New contender for the RSA

The 435th edition of the Wayward Lad blog.

There wasn't a Saturday blog as I thought it best to concentrate on my 2012 Cheltenham Festival Bulletin. The planned publication date is 15th Feb (Wednesday) and I'm just putting together the last parts and opinions.

As such, I found Sunday's meeting at Leopardstown very interesting indeed.  However, the big disappointment was Bog Warrior not running in the Dr PJ Moriarty Chase as he took in the 2-mile chase at Navan on Saturday instead. The horse won easily and has entries for the Arkle, Jewson and the RSA – whichever race he goes for he will be a serious contender, but beware! His trainer AJ Martin is reticent to race him on going faster than good-to-soft and that could rule out Cheltenham altogether. Based on recent Festivals, I'd say his only chance of finding his required going would be if he races on Day 1 of the Festival meeting and takes in the Arkle.

I thought Last Instalment jumped magnificently when winning the PJ Moriarty, but is he good enough to take the RSA or Jewson at the Festival? If you want my opinion before the morning of the race, then you'll have to read my 2012 Cheltenham Festival Bulletin which is available for a minimum donation of £5.

There was also the sad news from David Pipe about his hurdler Bobby Ewing who collapsed and died on the gallops on Saturday morning. This was a very exciting novice hurdler for Nigel Twiston-Davies back in 2009-10 and he annihilated Menorah beating him by 10-lengths. He picked up an injury soon after yet, even so, David Pipe bought him out of NTD's stable for £60,000 while carrying the injury.  Of course, Menorah went on to win the Supreme Novices hurdle at the 2010 Festival before becoming a high-class hurdler and potentially decent novice chaser. Having been given plenty of time and nursed back to health, Bobby Ewing was due to run in the Betfair Hurdle this Friday at Newbury off OR139 and he was thrown-in off that rating. Unbelievable bad luck to all concerned.

In the first 12-months of this blog, I used to write a general sports paragraph usually on football. I've been a fan of Liverpool FC for 47 years (since I was bought a full kit as a 5yo boy) and I believe the club is bigger than any player, manager or director connected with the club. As such, while I support the club, I will not back the actions of anyone connected with the club in a tribal manner, especially if their actions impinge on the clubs character. Personally, I could not care less what politics or practices that anyone at the club possesses, so long as they keep them in private and off the pitch when they are wearing the club badge or are holding a position of responsibility at Liverpool FC. The selfish actions of one LFC player have had immense repercussions around the world, and fans who live in the UK have to realise that Liverpool Football Club is a world club, not just an English one. When Torres signed for LFC, that world-wide support was so excited that enough shirts carrying his name were sold in ONE DAY to pay his transfer fee and more. That world-wide support consists of Chinese, Thais, Malaysians, Indians, Arabians, and a multitude of African states. Liverpool FC, through their world-wide support, are worth £1.50 billion and that's why companies like Standard Chartered Bank – who are the biggest bank in Asia where most of Liverpool's international fan base live - pay £20 million a year to put their name on the Liverpool FC shirt.

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