Those who have noticed that I often post between midnight and 4 am will readily understand that I feel fragile, paranoid and grouchy before midday. Today was especially evil to start with because I had arranged to take the car to a garage for its, gulp, more than a month overdue MoT test (noticed only two days ago though). Would the car need rare parts? How would I get back home?
The garage made me feel much better by offering me the courtesy car, unasked. It was a navy blue Peugeot 206 with nearly 100,000 miles on it but still quite a nice little motor despite the low seat position and slightly grubby interior. It went well and ran impeccably, and I enjoyed the thought of how little petrol it was using. I had never been in a 206 before.
What's more the Cruiser passed fairly easily, with its exhaust repaired with gunge and some red cellophane over the foglight with the broken lens. So it is a bit quieter now and the windscreen washer is working. Total damage 70 quid or so with VAT, fairly painless by today's standards. The garage owner is second generation, his dad and brother running another garage in the next small town. I have a mind to recommend him for the good garage scheme, but may wait for something more complex. Everyone likes him though and he is personable.
Incidentally there is a Storrington-trained nag running in the national, trained by an ex-steeplechase jockey who never won the big one but wants to train a winner. I can't remember its name but the jockey is the oldest in the race and wears contact lenses. Got to be good for an each-way outsider punt surely? What does betting ace Crankcase think?
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If you do fancy a flutter on the National and aren't a hardened gambler already, there are some good deals around eg. £30 cashback for new Ladbrokes customers if you make a £20 bet, from Quidco:
www.quidco.com/ladbrokes-sportsbook/
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Apparently the grand national is nothing more than blood sport, 2 horses are expected to get a visit from the course vet and his captive bolt gun ( going on statistics) according to the wright show this morning, if you listen to running commentary a' course obstruction ' means a dead horse...what does the panel think?
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>> means a dead horse...
or a dead jockey
>> what does the panel think?
These things happen in steeplechase events.
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The One Show made a feature of getting behind one of the horses a year or 2 ago, but unfortunately it was one of those that didn't make it. Quite sad.
EDIT: 2008 apparently:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375210/Grand-National-2011-Ballabriggs-wins-day-drama-Aintree.html
EDIT2: some spectacular photos in that report
Last edited by: Focus on Fri 13 Apr 12 at 14:43
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"2 horses are expected to get a visit from the course vet and his captive bolt gun "
And lot more pigs, cattle and lambs down will suffer a similar fate down at at the abattoir. Wild animals will die torn apart by their predators or die of hunger. People will die sad lonely deaths in hospitals or homes.
It's how the world is.
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On attrition in the Grand National, there's a piece by a rider whose horse, a beast he liked and knew well, was shot after falling at Becher's on page 19 of today's Terrorflag. Reads authentically coming from someone in a highly physical, tough and emotional game.
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Seemed all right to me. Got a tip for the mug punters' bloodbath then Crankcase?
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 14 Apr 12 at 00:41
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West End Rocker 12-1.
You heard it here first.
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I say again.
Alice, dormouse, three girls, a well...
How much clearer can I be?
:)
Not that I will go for that one. More fishy, mine.
I know nothing of horses though. If there was one called three queens, a table mat and Mr Bun the Baker I might have had a go on it.
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MoT... pleasant rural faff... Grand National - Focusless
