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Plus 2 and dry when driving in.

Monday morning and the start of a very long week. The Cheltenham Festival starts tomorrow..Every trainer prays for just one winner.. sadly very few will. Cheltenham is the be all and end all of Jump racing and a winner during the next 4 days is just so so important.

Go back two days and Another Venture ran well enough at Sandown. 28 members of the Racing For Maggies team were there to support and although their horse finished mid div they have a proper horse to go chasing with next winter.. Exciting for them and who knows he should win again over hurdles this season.

Yesterday at Warwick the morning rain had really changed the ground .. It was awful. Chateau Robin ran well to finish second but he was exhausted jumping the last. So bad was the ground that I did not run Champion Chase. He would not have lived up to his name yesterday!

Dan Skelton, Jason Maguire and I sat on a Cheltenham preview before the Air Ambulance Charity lunch at Warwick yesterday.

The lunch raised about 15k for the charity.. These Air Ambulances need our support. They are privately funded.

We had fresh horses on Saturday so you can image how fresh they were this morning.. Always good to see

John and Mandy Battershall were here second lot this morning to see their KBRP horse Younevercall.

Andy and Sandy Page were here third lot to see their Racing For Maggies horses Another Venture and Biscuit and their KBRP horses Blazon and Kayf Storm

Steve and Chris Adams were also here third lot to see their KBRP horses Silver Kayf and Deseray.

Peter Kerr who runs all my KBRP's was here this morning as usual.. Another form of running..A good feat from him yesterday as he ran his first half marathon in one hour 56 minutes..

Graham Potts was in for his Tuesday visit a day early.. Cheltenham..

We have one runner today at Chepstow. For my thoughts on The Drinkymeister and his chances please click here.

Nick Luck, Jonathan Neesom, Mat Nicholls and I do a Mark Your Card Cheltenham Preview at The Wheatsheaf tonight.. the last one…

Leighs Blog..

''It was a very quiet week last week racing wise but I have been busy with other driving jobs, vet and Lambourn runs and a trip to Devon to pick up a horse. This all adds variety and I quite enjoy getting out to different places.

On the racing front I was at Exeter on Tuesday and I am sorry to say this experience was no better than my previous one. I went into the canteen and ordered a jacket potato, thinking this would be a quick meal to prepare. I was wrong, I waited 20 minutes for it and then only had 5 to eat it. If I am being honest it wasn't worth the wait! Other people around me were getting frustrated too, and one had to take her hot meal away as she had to get her horses ready. I was disappointed as I enjoy eating there but the time it takes is ridiculous. I think I will be bringing a sandwich from now on!

On to Sandown on Saturday, this is a lovely old fashioned racecourse and you can tell it is a grade one track. The stable yard has long rows of old stone stables with high doors. They are large and well bedded down and cool inside, which was good on Saturday as it was quite stuffy.

The only issue I have is that there are no signs directing you to the lorry park. I think I have driven past the turning every time I go there and it gets quite frustrating. This is an issue I find with quite a few racecourses. Apparently you are expected to know where the stable yard is!!

Warwick Sunday and luckily the rain had finished by the time we arrived. The walkway to the course is sand which is fine on a normal day but not nice when it is wet!!

Cheltenham this week and although it will be fairly quiet for us I am excited to go and experience the atmosphere, however my week starts with a trip across the bridge to Chepstow''

Janny Evans sent this one over..

A lady about 8 months pregnant got on a bus.

She noticed the man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat. This time the smile turned into a grin, so she moved again. He seemed more amused. When on the fourth move, the man burst out laughing, she complained to the driver and he had the man arrested.

The case came up in court. The Judge asked the man (about 20 years old) what he had to say for himself.

The man replied..."Well your Honor, it was like this: When the lady got on the bus, I couldn't help but notice her condition. She sat under a sweets sign that said, "The Double Mint Twins are Coming" and I grinned.

Then she moved and sat under a sign that said "Logan's Liniment will reduce the swelling", and I had to smile.

Then she placed herself under a deodorant sign that said "William's Big Stick Did the Trick", and I could hardly contain myself.

BUT, your Honor, when she moved for the fourth time and sat under the sign that said "Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this Accident"..I just lost it.

"CASE DISMISSED!!"

Cotswold Film Company filmed this last week.. Click to watch