It was certainly a frustrating day for both Kieren and myself. After checking twice on Friday night to see if Lingfield was still likely to be on, Kieren boarded a flight from Dubai at 3.30am.
When leaving the Emirates it was 24 degrees, arriving at Heathrow at 6.45 it was dipping below -7. Even then there was more drama when for a while there was a doubt the plane would be able to land. It set the tone for the rest of the day.
Intihal, found two too good in the maiden, but still ran well for James Tate, Roman Straits was narrolwy in second as was the tricky Picansort, where Kieren was lucky to excape a ban twice.
Yet the day was more annoying for the winner missed. Kieren had been booked for Palace Moon for two days. Jim Crowley, who had declined the ride, then made himself available and Kieren was replaced by William Knight. It's the downside of the job and the most annoying.
Talking of Palace Moon brings me nicely on to the subject of wind operations. Two horses today, Palace Moon and West Brit, both have had the operation. Charlie Longdon announced West Brit's procedure prior to his victory on RUK, Knight, though, mentioned it after Palace Moon had won.
As I stressed before, nothing annoys more when you find out after the race. Fair play to Longdon but I never watched RUK to hear the news. There should be a noticeboard on the BHA site that EVERYBODY can tap into about any said operation. It should be mandatory.
Finally, I have to finish about the Evra/Suarez incident. It's been discussed to death but I have two points. If Suarez had shaken Evra's hand pre-game the trouble in the tunnel and the antics of the Manchester United full back at the end wouldn't have happen.
Secondly, and more worryingly, was Kenny Dalgleish's denial that he saw neither the handshake incident or the fracas in the tunnel. That ensure the feud will be carried over to the next meeting.
race planner and profiler for Ismail Mohammed, pundit on Timeform radio and Nottingham Forest fan
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