Juliette's Weekly Frolic
I had fondly imagined it second nature for the Gloucestershire world to converge on Cheltenham, but having contrived a weekend barely twenty miles from that hallowed course, the morning found me ensnared in one of the more curious forms of female enslavement — beating for a pheasant shoot. Lunch neatly coinciding with the Massey Ferguson, a surreptitious retreat in search of television ended with an armchair view of a thrilling race and the delightful news that relieved of my nervous Presence in the stands. Canasta Lad had seen fit to restore the fortunes.
Father Christmas and firtrees, on top of a £4,000 chase, makes the prospect of a Saturday at Ascot beguiling indeed. The SGB would appear a closed shop for the Hennessy brigade and supposing Young Ash Leaf were to j131111) straight, Royal Toss to avoid a collision, Bighorn to be steadied by his 13Ib weight increase, and Spanish Steps to stand up, they Will all conveniently finish in a straight line -or so the story goes. Simple arithmetic on the weights gives the latter a 2Ib advantage but last year's Welsh Grand National victor, Royal Toss, had the only sound hard-luck story at Newbury and shoulders the same burden now. In the following two-miler, Dungarven Jewel — prominent on his Newbury appearance until a mistake near home — can win. Assets: £99 Outlay: £3 to win Royal Toss (ante-post) £3 to win Dungarven Jewel.
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