Rainy days beckon as Brighton calls time until next season

Here we go, then. One more Goodwood, one more Brighton and then another long, hard battle against relegation for the Saints with only Stan Getz and Here’s That Rainy Day for comfort.

I don’t mind if it rains today because Smokey Lane wants it soft in the six-furlong handicap at Goodwood. When I wrote this on Thursday, my friends George Materna and John McInerney needed it to dry right out for Open Wide, who owes us a few bob, not that horses have much of a conscience about these things.

As for Brighton on Thursday, being there is what matters. There I am, down by the furlong pole in the rain, knowing it’s nearly all over until the April fixture, which tends to clash with Punchestown. Robert Winston won on Ice Age when that happened last year and I was reminded of how well he rides the track when he made every yard on Soaring Spirits at 25-1 last Tuesday. I thought nothing else could win that race – sadly, I couldn’t imagine Soaring Spirits winning it, either.