A WINNING DAY AT NOTTINGHAM RACES (RONNIE CORBETT STYLE)

IS THERE anyone still there? Lol well after an extended drumroll, here is the one no one has been waiting for, my first updated blog post for almost a decade!!

Whether it will be for "One Night Only" as several of the top pop groups tend to extoll, remains to be seen but hopefully if I can avoid the distractions of everyday life, I will be adding to it before the next decade is out!!

Having said that, I do have about four appointments of dental work upcoming after breaking my tooth on a locally fried chip (not a great endorsement for the town's chippy!!) though in retrospect maybe it was a bit of errant batter who knows. Plus I resume work tomorrow and that will be getting quite busy in a couple of weeks after the usual slack period around the summer holidays. And I have to produce the snooker fixtures for the local league once the relevant cuemen have decided if they're in or out. Plus get some practice in myself for the forthcoming season.

But before I turn into Ronnie Corbett (yes I am that old school) in his comfortable armchair spending more time with the foreplay than the actual event, I wanted to say what a great sporting weekend I've just had.

I travelled to Stoke on Saturday to see it finish 2-2 with Derby's more football-orientated approach contrasting with the more direct home side, who perhaps will think themselves unlucky not to take all three points given they hit the woodwork twice, though the Rams had a clear one-on-one chance near the end which keeper Butland did well to keep out. I believe thats only 3 wins out of 23 for the new boss there since Rowett left.

And today I was at the Olympic Legacy Park (new stadium still in the offing) where Sheffield Eagles went 16-0 up against Barrow, then fell 18-16 behind before powering home 44-18 in their final match prior to their 1895 Cup final appearance at Wembley on Saturday where they take on Widnes Vikings.

I'm hoping to get down there on the train for that one courtesy of Derby's early kick off with West Brom, but will be quite a hectic schedule, especially as I've got tickets for the Derbyshire T20 matches on Friday and Sunday to boot.

Plus at the time I arrive there may well be thousands of one group of disgruntled supporters heading out of the stadium for the tube station in the exact opposite direction to which I am trying to make headway!! (as the main event The Challenge Cup final precedes it).

I did watch the new Lion King flick recently and I hope I dont meet the same fate as Mufasa, coming face to face with a stampede on the last lap of the journey!! Though he did at least manage to clamber up the nearest elevated landscape which was a mountainside before meeting his fate at the paws of the dastardly Scar, I dont really see myself scaling a block of flats or hotel complex after my recent hernia operation (which actually got me back into betting mode, more of that in a later entry).

But the showpiece was undoubtedly the Friday at Nottingham races, the first time I've been trackside for many months, and even the heavy rain couldn't dampen my enthusiasm, having at one time become a devotee of the exchanges, there's nothing quite like that adrenalin rush of being there with real money being pushed into your palm after you've put in the hard work to select your fancies and you see the vindication of your efforts coming to fruition. Anyhow, heres an insight to the races and how I went about it all:

2-00 6 FURLONG MAIDEN 2YO
Clan Royale was the favourite here and along with many others it seemed, I was keen to oppose Roger Varian's well bred individual, he had been gelded since a disappointing second run when turned over at 1/3 so hadnt seemed to progress from his promising first outing. Owen Burrows has a fine record at the track, and his unraced colt DANYAH looked quite imposing amongst the others in the paddock whilst Karl Burke's NO MERCY had run a decent race in nursery company at Thirk last time out up to a mark which would have been competitive in this race in previous years. I took each of these against the favourite at 3/1, two £60/£20 bets. No Mercy led early doors but it soon became apparent Jim Crowley was travelling best aboard Burrows' newcomer and despite having to switch around the field when no gap was forthcoming, he comfortably did the business for a winning start and £40 in the bank.

2-35 5 FURLONG HANDICAP 3YO+
I'd actually backed ONE BOY recently thinking his turn was near and he was quite a strong fancy here, everything looked in his favour and he was considerably down in the weights from his last winning form. Valentino Surprise was ridden by Daniel Tudhope, still challenging for the jockeys title, and also had good recent form to his name but being drawn on the rail, may need to push on early doors to get a position and he had sometimes looked a bit vulnerable close home in those efforts. So the bet was One Boy 90/40 with an each way tenner on Celerity at 20/1, still a maiden but often reaching a place and had been runner up in soft ground latest start. Celerity never really looked like hitting the board but my other fancy travelled like a dream, the jockey motionless while all around him were rowing furiously, and theres no better feeling in sport at that stage when you are waiting for your pick to explode into action like Pegasus, the calm before the storm!! It doesnt always transpire so, as there are a few monkeys who flatter to deceive, but on this occasion, my nap got there in the nick of time with a long sweeping run once let down which just overhauled Tudhope's mount in the final couple of strides. That was another £70 and a running total of £110.

