In terms of Festival coverage

That turned out to be a very late night last night.  It seemed like it anyway, as Fen Flyer ran very disappointingly.  It was my fault, and uncharacteristically so: I generally abhor seeing our horses make the running, but yesterday I asked Joe Fanning to do so if no one else wanted to, and for a variety of reasons that turned out not to suit him at all.  What got into me?  Well - it seemed like a good idea at the time (I say rather lamely).   Joe set a nice gentle pace (the winner, who had finished half a length in front of us on our previous run, sat in second all the way, so it was clearly correct to race prominently) and all was going very well until the three-furlong pole - but thereafter we were going nowhere.  And as I found the A14 closed in two places on the way home thanks to "overnight road closures", it felt as if I was going nowhere for most of the night too.

Less disappointing was Cheltenham.  In fact it was wonderful.  I saw the first two races on TV before I left home, and then I heard the calls of the next three races on Radio Five on the way to the races.  It was a particularly exciting day for me as I found that I actually had seven of my Twelve to Follow running on the one day, and that septet yielded three winners (Un De Sceaux, The Druids Nephew and Faugheen) as well as one runner-up (Shaneshill).  And, of course, one faller: Annie Power.  The TV was good, and the radio was really good too.  And it came with the bonus of a brahma: John Inverdale's "rose-cunted spectacles".  Even if, although I heard that, I didn't realise what he'd said until I read today's paper.  That's the benefit of a sheltered life for you!

That was unfortunate, but in fact I think that the worst part of it was not the mischosen word, but the fact that he was treating John Francome, who was giving a very sensible overview of the pro and cons of a racing life at the time, as if he was some out-of-touch has-been.  There was an awkward hiatus in the conversation immediately after the sentence, which I'd assumed was because of embarrassment on that score; it was only today that I discovered the real reason.  (I usually forget to dress up when going to the races, but I think that now I ought to add washing out my ears to the generally needed reminder to change my clothes).  I did, though, hear one phrase which did set my teeth on edge, a question which began, "In terms of Ruby Walsh ...".  Maybe that's just me, though.