What's been going on here, then?

Ello, ello, ello

Who was it that used to say that - "Ello, Ello, Ello - What's been going on ere, then?"

For the life of me, I can't remember - was it Dixon of Dock Green?

Anyway, enough of that.

As you will know, I've spent the last 3 weeks hurtling around California visiting places that I haven't seen in more than 20 years, on a belated honeymoon with Mrs MYBP. Along with a substantially increased paunch,  I've got an SD card chock full of pics of me stood in front of iconic landmarks and seascapes, eating far too much in lovely restaurants and engaging in general debauchery.

The whole place is a monument to excessive consumption, but no less fun for all that.

In one of my posts shortly before I left, I confidently stated that I would be attending racing at Santa Anita on 1st October. I have to admit, rather sheepishly, that I drastically overestimated my ability to bend Mrs MYBP to my horseracing will. "Scheduling difficulties" resulted in us being 300 miles from Los Angeles on the 1st October so it looks like my first visit to Santa Anita will have to be for the Breeders Cup next year. What a chore.

(As a brief aside, and you can breathe a sigh of relief at this point, I won't be posting any of the holiday pics on here - mainly because in absolutely every one of them, I appear to be making a bold bid for the title of California's Fattest Man!)

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Champions Day at Ascot is on Saturday and I can honestly say I've not been this excited about a late season flat card in a long, long time. The naysayers and grumblers are fools - I think it's going to be a fantastic spectacle and Ascot is the right choice for it. Much as I like Newmarket - it's a real pain to get to. I like the way they've cherry picked the races/meetings to move and I think a bold move like this is long overdue. Well done to everybody involved. I wish I had a horse decent enough to challenge for even the minor place prize money in some of these races.

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 Speaking of that, I'm rather excited about my latest acquisition. Just before I went away, I purchased a (very small) share in a Compton Place yearling. He will be trained by Hannon, the two year old maestro and with just a modicum of luck/talent I could be attending some very nice meetings next season! The youngster is yet to be named but I will keep you informed as things progress.

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After a flying start The Major (see tipping trial) has had some bad luck in the last couple of weeks - an 11/1 shot beaten a nose yesterday for example! I'm still confident that he can turn a decent profit based on his performance while sending me his selections and he will be continuing to post up his tips daily - don't forget to check back each day!

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I'd be really interested to hear readers views and comments on the new whip rules. I know the jockeys are pretty unhappy about the lack of consultation and the way they have been introduced. Personally, I think a change was due and anything that improves the image of racing has to be worth a try. As long as the new rules are applied consistently, I think it's a good thing but I'm aware there will be a lot of non believers out there. Let me know how you feel.

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 On my travels I read a book about the legendary poker player and gambler, Stu Ungar - "One of a Kind. The Rise and fall of Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker Player"

It was a cracking read and though I knew quite a lot about Ungar already it was nice to have the detail fleshed out by such an entertaining read. A record breaking three time winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event (the first win coming in the first poker tournament he had ever played) he remains, in my eyes at least, the most naturally gifted poker player of all time. Unfortunately, while excelling at poker, he was unable to manage his life in any kind of a coherent way. Drug addiction and chronic non poker related gambling losses haunted his entire career. He died, at the age of only 43, in 1998 from a heart attack brought on by years of cocaine abuse. Despite winning tens of millions of dollars during his career, he died without a penny to his name and other poker players had to pass the hat to pay for his funeral. As a tale of genius talent undermined by fundamental personality weaknesses, it ranks up there with the best. I highly recommend this book!

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Look out for my email tomorrow with news of a great free giveaway I've just heard about.

Kieran