LADS NIGHT OUT SATURDAY 21st JANUARY 2017

We don't get together as often these days but nice to have a night out with loads of old mates this weekend, kicked off at 3pm with Dave who had flown down from Newcastle, so dragged him to our old haunt The Airman in Feltham for a few pints and see him stress while Stoke were winning 1-0 against his beloved Manchester United.



Airman, Feltham
It hasn't really changed although the beer wasn't too bad this time. Fortunately for Dave, Wayne Rooney popped up with a goal in the 94th min to secure a 1-1 draw. 

Left Feltham after the football in the direction of Twickenham to meet up with all the others in the Cabbage Patch pub. 

This time some of the guys were bringing their wives and we sadly had a few absences but even so with a group of eight there was plenty of good natured banter.

The curry was great, not too loud plenty of excellent food and above all it was warm, cos the journey home was freezing, and pleased to get indoors again with temperatures about -3C outside. 


We should do this again soon, hopefully this time Hayden, Richard, Vince might show. Keep well guys and girls and have a good one until the next time. 

KEMPTON PARK RACES 2017 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #2 18th JANUARY

Second week into our new season here at Kempton and the latest news story flying around has been that they might be selling the racecourse for housing in a few years time, well believe that when it happens I guess, the King George could go to Sandown but the AW track would need to be replaced somewhere. 

A small victory with our opening week last time and our regular series of midweek fixtures from Kempton Park continues. We will aim to improve on last seasons successful year recording bets from all the handicap contests held on the Wednesday nights and the occasional lays too.

All our results will be recorded to SP and having ended the last year on a profit we started off the first week with a small win of +1.75 points. It's a start. 

As always our focus will be on the handicap contests for each meeting but will occasionally include a feature listed or conditions event too. Keeping records of our endeavours to a 1pt level stake at SP, naturally we will personally be looking to get better odds but for the purpose of the results we record to SP.

We will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of short priced favorites too, last time we failed and our Lay won (11/10F) so we need to claw that back, once again will keep these results separately from the handicap figures. 

This week is our second meeting for 2017 and we are expecting a six race card on offer, where we will be presented with five handicap contests to review. Tonight's action will commence at 16:20 with a 1m 3f handicap. 

Below is a link to this Wednesday's race card;

EVENING RACECARD

The going on the polytrack surface is described as Standard to slow once more and the current weather forecast is for a dry evening with a max temperature of about 4C when the meeting gets underway and remain cold but dry during the evening.

Here are our selections for this evening's handicap races;

16:20 -- 1m 3f Handicap.
Our opener today is another low quality class 7 event, so won't be much form to speak of, will take a risk on couple of large prices, with RAIL DANCER [WON 14/1] out to prove top weight is deserved here and WHITE DOG [9th 40/1] to see if he can improve on couple of places on the AW with both being forecast at around 25/1 shots.

16:50 -- 1m Handicap.
YASOOD [Non Runner] and JESSICA JO [8th 4/1] are the pair we side with against the field in this mile handicap. The former has slowly started to get the hang of things in the last month and this is pretty low grade whereas Jessica Jo is still trained by Mark Johnston and time will tell how long that partnership lasts but is offered another chance to make her presence felt in a handicap before claimers and sellers are her likely engagements in the future.


17:50 -- 1m Handicap (3yo).
A field of eight 3yo's line up for us now, the highest rated is MY LADY MARIE [8th 14/1] who might be able to show better form now given a handicap mark and might not find easier options after this. 

SETTLE PETAL [3rd 16/1] has a couple of place efforts during her maiden career so far and could be worth pairing against the field of the prices allow. 

18:20 -- 1m Fillies Handicap.
A field of eight ladies next, REBEL SURGE [3rd 14/1] might appreciate the step up in trip, whereas STOSUR [8th 16/1] has been running well albeit in defeat recently. 

18:50 -- 1m 4f Handicap.
The finale this week has a field of 12, a race where SANDY COVE [6th 25/1] returns after a four month rest and might be able to strike while fresh. Pair that one with FAST AND HOT [8th 7/1] from Richard Hannon's yard another who's had a three month absence and should be fit to do themselves justice. 

