Day two, part two - straight from the sofa

5.22pm The Jeff Goulding Cup - Day Two results

I'm going to get myself freshened up with a nice roast dinner and glass or merlot, then get stuck into a bit more form study in order to turn it all around tomorrow.

The curve is going in the right direction though, I lost a lot less today than I did yesterday.

Here are the current standings though:

10 - Paddy Power

9 - Katie Walsh

8 - Tony McCoy, Barry Geraghty

7 - Richard Johnson, Ted Walsh, Nina Carberry

6 - Tanya Stevenson, Tom Segal, Jason Maguire, Donald McCain Jnr

5 - Jeff Goulding, Jimmy Moffat, Paddy Aspell, Adrian Heskin

3 - Hayley Turner, Scott Mills, Simon Holt

2 - Nicky Henderson, Andy Stewart

1 - Robert Thornton

-2 - Tommo

-4 - Harry Findlay, Clive Smith

-5 - Lesley Graham

-8 - Owner of Silk Hall who might be an actor

-10 - Paul Struthers

-14 - Roopa off Deal Or No Deal

 

5.20pm Does Colin Tizzard train the next Dunguib?

Cue Card has absolutely hacked up. I'm glad today's over. Well it's not properly over yet, I've got to update you with the latest standings in the Jeff Goulding Cup.

 

5.04pm Time for a winner

There is the last race, yes a bumper

In which lies a smart prospective jumper

His first name is Shannon

So load up the cannon

Take aim, because this bet's a thumper

Bumper's outside the main festivals are renowned for being run at a dawdling gallops, so it is difficult to know what to make of the form, as easy winners may not be able to cope with going at a proper pace.

Some will of course, but if you can find a bumper horse that has won in an exceptional time, then this gives you a handy advantage.

And one horse this year, Shannon Spirit, really stands out.

When he won at Thurles on January 17, he did so in a time of 4mins 13.8secs, carrying 11st12lb minus a 5lb claim, and was eased down to score.

There was no fewer than four hurdle races over the identical trip of 2m that day, and the quickest of those four hurdle contests was five seconds slower that Shannon Spirit's winning time.

The horses that were running that day were far from mugs, and were carrying less weight. This indicates it was a superb performance from Shannon Spirit, and I've had a festival-changing bet at 25-1. 19 is still available on Betfair and I reckon that's a fair price too.

Others who catch the eye with their winning times are Al Ferof, Dare Me and Shot From The Hip, but I have only backed the first two of those three.

 

4.46pm Orsippus ran well...

..if you backed him each-way. A third at 33-1 is surely a sign I'm coming back to form though, and the day's big brown hope is still to come in the Bumper.

 

4.32pm Now Simon Claisse isat it

First Ted Walsh, now Simon Claisse, who is going to water the track tonight with very little rain forecast: "Three to four mill down the hill".

The Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival should become the official Racing and Rhyming Day.

 

4.28pm Mare to get me out of a 'mare

I'm grumpy and I'm getting meaner

No winners soon I'll be a cleaner

But in't Fred Winter

There is a minter

By the name of  Diktalina

Confidence is far from high here, but Diktalina could be better than her mark based on her form with Me Voici, and she looks overpriced at 42.

I had been hoping to find somethingthat had Flat form on fast ground who had been forced to race on soft all winter, but there doesn't seem to be any that fit the profile.

Orsippus should relish the drying surface however, and he's been backed at 48.

 

4.25pm Wise words from Westlife

I've resorted to comfort eating. Four chocolate digestives, two bits of fruit cake, and a 150g of roasted red pepper and lime crisps. I'm washing them down with a Diet Coke though, I'm watching my weight.

And it's only gone and got worse with the Channel 4 montage song, which is What About Now by Westlife.

Around the time that Sea The Stars was retired, there was a huge debate as to whether he should race on, and I wrote an enormous blog entry detailing how we should forget about that, and just concentrate on celebrating his amazing career.

It was based purely on the Westlifesong being a theme tune for his career, as it contained the line "Can we see beyond the stars and make it to the dawn?" which I thought was rather fitting, as it featured the words "See", "The" and "Stars".

Only 1,500 words later, when I actually decided to check the lyrics, I found the words were actually "Can we see beyond the SCARS and make it to the dawn?", rendering my tome unfathomable.

Having just checked the lyrics again, the song opens with "Shadows fill an empty heart as love is fading". Sums up my Cheltenham so far I reckon.

But by the power of Westlife I'm gonna come back dammit.

"The sun isbreaking in your eyes to start a new day

This broken heart can still survive with a touch of your grace."

I'm with you boys. You may have lost Brian McFadden, and I may have lost fortunes and any self esteem I had left, but through your words I'm going to end up a winner, starting with the Fred Winter. THE COMEBACK STARTS NOW!

Hmm. Maybe not the Fred Winter. But I think I've got a good thing in the Bumper looks difficult too. And I'vegot a feeling about one in the Pertemps tomorrow.