I was looking at today’s cards.  Goodwood has had a bit of rain,  the ground after the first race looks ok.  One horse Austrian School in the 4:10 possibly wants the ground on the faster side, but if he is not too inconvenienced by underfoot conditions, he could be hard to beat.  I do not often lay horses, I did mention a horse on Sunday at Worcester, that was favourite, I would not back, as he was only favourite because he was with Dan Skelton ! He ran as I thought, pulled up in the end.  Cogital is odds on in the 5:20 Goodwood.  I think he has quirks, and could well get turned over.

More later.

Showers of rain forecast in the South West mainly, so little bit of caution if punting today.  A couple of horses of interest later today, I’m just going to watch the weather and see a few races, before having a bet.

I was reading about the Paul Nicholls open day yesterday.  He has stated that he thinks he is going to struggle to beat Nicky Henderson again for the National Hunt trainers title again this season.  But as he said, he has won 10 and been second 10 times in the last 20 seasons! Some achievement, as keeping your horses healthy for that amount of time, is very difficult.

As we move towards Autumn, we will start to see the bigger Jump yards having a few more runners over the next month or so.  Obviously it depends if we get a bit of rain, as dry conditions see quite small fields.

Some convincing winners yesterday.  Too Darn Hot was impressive when winning at Sandown, he is bred well and could well take a bit of beating when stepped up to Group 1 races.  Another easy winner was the Aiden O’Brian trained Ten Sovereigns, he won a Group3 race at the Curragh over 6f, he could well be aimed at the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in October.  Both are horses to follow.

Average racing today,  at Worcester in the first race Breeze Along is a short odds favourite, his form is poor and I am not sure I would be backing him, it is the Skelton factor ! He is having his first run for them, after a wind op.  Maybe they have worked some magic again.

In some wide open handicap races today.  Delphi Crescent 3:55 Beverley is around 13/2.  He is consistent, and each way represents a bit of value.  He acts on all sorts of ground, and the faster conditions today, may suit him better than Ayutthaya who is weighted to reverse places today, he was only a nose behind my selection at Hamilton, but he has a preference for ground on the easier side. This is a competitive race for a £50,000 handicap, lots of the runners are in top form.

A really good end to September for my subscribers,  Divinity advised at 3/1 on Friday  evening,  was heavily backed into 7/4, before making all the running to win well at Thirsk in the 2:30 yesterday.  Giving a good overall points profit of 9.3 points for August.

Today looks challenging, but a couple of horses I follow are running, hopefully they can win.  I will do an updated message today with an each way horse in one of the handicap races, some decent prizes today at Sandown and Chester, and really good to see a £100,000 handicap at tonight’s Chelmsford card.

Not sure what happened to earlier post ! It has somehow disappeared.  Few horses running today of interest.  Couple I fancy at Thirsk and one tonight at Newcastle.  I will give followers an each way horse tomorrow, it is nice to try and give something on a Saturday in one of the big handicap races,  which is a decent price.

Just been reading the article in the Racing Post about Charlie Appleby, he has had a good season so far, he is a nice guy, and it is good to see Godolphin having some good winners in Group races again, the amount of investment the Makhtoum family put into racing, they deserve some big winners, if they ever decide to pull out of racing, Newmarket will be a ghost town !

Another nice WINNER last night for my subscribers,  King’s Slipper advised at 15/2 yesterday am, won at Kempton.  August is currently 6.8 points in PROFIT !  Looking at today’s cards, a couple of horses I follow are running, it will be good if I can finish the month off strong.  Anyone interested in joining can contact me by email-rosscampbell110@hotmail.com

I have been reading about the changes the BHA is taking regarding moving towards professional stewarding.  It has to be a progressive move,  to be honest some of the current stewards (volunteer) are clueless, they have little or no experience of riding either, so a progressive move by the BHA towards hopefully enrolling ex Jockeys as stewards has to be a big plus. There are a number of ex jockeys currently employed as stewards, but are stewards secretaries, they are advising the amateur or volunteer stewards what they should be looking at !

Basically before the BHA took over from the Jockey Club, (who used to run racing) a large number of people at the Jockey club were ex Eton or  Harrow public school mainly men, who had possibly been in the Military service, and that seemed to make you qualified to become a steward !

Just reading about the new racecourse that is opening in Hong Kong at Conghua.  Having been to Hong Kong a few times, one thing that is certain, the Chinese love to bet.  Sha Tin is where they have the main group 1 races during the race season, closely followed by Happy Valley, which is a racecourse surrounded by buildings,  a lot of them high rise offices and residential property.  Having another track will be good for the people and keen betting demands.  A number of jockeys from the UK have gone and taken up contracts with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.  Philip Robinson was champion jockey a few times when he was riding there, he once told me that if he rode 25-30 WINNERS a year in HK , he could earn as much as the Champion Jockey in the UK !  Prize Money is so good there, plus the Chinese are known to be very generous with presents, if they have a winner. Neil Callan is a jockey currently out there, he is doing well and is a very good rider.

A few decent horses running today, Kempton has some nice horses running at the track.  Hopefully I can find a winner there.

Not great cards today, pretty small fields at all of the race meetings, plus rain has made the ground on the easy side, unless having a bet at Chelmsford!

I did not get involved betting yesterday, a few horses I follow ran,  I looked at the rain softened ground and one of them definitely wants a decent surface, ground no worse than good.  I guess some trainers are under a bit of pressure to run ,  but when they run bad it is even worse !

Looking ahead,  Enable should be back out soon.  She is being primed for the big races in the Autumn,  I would think the Arc De Triomphe is her main target at Lonchamp in October.  It is a good race for fillies, they have a good track record in the race, hopefully she will be as good as last year.

Switching sports: Football

As a Manchester United fan, I was not happy last night with the 3-0 loss at home to Spurs.  I think Jose Mourinho is on his way out, he has lost his spark for me, he walked out of the press conference last night demanding respect ! I think if he respected some of his players a bit more, he may get a bit more from them, his biggest problem is his own massive ego !

Good to see Royston French returns to race riding today.  He has been out of action since January, he was injured when his horse Frankyfourfingers fell fatally at Jebel Ali races in the UAE.  Royston is really nice guy and decent jockey, he spent one of his numerous winters he has been going to Dubai at Al Quoz (Godolphin) , when I was out there. I am not sure what year it was, but remember him being a bit dislusioned with the season he had just had in the UK.  He was considering going to America, as he was quite good friends with Gary Stevens, who had told him he would get him some rides in the States.  Anyway he did not go, he spent the winter at Godolphin, had a number of rides, a few winners and made some contacts out there, he has been going out there ever since, as far as I can recall.  Hopefully he can get off to a good start today, and get a bit of luck, as he can do light weights and is a good rider. It’s always tough though, when your name has not been in the paper for a while.

Looking at a couple of races today that have horses I follow, just waiting to see the weather and will watch a race or two first before deciding if to back something.