Staked -- 10 points
Returns -- 16 points.

Results for tonight will be updated throughout the evening and we aim to improve on our opening week's profit of +1.75 points. Already a great start with a 14/1 winner in the first, could be a great night for this thread, alas only a couple more places so we end tonight up 6 points and thus +7.75 in all.

Lays -- 0/1. None today.
(Having failed with our first one of the season, won 11/10 so no great loss, will try harder next time). 

Our next Wednesday evening meeting at this course will be on 1st February so see you next month.

FA CUP 3rd ROUND REPLAY -- AFC WIMBLEDON vs SUTTON UNITED

After a very uninspiring 0-0 draw last week at Gander Green Lane home of Sutton United we are fortunate to bring them back to Kingsmeadow for a replay on Tuesday night. With the 4th round draw presenting both sides with the chance to play the mighty Leeds United at home it should add extra incentive not that any should have been required ... this is the FA Cup. Come on guys. 

The BBC have decided to show the Ipswich vs Lincoln replay on Tuesday night and BT Sport will have the Plymouth vs Liverpool match on Wednesday night, so we'll have to make do with huddling around the radio set or tuning into Radio WDON for those that cannot get a ticket to this replay. 

At least the Dons come into this match on the back of a 2-1 win against Oxford whereas Sutton only drew 2-2 with Worthing in their last match.  

We will keep an eye on the game and update later with match news and reaction to the result.

Well how bad can we be, 1-0 up, then a man down, then pulled back to 1-1 and as Sutton continue to press with that man advantage the prospect of a glamour tie against Leeds United begins to fade and then you just knew it would happen 89 mins in 2-1 Sutton. Gutted, but not really surprised. Oh great it's 3-1 now, well done have fun when Leeds arrive hope they don't wreck the place. 
 

KEMPTON PARK RACES 2017 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #1 11th JANUARY

A new year and thus a new start for this regular series of midweek fixtures from Kempton Park. We will aim to improve on last seasons successful year recording bets from the Handicap contests held on the Wednesday nights and the occasional lays too. 

All our results will be recorded to SP and having ended the last year on a profit of +5.91 points we will clear that and reset to zero with something to aim at. 

As always our focus will be on the handicap contests for each meeting but will occasionally include a feature listed or conditions event too. Keeping records of our endeavours to a 1pt level stake at SP, naturally we will personally be looking to get better odds but for the purpose of the results we record to SP.

We will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of short priced favorites, we only had a few towards the back end of the season that actually won and again will keep these results separately from the handicap figures. 

This week is our first meeting for 2017 and we are expecting a seven race card on offer, where we will be presented with five handicap contests to review following the division of the 6f event at 18:45. Tonight's action will commence at 16:45 with a 7f handicap. 

Below is a link to this evening's race card;

EVENING RACECARD

The going on the polytrack surface is described as Standard to slow once more and the current weather forecast is for a dry evening with a max temperature of about 9C when the meeting gets underway and remain cold but dry during the evening.

Here are our selections for this evening's handicap races;

16:45 -- 7f Handicap.
Very low quality stuff to kick off our 2017 season with, a class 7 handicap worth less than two grand to the winner. Wouldn't normally want to be involved with this but a tentative shout to ERSHAAD [9th 10/3] for who Jo Gordon is a positive jockey booking.

17:45 -- 1m 3f Handicap.
Difficult one here but at least JERSEY BULL [9th 9/1] has shown winning form here back in November and a repeat of that should be enough. Of the reminder SPECULATOR [14th 14/1] was running well last summer and has changed yards, it's possible that one can also run well at a price and a place bet is considered if the price of 14/1 or so can be obtained. 
 
18:45 -- 6f Handicap (Div 1).
The 6f handicap has been divided with 10 declared in each event now, division one can go to top weight BORN TO FINISH [WON 7/4F] who is looking to secure a hat trick of wins across different all weather tracks, a 6lb rise may still not be enough to stop his winning run. 

