The late cancellation of the Folkestone card owing to frost leaves betting opportunities thin on the ground today, and it looks a case of sitting this one out. Bafana Boy is the most interesting possibility at Catterick, running off a handy hurdles mark compared with his chase rating, but he is short enough in the betting. Catterick passed an inspection this morning, but clearly some trainers aren't happy about the ground as there were a dozen non-runners posted by 11am. Even by all-weather standards, Southwell today looks dire.
Catterick 2.20 1st Anchors Away 100-1
There might be some dancing in the streets of Pickering tonight, following this unlikely victory in Catterick's three-mile handicap hurdle. Trainer Alan Brown was on a 50-runner losing streak stretching back three months and Anchors Away hadn't seen the winner's enclosure since his racecourse debut in April last year, but he fairly bounded up the home straight just now, in a manner that suggested he was ready to run for his life. One can only hope that the Christmas money was down.
Someone at the track seems to have fancied it -- the Tote only paid 40-1. Anyone who got weighed in at those odds should possibly have considered the new Betfair SP, which returned 179-1.
In answer to your question, monthehoops, I'm going to have to be non-committal at the moment, as the authorities are still looking into the matter of Mr Fallon's positive drugs test. There will be a hearing in France next month and we'll all know a lot more about his future after that.
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