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Plus 1 and dry when driving in...

It went down to minus 3 last night.. apparently…. Mind you we are still frozen solid here.

Andy Murray how on earth did you win that match last night.. 5 hours 45 minutes on court. 5 sets and a nearly 4 am finish! It was epic to watch.. even Mat watched the last half hour..

Sad news on one of my old stars.. Harry Topper..

HT has been living a wonderful life in retirement with Kayleigh Thomson in Ireland..

HT was looked after, when in training here, by Kayleigh and she was so keen to have him in retirement and the two of them, well probably three, have had the most wonderful time together..But sadly old age and failing health meant that yesterday Kayleigh had to make the ultimate decision and put HT to sleep..

He had been spoilt rotten by Kayleigh and what fun they have had. Sadly HT has been struggling and on vets advice the right call has been made..

Harry Topper will live in all our memories here at Thorndale.. He was the most generous kind horse, although he was a bit of freak.... He never showed any real ability at home and when he made his debut in a bumper at Hereford I suggested to his owner breeder David Keyte that I would drop him off at his home on the way back as we were not expecting to see much on the racecourse….

After taking nearly 2 hours to get him on the lorry or as it turned out the tailer he arrived at the races.. Charlie Greene, who rode him most days at Thorndale, rode him in the bumper.. They won..

History relates that Harry Topper did not go back to his breeder as he returned here as a racehorse..

History will also  tell you he really was a racehorse.. Tall, quirky and talented..

Tony Solomons the bought into HT and he and David had some spectacular days racing..Winning The Charlie Hall and the Denman Chase..

I rabbited on over the last two days about early closing races..

As an example tomorrows Clarence House Chase which sadly this year has fallen foul of the weather was an early closing race..

Enter by noon, January 3rd and pay £175 stake. Confirm by noon on January 16th and pay £700..Supplementary Entry by noon, January 16th and pay £5050 stake..

On the face of it you might say that £175 to enter was cheap, but would you enter a horses rated 135? Especially knowing that Henderson, Mullins or Nicholls were bringing their big guns to the race.... Would you keep going and pay the whole way though in the hope that you might pick up some place money if only three were to run?..

If the race were a 5 day entry at least with entry tracking you would be ale to see what was entered and then you could stick your horse in.. There are two arguments to this, but small owners are not keen on playing the roulette game here… But are happy to make up the numbers if they feel they can come out in front....This sport is about winners.. not placings!!

I have a zoom call with Sky Sports Racing at 11am..

If you cannot find your dog, open the fridge door.

He’s standing right behind you.