one channel broadcasts the lions share of the meetings. Watching racing on television will be no different than standing in a betting office with race after race being screened. One of the joys of having 2 channels is the breathing space between races on most days, the interviews of trainers and jockeys will surely be lost. I’m not a fan of being interviewed but love listening to everyone else as there is normally something to learn. I would imagine the racing public enjoy the interviews too, they must give them a closer insight into a horse’s profile and a closer connection to the sport. One race blurring into another and another on a TV screen will become very tedious, factory like, with litte or any personal touch at all.