Foul weather and a right couple of turn-ups, what more could jumps fans ask for?

Jumps fans have been complaining for weeks that Flat-racing weather was ruining their sport, so how lovely to get some truly foul weather over the weekend to accompany the excellent action. It's odd to have bypassed autumn rain altogether, moving straight from "dry and mild" to the sort of snowstorm that leaves people without power, but at least the photographers at Newcastle and Leicester have got plenty of material for the December page of their next calendar.

As well as the snow, there was 35mm of overnight rain at Newcastle and yet the Fighting Fifth time was only a couple of seconds outside standard, underlining just how ready the track was to soak up a lot of water. These were by no means Cornerstone Lad conditions and yet we very nearly got a shock of similar proportions as the 18-1 shot Not So Sleepy managed to dead-heat with Epatante, while carrying half a stone more than her for reasons that seem increasingly hard to justify.

What an amazing career Not So Sleepy has had since he won a Nottingham maiden seven years ago. "It's a total surprise," said owner Lady Blyth that day and she has presumably gone on being surprised at regular intervals, along with the rest of us, whether by his successes or more wayward moments like when he took Silver Streak out of last year's Fighting Fifth. If he were a human athlete, after such a long and turbulent career, this would be the win that clinched a book deal and a series of TV adverts.