3-05 1 MILE MAIDEN 3YO
John Gosden had taken out his contender here so that left Saeed bin Suroor with the hot favourite Ghaly, eventually returned 4/6. His recent improved effort had come on Tapeta however, so I was reluctant to take such odds on heavy turf going, favouring James Tate's newcomer COURT ORDER. Tate has a decent enough record at the track but a very slow start scuppered any realistic hope and he ran on from the back of the field into a closing third while the favourite had it his own way up front, doing it nicely enough. So an 80/20 bet meant the totaliser was now £90.

3-40 1 MILE HANDICAP 3Y0+ FILLIES
This was a new race on the card, so no data from previous runnings, and as I am quite a trends buff, I was wondering whether to sit it out or not. I'd written down three horses names on my pad, Classic Charm an easy winner here last time, but the 12lb hike looked a showstopper given he had to work for that victory before drawing clear the further he went. Polyphony was also shortlisted but was also creeping up the weights after a string of seconds so neither seemed particularly well handicapped. The other I'd singled out was Michael Stoute's Romola, a well beaten third in a small field last time when getting rather lost on Yarmouth's straight track. But with the visor fitted, Tudhope on board to hold the filly together and perhaps not taken off her feet so much in this slower ground, she looked of some interest. Especially as she was a daughter of Pivotal, whose progeny usually love the cut in the ground. Plus the price was around 10/1. However at this stage I decided to sample the delights of the track's fish and chip counter, hoping to keep my teeth intact, only for the fish to magically run out as soon as it came to my turn in the queue. A ten minute wait then became twenty minutes when I got usurped in the pecking order by a group behind me due to a misunderstanding, only for them to all want fish which meant they had run out once more. So by the time I had been served and eaten the said platter, the race was pretty much underway and I missed out on a double digit priced winner grrr. There was just a minor amount of chuntering I promise!!

4-10 1 MILE 6 FURLONGS HANDICAP 3YO+
Quite a lucrative purse by Nottingham standards and a few were coming here from the bigger tracks. I went with NOT SO SLEEPY, a seven year old but still running to a good level and a bit unlucky in his last run, being caught on the heels of horses in front of him when the pace quickened before staying on. I took 80/20 on him and also a 140/20 on Harry Fry's LITTERALE CI who was coming here after a big run at the Galway Festival in their staying handicap. Not So Sleepy kept on well into second but the comfortable winner, again sporting a first time visor from the Stoute stable was the three year old Laafy, who had clearly improved past them all. So the running total was now £50.

4-45 1 MILE 2 FURLONGS HANDICAP 3YO+ FILLIES
Here was a very competitive small runner field with just five going to post but I was finding it difficult to rule any of them out, eventually sitting out the race. The winner was Ojooba, again for the Owen Burrows stable and again partnered by Jim Crowley, who made it a hat trick on the day, having also partnered the previous winner. Small fields tend to favour front runners but in this ground, you still have to act on it, and as it happens the winner hadn't been through it before so was an unknown quantity in the conditions. I probably saved some money by not having a bet.

5-20 1 MILE 2 FURLONGS HANDICAP 3YO+ (NOVICE AMATEUR RIDERS)
For some reason I've always been fascinated by these sort of contests, where many punters would be already in the car park or on their way home but delving deeper into the jockeys' abilities can prove fruitful on occasions with such a wide diversity of talents on show. DARK DEVIL had run a decent race at Chester latterly in a Class 4 event and was dropping into Class 6 here, albeit that the rider hadnt won a race previously, and hence was claiming 3lb. He acted with some cut though his record in very deep ground left some cause for concern, however as he drifted I had a 55/20. I was quite interested in GRAVITY WAVE as Miss Imogen Mathias had partnered this one into the runners up spot last time and the horse had the stamina for much longer distances which surely had to be a help in the conditions. Plus the jockey had actually been in the winners enclosure previously which is a big factor in races of this ilk. The horse had been ridden positively last time out on better ground over the trip but here was wisely dropped in and duly came with an irresistible late surge to take it up a furlong out from well off the pace and land my 140/20 to cap off a thoroughly enjoyable day. £190 up for relatively small stakes.

As the late John McCririck would have said, Come Racing, I certainly will be doing so in the near future I hope, once those other commitments are out of the way I guess. Hope that doesnt take another decade either!!