Racing snippets

Plenty of drama at Wetherby yesterday - a thrilling finish in the Charlie Hall while Barry Geraghty would be the first to concede it was not his finest hour when taking the wrong course in the mares' listed hurdle. He received plenty of cat calls from disgruntled punters for that blunder but, fair play to the man, he was on national television a few minutes later holding up his hands and accepting responsibility. The stewards hit him with a twelve day ban which starts on November 14th, Paddy Power Gold Cup day.

As if all that wasn't bad enough for Geraghty, over at Ascot the Henderson stable bagged a couple of winners with French Opera and You're The Top - both ridden by one AP McCoy.

I always associate the specialist miler Cesare with Ascot. Connections have decided that the eight-year-old has been a little disappointing this season so James Fanshawe has indicated he intends to send his charge hurdling - I'll watch with interest.

Racing folk will always tell you there's more money in the Flat game; a couple of notes, just to prove the point... Teletext report Eddie Stobart CEO Andrew Tinkler has recently spent over £400,000 guineas on a gelding named Royal Diamond while the stud fees for Sea The Stars make interesting reading. In his debut season he will cover in the region of 120 mares at a cost of 85,000 euros (£77,000) a go. Over three years the horse, set to stand at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in Ireland, will generate income in excess of £50 million.

Having said that, at the other end of the scale, all weather racing celebrated a signifcant milestone at Lingfield on Thursday - its twentieth anniversary.

Finally, a pointer from today's NH card at Carlisle... Knockara Beau (a horse about whom I missed some fancy prices for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle last March) took the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase, beating the well-touted Killyglen and landing a couple of lumpy wagers in the process. He looks worth keeping an eye on this winter.