Forward planning

Jump jockey Robert 'Choc' Thornton may look good on the back of a novice chaser, but modelling items of clothing for The Cheltenham Collection appears a rather different proposition altogether; I'm afraid I'm not convinced. The reason I bring this to your attention is that I received a selection of promotional literature from Cheltenham racecourse in today's mail. I was intrigued to discover, for example, that there are several 'Cheltenham festivals', covering topics such as jazz, science, music and literature, none of which I have even the slightest inclination of attending, you will be pleased to hear. The racecourse's main brochure is exquisitely produced, incorporates some spectacular photographs of the track and welcomes readers to the new season with the words 'The excitement mounts'. It's whetted the appetite. Alan Lee writes in today's Times 'Most people only go racing if they have had the outing in the diary for months ahead...' and how right he is; with rising gas and electricity prices, it takes that amount of time to save up enough for a couple of small bets (useful tip - child benefit payments can be legitimately used to boost betting funds if necessary). I shall just have to do more forward planning. In the meantime, Saturday is Variety Club Day at Sandown but, with all this talk about the jumping game, I simply have to focus on the cards at Newton Abbot and Market Rasen over the weekend.