19:15 -- 6f Handicap (Div 2).
The second division also has 10 runners declared and doesn't look any better, (I do hope that 2017 improves), a race for FLEETING GLIMPSE [6th 9/1] to take advantage of a low handicap mark and might not find many easier to be fair, and we'll try and pair that with FIRESNAKE [7th 10/1]. Both having 7lb claimers on board and maybe that extra advantage can pay dividends.

19:45 -- 1m 4f Amateur Handicap.
The concluding handicap looks interesting despite being an amateur riders affair, fancy SENNOCKIAN STAR [WON 5/1] to win this has not been beaten too far in better events and has a decent jockey too which is a big plus. 

Staked -- 7 points
Returns -- 8.75 points.

Results for tonight - nice start with a couple of winners making a small profit to SP of +1.75 lets see if we can keep ahead for as long as possible.

Lays -- 0/1. 
Got two Lays to kick off our season with tonight
17:15 -- PEPITA W/D 15/8F
18:15 -- PRETEND Won 11/10F.

Alas not the best start to the season with the lays though, one winner albeit short fav, and one withdrawn, well we will try again. 

Our next Wednesday evening meeting at this course will be on 18th January so see you next week.

FA CUP FOURTH ROUND DRAW

This Monday evening we will have the draw for the 4th Round of this season's FA Cup. After AFC Wimbledon's very disappointing 0-0 draw on Saturday with Sutton United we are both still in the hat and maybe a decent tie will mean the team bucks it's ideas up and plays with more passion in the replay next week.

We will update here on Monday night with the details of the 4th round draw while it's being made which will begin shortly after 7pm and transmitted live on BBC 2. Conducting the draw will be former players and previous FA Cup winners Michael Owen and Martin Keown and they will be on hand to perform the draw out of the 'hat'. Hopefully we can get a nice money earning tie against someone like Arsenal (Ball no 20) or Manchester United (3). 

AFC Wimbledon have been allocated ball number 30.

Fourth Round Draw

     TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR  v  WYCOMBE WANDERERS

     DERBY COUNTY  v  LEICESTER CITY

     OXFORD UNITED  v  NEWCASTLE UNITED / BIRMINGHAM

     AFC WIMBLEDON / SUTTON UNITED  v  LEEDS UNITED

     PLYMOUTH ARGYLE / LIVERPOOL  v  WOLVES

     SOUTHAMPTON / NORWICH  v  ARSENAL

     LINCOLN / IPSWICH  v  BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

     CHELSEA  v  BRENTFORD

     MANCHESTER UNITED  v  WIGAN ATHLETIC

     MILLWALL  v  WATFORD

     ROCHDALE  v  HUDDERSFIELD TOWN

     BURNLEY / SUNDERLAND  v  FLEETWOOD / BRISTOL CITY

     BLACKBURN ROVERS  v  BARNSLEY / BLACKPOOL

     FULHAM  v  HULL

     MIDDLESBROUGH  v  ACCRINGTON STANLEY

     CRYSTAL PALACE / BOLTON WANDERERS  v  MANCHESTER CITY

Ties to be played over the weekend of 27-30 January.

Reaction;

So depending on how the replays turn out it's a home tie against a massive club in Leeds United. Which would be a repeat of one of Wimbledon's previous famous FA Cup exploits when a non league club back in the 1970s. The Dons then managed to hold that monster of a side to a 0-0 draw at Elland Road only to lose 1-0 in the replay back at Plough Lane. 

Or it could be Sutton vs Leeds. We'll see how the replay turns out. 

FA CUP 3rd ROUND -- WIMBLEDON vs SUTTON SAT 7th JANUARY 2017

It's FA CUP THIRD ROUND Day this weekend and the recent draw has given us another away trip to non league opposition. Thankfully not too far this time across London to SUTTON UNITED. Would be good to have a decent cup run this season and this tie against National League opponents gives us a great chance to make it through to the fourth round, historically it is also significant as Sutton were our first ever opponents when we had to reform as AFC Wimbledon of course we hope that the scoreline is not a 4-0 defeat this time around. 

PREVIOUS MEETING
Sutton 4 AFC Wimbledon 0 
(Wednesday 10 July 2002)
We didn't play them in our non leagues days as they were relegated in the 2008 season as we were promoted from the Ryman Premier so it's our first proper meeting since 2002. 

