Hayley Turner

All three of my selection’s got a place, go on me!! Hopefully you managed to find a bookmaker who paid out for the first four in Divers race, if not you only have  yourself to blame.

So today is the big 1! The Cheltenham Gold Cup! I can’t have Long Run after his performance at Newbury, he made it look like hard work, he’s been busy and I would be more confident if he had a bit of freshness about him. So it’s Kauto for me.

Let’s hope I can keep our run of luck going, so today…

1.30 – Grumeti E/W

3.20 – Weird Al E/W

4.00 – Cloudy Lane E/W

I can’t believe how quickly Cheltenham has gone, I’m going to make sure I take a day off next year, I have missed out big time.

Well done to all the winning connections and thanks to everyone involved for again, making it such a special week.

Good luck on your last day…have fun. x

Cheltenham Festival Day 3

Well not a bad day yesterday with Veiled getting a place at 25-1,
that gives me a 50% strike rate on my suggestions so far…..not bad for a jockey!

It was a shame about New years Eve just being held in the last but
what a performance from Champagne Fever, he out stayed the lot,….  Brilliant ride from Mr Mullins.

So today I like the look of….

1.30 – Champion Court E/W

2.40 – Albertas Run E/W

4.00 – Divers E/W

So this evening when you’re drunk and celebrating with a pocket
rammed with notes spare a thought for me, I’ll be at Wolverhampton getting sand
thrown in my face…….ENJOY!

I’m sorry I haven’t been with you for the last week, I got sick! I was feeling pretty bad on Thursday AM so like you do, I called my Mum, she said to get myself to the docs which was a good call because I had tonsillitis!

The days off have done me good, the spring is back in my step, I rode out Margot Did yesterday morning for the Guv’nor, she is on fire and now on her way to Dubai with Wigmore Hall who is an expert at long distance journeys, he also couldn’t be in better form. This picture was taken on Margot cam as we rode out.

March is a good month for me, I have Margot Did running on the 10th then when I return Cheltenham kicks off, so flippin excited about going, the atmosphere is unbelievable… you just have to go!

My knowledge of jump racing wouldn’t be nearly as good as the flat but Cheltenham week I’ll study my racing post over my breakfast and I will try to pick you a winner each day.

Be in touch soon

H

The whip rule debate has kicked off again and will continue to do so until the BHA put their hands up and admit they have got it wrong.

The limit has been reduced to 7 on the flat, the public are happy with this, the flat jockeys are happy with this, so why does the BHA have to complicate things??

For example Nicky Mackay hit a horse 9 times on Monday at Wolverhampton, yes Nicky should receive a ban he was 2 over so a couple of days off would have been fair but somehow the stewards under their new, very stupid system decided to give him 10! REALLY???

I’m not a jump jockey but in my view the limit which is only a few more than flat jockeys doesn’t seem fair, 7 is ok for us with shorter distances and generally better ground, they have a lot more ground to cover and obstacles so get over, hopefully that will be sorted before the Cheltenham Festival so people can talk about racing rather than the whip.

The punishment does not fit the crime. In the summer that suspension will be career changing for some jockeys, if I was suspended for 10 days and Michael Bell had a nice 2yr old making a debut he would have to use someone else, if the horse then wins that jockey might keep the ride. There are a lot of jockeys about and there’s a lot of competition not only that, there’s the financial loss to think about too.