I’m not a number, I’m a free man!

At last, the second edition of the Flat book is finished and I’ve finally got some time to myself.
Things have been non-stop for as long as I can remember, including writing three trends books back-to-back, not something I’ll be attempting again. Having said that, I’m pleased with how the next Flat book looks and as I mentioned last week, they’ll be more on that after Cheltenham.

Lightning also struck for a second time on Sunday night when I got caught in the snow driving home from the Guardian and was forced to stay at my sister’s overnight before driving home the next day. I’ve never experienced conditions like it at present, even on Tuesday morning it took me three hours to drive to work through floods, ice, sleet, snow and then sunshine in London!

The weather also took care of some premier fixtures last weekend, but it’s good to see the Leopardstown meeting being transferred to this Sunday – once again the Irish authorities showing the Brits how it’s done. The races from pages 95, 96 & 97 will hopefully go ahead on Sunday.

It was a busy day on the racing desk on Tuesday when the Grand National weights were published and I did a brief trends piece on the Guardian’s site for anyone interested -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/feb/10/horseracing?commentpage=1

I’m due for my six-week break at the Guardian at the end of February so along with finishing the Flat book, I’m very much looking forward to recharging my battery following a hectic year and spending some time with my wife and daughter. Be handy being at home too, as I can appreciate Cheltenham week on TV instead of working on the racing desk, which I’ve done for the last three years - hopefully they'll be more blogs throughout March.

I’ll also have a chance to watch some DVDs that have been sitting on the shelf from the past two Christmas's! Apologies if it sounds like I’m whinging but this week feels like I’ve finally got to the end of a long marathon – roll on the end of Feb.

So, just the one performance rating to report from the weekend, but a quality one at that – interesting to not that connections of Madison Du Berlais are eyeing the Racing Post Chase, a race Farmer Jack took following this race.

Levy Board (Aon) Chase – Madison Du Berlais 89

Moving onto Top Of The Form, and at the risk of repeating myself, it was another good week for the Top 20. I like to tell things as they are, and I’ve said in the past when the chart was having a quiet time, but it’s been a good spell over the last few weeks so I hope some of you are making a few sovereigns – I even had a winning nap in the RFO table!

This week’s nap, Mr Chocolate Drop, runs on Friday at Lingfield with his regular partner, Adam Kirby, back in the saddle. He's never raced at Lingfield but his come-from-behind style should be suited to the track.

Here is the updated list of eyecatchers:

All For The Cause
Another Brother
Berry Baby
Castano
Decider
Dishdasha
Dragon Eye
Edgeover
Emirates Sports
Everybody Knows
Glamorous Spirit
Golden Pool
L’Homme De Nuit
Leceile
Millie’s Rock
Mr Chocolate Drop
Oberon Moon
Parisian Gift
Perange
Piscean
Ridgeway Jazz
Shaded Edge
Silver Kate
Takeover Bid
The Cayterers
The King Of Angels
Toy Gun