FORM GUIDE (Last 6 in league, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon -- LLWLDD
Sutton United -- WLWLWL


LAST TIME OUT
Sutton United 2  Bromley 0
AFC Wimbledon 2  Millwall 2

Being drawn against Sutton again is significant for the Dons as they supplied our first opponents in a friendly after our reformation in 2002. The game is already sold out so we have a full contingent of Dons fans going again to cheer on the boys in Yellow and Blue to more FA Cup glory.


Our boys have been struggling in the league a little of late, defeats to Southend and Bristol Rovers over Christmas means we are mid-table in the league but the Cup is another matter and we need to be on our game to see off Sutton, who I am sure will up their game against us and come here off the back of a 2-0 home win against Bromley in the National League where they currently lie 14th. We don't really want to see a repeat of the opening 80 minutes against Curzon Ashton in the last round although the last 10 minutes did come good for us, I'm not sure my nerves can handle being 3-0 down again to another non league side. The Dons will be wary of ex player Matt Tubbs who will surely lead the attack for Sutton and could still be a handful given an opportunity, but you would expect our experience and speed to be too much for them over 90 mins (he says). 

Updates will be published with team news and more as and when it comes through. 

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 10/11 (William Hill) 

Shea (Gk),  Fuller (c),  Charles,  Robinson,  Kelly,  Parrett,  Reeves,  Bulman,  Barcham,  Taylor,  Elliott

Subs – McDonnell (Gk),  Francomb,  Poleon,  Barnett,  Egan,  Owens,  Robertson

SUTTON UNITED
Odds -- 5/2 (William Hill) 

Worner (Gk), Downer, Collins, Beckwith, Amankwaah, Deacon, Bailey, Eastmond, Gomis, Tubbs, Biamou

Subs – Shaw (Gk), John, Hudson-Odoi, Fitchett, May, Spence, Monakana

 
H/T Score – 0 - 0

First Half Comment;
A quiet first half of football really although some half chances fall to either side and most notably Matty Tubbs is making a nuisance of himself for Sutton but it's still all square and can surely only improve. 

Jake Reeves (Wimbledon) and Simon Downer (Sutton) each pick up a booking too and that's about it for the opening 45 mins.

F/T Score – 0 - 0

Match Summary;
Yawn. Wow after the exciting game in the previous round this was dull. A full house at Gander Green Lane were treated to a boring 0-0 and the home supporters must have been disappointed not to have won really as they were clearly the more productive side over the 90 mins. 

So a replay in a little over a week back at Kingsmeadow on a cold / wet Jan evening it is then, I guess we might be excited by a possible 4th round tie depending on how the draw goes on Monday night.


My Man of the Match – James Shea.

Referee -- Our referee for this important third round FA Cup tie is Keith Stroud from Bournemouth. He's a proud fan of Luton Town but we shouldn't hold that against him, a very experienced referee we should be in safe hands.

Attendance – 5.200.

Next match:
vs OXFORD UNITED (Home)
Football League One 3:00pm

CHELTENHAM NH MEETING - NEW YEARS DAY 2017

Welcome to 2017, Happy New Year to you all.

AND THEY ARE OFF !! ... TO ITV 

We kick off the new year with the traditional opening meeting at Cheltenham, which will be the first to be shown on ITV again after an absence of over 30 years the channel now returns as the exclusive terrestrial broadcaster of British Horse racing. While it is also only 10 weeks till the festival so each meeting should have it's own clues to the future. 

Today it's a 7 race card, the feature events are a pair of Grade 2 contests, the Dipper Novices Chase and the Relkeel Hurdle which are both run over 2m 4f.

Here are our selections for the card; 

12:15 -- 2m 4f 56y Novice Hurdle (Listed).

Dashing Oscar was only able to take 3rd on Friday and even if he reappears will find this hard to win off top weight but could run well enough to place. Stablemate STEEL BOB [Pulled up 16/1] looks a bit of value at the other end of the weights and is paired with MINOTAUR [7th 8/1] to get us off to a winning start in 2017.

12:50 -- 3m 2f 70y Handicap Chase

A nice big field for the staying chase should be fairly spectacular watching these take on the fences again, open contest as you'd expect and we go with DOCTOR HARPER [2nd 14/1] and BELMONT [10th 33/1] as our two against the field. A good race to watch with the big staying handicap races at the festival a possible for some of these?

13:25 -- 2m 4f 166y "The Dipper" Novices Chase (Grade 2)

Just a small field of five now for the first feature event on New Years Day, only Never Equalled looks truly out of things but will pick up a little place money with a safe round. 

The favourite will probably be CLAN DES OBEAUX for Paul Nicholls but WHISPER [WON 11/4] is a decent animal on his day and could be the value bet against the rest this afternoon having won his Novice Chase around this course last month. 

14:00 -- 2m 4f 166y Handicap Chase (Grade 3)

With the Colin Tizzard yard in such great form of late it would be no surprise if his QUITE BY CHANCE [6th 6/1] can take this and carry on the good run. Recent Aintree winner AS DE MEE may not be as suited by this course and preference is for TOP GAMBLE [3rd 8/1] even with top weight.

14:35 -- 2m 7f 213y Handicap Hurdle

WHAT A KNIGHT [Non Runner] / ROCKLANDER [2nd 2/1]. 

15:10 -- 2m 4f 56y Relkeel Hurdle (Grade 2)

Former world hurdle winner COLE HARDEN [3rd 7/1] should fine this ground more to his liking and if allowed a soft lead could prove very hard to peg back. 

At a decent price to place AGRAPART [WON 16/1] looks worth a look too. 

15:40 -- 1m 5f 209y Open NH Flat Race

We finish off with a massive 16 runner bumper, the market will probably be the best guide and it's a race I would personally avoid but if the market speaks well of DAPHNE DU CLOS [2nd 5/2] that might be worth a shout. 


A great day to see in the New Year, a few winners, some places and a nice profit too. Well done on Agrapart Lizzie Kelly you are awesome. 

Will aim to update results later in the day and then we will be into the swing of things for 2017 with regular features for Kempton Park on Wednesday nights as well as Pontefract, and the bigger festivals at Cheltenham, Aintree, Galway amongst others. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL 2017

So that was 2016 eh ... Next !! 

Yeah it's over now but was it any good ... I mean we lose so many wonderful stars this past year and from a personal perspective it was a year of attrition. And just when you think it can't get any worse we lose George Micheal too on Xmas Day itself. Let's have a moment of reflection for all the great names we have lost in the last year, I think we start with Lemmy last Christmas, then the likes of Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Leonard Cohen then in the past week Rick Parfitt and George and that's just from the world of music let alone the star actors and entertainers we also lost. RIP guys, God must be putting one hellva band together up there. 

On the football front AFC Wimbledon won a play off final at Wembley in May and now sit mid table in League One, things are going ok on the pitch but the biggest and best news was that the decision to redevelop the old Greyhound stadium on Plough Lane to create a new permanent home for the Dons back in Wimbledon itself was giving the go ahead by the Mayor of London (Sadiq Khan) and Merton council. Still bit more red tape to clear but it's closer and is going to happen, in a few years we will enjoy the special atmosphere that the return will bring and I just pray that I am still alive and kicking to enjoy it too. 

Horse Racing was ok, am not really enjoying it as much in the NH season now as I used too, a sign of getting old I guess. However we still go to the meetings in the Spring and Summer and I do enjoy those, so this should continue into 2017 and the aim will be to visit at least one "new" course that I've never been to before though not sure where that will be yet. 

Throughout the coming year I will also continue with the regular Kempton and Pontefract blogs and see if we can improve on this years efforts. There will also be feature meetings around such big festival events as Cheltenham (March), Aintree (April), Royal Ascot (June) and Galway (July/August). 





Plenty to look ahead too, still reminisce about the past with trips to North Wales (Llandudno, Blaenau Ffestiniog) and also York (National Railway Museum) both long overdue. So whatever life throws at you in the coming year do your best to make some happy memories too. Thinking of friends and family always, have a tremendous New Year and I pray that 2017 is full of fun, love and happiness.